Coherent approach for modeling and nowcasting hourly near-road Black Carbon concentrations in Seattle,Washington

With a growing awareness of the importance of near-road air pollution and an increasing population of near-road pedestrians, it is imperative to “nowcast” near-road air quality conditions to the general public. This necessitates the building hourly predictive models that are both accurate and easy to use. This study demonstrates an approach to model the hourly near-road Black Carbon (BC) concentrations given on-road traffic information and current meteorological conditions using datasets from two urban sites in Seattle, Washington. The optimal set of prediction variables is determined with a Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) method and three different model structures are further developed and compared by goodness-of-fit. An innovative approach is proposed to translate wind direction from numerical values to categorical variables with statistical significance. By modeling the autocorrelation within the BC time series using an AR(1) component, the model achieves a satisfactory prediction accuracy. The conditional heteroscedasticity and heavy-tailed distribution of the model residuals are successfully identified and modeled by the General Auto Regressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model, which provides valuable insights to the interpretation of prediction results. The methodological procedure demonstrated in selecting and fine-tuning the model is computationally efficient and valuable for further implementation onto online platforms for near-road BC nowcasting. A comparison between the two sites also reveals the effectiveness of local freight regulation for mitigating the environmental impacts from a heavy truck fleet.     

The carbon footprint of business travel in the knowledge-intensive service sector

We explore the travel needs and patterns, and the corresponding carbon footprint, of small service organizations during different phases of knowledge-intensive business processes, and compare the results with the priorities given to travel-related goals by staff. We apply a combination of focus group data, mobile positioning, and individual follow-up interviews as study methods. The need for physical travel is determined by a combination of the perceived potential for knowledge creation and transfer offered by each trip, the strength of interpersonal relationships in business networks, and the significance of the travel goal in terms of economic sustainability. The priorities given to travel goals reflect the environmental load of business travel only in domestic contexts, where executing core business processes accounted for the highest carbon footprint. We propose the ways in which the management of business interactions could take into account sociotechnical environment and social recognition of low-carbon communication and travel modes.     

Combining pickups and deliveries in vehicle routing – An assessment of carbon emission effects

This paper studies the effect on carbon emissions of consolidation of shipments on trucks. New positioning and communication technologies, as well as decision support systems for vehicle routing, enable better utilization of vehicle capacity, reduced travel distance, and thereby carbon emission reductions. We present a novel carbon emission analysis method that determines the emission savings obtained by an individual transport provider, who receives customer orders for outbound deliveries as well as pickup orders from supply locations. The transport provider can improve vehicle utilization by performing pickups and deliveries jointly instead of using separate trucks. In our model we assume that the transport provider minimizes costs by use of a tool that calculates detailed vehicle routing plans, i.e., an assignment of each transport order to a specific vehicle in the fleet, and the sequence of customer visit for each vehicle. We compare a basic set-up, in which pickups and deliveries are segregated and performed with separate vehicles, with two consolidation set-ups where pickups and deliveries may be mixed more or less freely on a single vehicle. By allowing mixing, the average vehicle load will increase and the total driven distance will decrease. To compare carbon emissions for the three set-ups, we use a carbon assessment method that uses the distance driven and the average load factor. An increase in the load factor can reduce part of the emission savings from consolidation. We find that emission savings are relatively large in case of small vehicles and for delivery and pickup locations that are relatively far from the depot. However, if a truck visits many demand and supply locations before returning to the depot, we observe negligible carbon emission decreases or even emission increases for consolidation set-ups, meaning that in such cases investing in consolidation through joint pickups and deliveries may not be effective. The results of our study will be useful for transport users and providers, policymakers, as well as vehicle routing technology vendors.     

