Does a carbon tax affect the feasibility of Arctic shipping?

The Arctic route has huge potential for shipping between Europe and Northeast Asia with significant savings in transit time and distance. However, GHG emissions from shipping would harm the environment of Arctic area. Potential Market Based Measures of GHG emission reduction (such as carbon tax) are under consideration but they may affect the economic viability of Northern Sea Route (NSR) for containerships. This paper investigates the economic viability of NSR against Suez Canal Route (SCR) under 2 proposed carbon tax schemes (fixed vs. progressive). Three different fuel oil types (Heavy Fuel Oil, Light Fuel Oil, Liquified Natural Gas) are used as main bunker fuel for the calculation of economic feasibility. Our result reveals that when there is no carbon tax on NSR nor SCR, or both routes are under a carbon tax scheme, no matter fixed or progressive, NSR is more economically viable, regardless of fuel type choice. When only NSR is under a carbon tax scheme, the viability depends on specific carbon tax scheme and fuel choice, but for the majority of containership sizes, NSR has lower unit cost. The result also suggests that for a given route, a progressive scheme in preferable than a fixed one and LNG would be an appealing fuel with lower unit cost.     

Modeling the impacts of alternative emission trading schemes on international shipping

Various market-based measures have been proposed to reduce CO₂ emissions from international shipping. One promising mechanism under consideration is the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS). This study analyzes and benchmarks the economic implications of two alternative ETS mechanisms, namely, an open ETS compared to a Maritime only ETS (METS). The analytical solutions and model calibration results allow us to quantify the impacts of alternative ETS schemes on the container shipping sector and the dry bulk shipping sector. It is found that an ETS, whether open or maritime only, will decrease shipping speed, carrier outputs and fuel consumption for both the container and dry bulk sectors, even in the presence of a “wind-fall” profit to shipping companies. Under an open ETS, the dry bulk sector will suffer from a higher proportional reduction in output than the container sector, and will thus sell more emission permits or purchase fewer permits. Under an METS, container carriers will buy emission permits from the dry bulk side. In addition, under an METS the degree of competition within one sector will have spill-over effects on the other sector. Specifically, when the sector that sells (buys) permits is more collusive (competitive), the equilibrium permit price will rise. This study provides a framework for identifying the moderating effects of market structure and competition between firms on emission reduction schemes, and emphasizes the importance of understanding the differential impacts of ETS schemes on individual sectors within an industry when considering alternative policies.     

交通产业结构优化与城际铁路发展探讨

文章分析了城际高速铁路的特点和功能,阐述了交通产业结构的基本属性和发展趋势。并结合我国第一条城际铁路——京津城际铁路建成后对周边产业结构的实际影响效果,从交通产业结构优化的角度分析发展城际铁路的意义。     

Multi-criteria analysis of decision-making by international commercial banks for providing shipping loans

This research investigates the underwriting attitude of international commercial banks in lending shipping loans. By adopting the analytic hierarchical process methodology, the underwriting attitude is captured to understand how bankers would deal with shipping loans in response to the current lengthy recession. We find that bankers focus on the criteria of corporate recourse (CR) in their decision-makings. Of the CR factors, the financial strength of shipowner is the most important factor, followed by the shipowner’s business history and the bank–firm relationship. With the current underwriting attitude, the shipping sector may have limited access to shipping loans of international commercial banks due to low corporate ratings caused by the long recession and the nature of industry itself: volatility, fragmentation, capital intensity, high leverage, etc.     

2012年中国车市7大猜想

2011年中国汽车市场增速放缓,2012年的走势引人注目。通过对宏观经济、行业政策及消费环境的分析,指出2012年中国车市在刚性需求下,将在低速增长中调整。同时,2012年汽车市场的竞争更加激烈,车价走低是大势所趋,全球新车争相登陆中国市场,豪华车市场将继续东方不败,自主品牌企业面临更加严峻的挑战,独特的设计和人性化的配置成为购车首选。     

产业关联度视角下上海港航运业增值税改革研究

在国务院扩大交通运输业营业税改征增值税试点范围之际,对上海港航运业增值税改革进行探讨。分析港航业产业与配套产业关联度,阐述上海港航运业增值税改革的效应。在此基础上提出相关政策建议。     

解析铁道行业标准《铁路车机联控作业》

车机联控是车务、机务等行车有关人员提示行车安全信息、确认行车要求的互控方式.为满足现场作业实际需求,制定TB/T 30003—2020《铁路车机联控作业》.介绍标准制定背景、制定原则、主要技术内容,以便标准使用者更好地理解和实施TB/T 30003—2020.     

数字出版——出版社新的产业增长点

伴随互联网和高新技术的快速发展,传统出版物的增长速度在下降,而多媒体出版物则高速增长。面对这一发展趋势,本文提出了出版社进行数字出版建设需要着手解决的问题。     

长洲枢纽船闸滞航原因分析及解决方案探讨

文章分析了西江下游长洲枢纽船闸附近江面大量船舶滞航的根本原因，结合国内外船闸管理机构的先进经验，提出了解决长洲枢纽船闸滞航问题的方案以及优化船闸管理与维护的方法。     

MATLAB有限元方法在船舶推进轴系校中计算中的应用

船舶推进轴系安装是船舶建造中重要的一个环节，船舶轴系合理校中计算对保证轴系长期可靠运转极为重要。本文介绍了船舶轴系校中计算中常用的有限元法。依据该方法用MATLAB有限元的方法编制轴系校中计算程序，通过该程序可以计算出船舶在下水、满载或半载情况下，由于船体变形而导致轴系参数的变化。