Winter–spring dynamics in sea-ice carbon cycling in the coastal Arctic Ocean

An understanding of microbial interactions in first-year sea ice on Arctic shelves is essential for identifying potential responses of the Arctic Ocean carbon cycle to changing sea-ice conditions. This study assessed dissolved and particulate organic carbon (DOC, POC), exopolymeric substances (EPS), chlorophyll a, bacteria and protists, in a seasonal (24 February to 20 June 2004) investigation of first-year sea ice and associated surface waters on the Mackenzie Shelf. The dynamics of and relationships between different sea-ice carbon pools were investigated for the periods prior to, during and following the sea-ice-algal bloom, under high and low snow cover. A predominantly heterotrophic sea-ice community was observed prior to the ice-algal bloom under high snow cover only. However, the heterotrophic community persisted throughout the study with bacteria accounting for, on average, 44% of the non-diatom particulate carbon biomass overall the study period. There was an extensive accumulation of sea-ice organic carbon following the onset of the ice-algal bloom, with diatoms driving seasonal and spatial trends in particulate sea-ice biomass. DOC and EPS were also significant sea-ice carbon contributors such that sea-ice DOC concentrations were higher than, or equivalent to, sea-ice-algal carbon concentrations prior to and following the algal bloom, respectively. Sea-ice-algal carbon, DOC and EPS-carbon concentrations were significantly interrelated under high and low snow cover during the algal bloom (r values ≥ 0.74, p < 0.01). These relationships suggest that algae are primarily responsible for the large pools of DOC and EPS-carbon and that similar stressors and/or processes could be involved in regulating their release. This study demonstrates that DOC can play a major role in organic carbon cycling on Arctic shelves.     

On the relation between organic and inorganic carbon in the Weddell Sea

Carbon cycling in the Weddell Sea was investigated during the ANT X/7 cruise with `FS Polarstern' December 1992–January 1993. Samples were taken on a cross section from Kapp Norvegia to Joinville Island, and on a section from the Larsen Ice Shelf to the northeast. The following quantities were measured: total carbon dioxide (TCO₂), fluorescence from humic substances and total organic carbon. The distribution of TCO₂ was strongly positively correlated to the time elapsed since the various water masses were last ventilated. In general, humic substance fluorescence was positively correlated with TCO₂, with the exception of the productive part of the western Weddell Sea, where the correlation was negative in the surface mixed layer. The increased fluorescence at the surface is suggested to be a result of biological production. The distribution of total organic carbon showed less structure, since this quantity includes a particulate component, which is subject to dispersion processes different from those of the dissolved components TCO₂ and humic substances. The mean total organic carbon concentration below the surface mixed layer was 50 μmol l⁻¹. At some stations, a steep TOC maximum around 2000 m depth was observed. This was interpreted to result from mass sinking of phytoplankton blooms. Total organic carbon had a maximum in surface water, and at some stations also a second subsurface maximum. In the Warm Deep Water (WDW), TCO₂ and fluorescence had their maximum values, while total organic carbon tended to be low. In low productivity surface water in the eastern part of the Kapp Norvegia–Joinville Island section, the lowest flourescence was found. Surface water is eventually formed from Warm Deep Water, which had the highest fluorescence values, and therefore it is concluded that humic substances were removed in situ from surface water. In the central area of the Weddell Sea, TCO₂ and fluorescence showed the highest Warm Deep Water maxima, while total organic carbon was low. The Warm Deep Water in this area is part of the so-called Central Intermediate Water which circulates for a long time within the Weddell Gyre. Reduced total organic carbon, which coincides with the most pronounced Central Intermediate Water characteristics, and high TCO₂ can thus both be accounted for by continued degradation of organic matter in this water mass. The associated fluorescence maximum implies that humic substances are also produced during mineralisation. Recently formed bottom water, by contrast, could be seen as patches of low TCO₂, low fluorescence and high total organic carbon along the western slope of the Weddell Sea.     

Estimates of Southern Ocean primary production—constraints from predator carbon demand and nutrient drawdown

In view of the wide range of estimates for the total primary production for the Southern Ocean south of the Subantarctic Front—current estimates range from 1.2 to 3.5 Gtonne C year⁻¹—we have examined two indirect methods for assessing primary production. First, we have estimated the primary production needed to sustain the carbon requirements of the endotherm top predators in the ecosystem. Estimation of the carbon requirements for crabeater seals of about 7 Mtonne C year⁻¹ is extrapolated to a value for all endotherm predators of 15–30 Mtonne C year⁻¹. Current data indicate that 70–80% of the diet of this suite of predators is zooplankton (predominantly the euphausiid krill), making for highly efficient transfer from primary production to top predators. Our best estimate of Southern Ocean primary production by this method is of the order of 1.7 Gtonne C year⁻¹, or an averaged areal primary production of about 30–40 g C m⁻² year⁻¹. Our second approach is to estimate primary production from the drawdown of inorganic nutrients, based on the limited suite of studies from which an annual nutrient deficit can be calculated. Again, this indicates annual primary production of the order of 1.5 Gtonne. Although both methods have inherent uncertainties, taken together they provide a relatively robust constraint on annual primary production. For both methods to underestimate primary production by the 1–1.5 Gtonne C implied by the higher current estimates, carbon export from the Southern Ocean pelagic ecosystem would need to be much higher than is normally found in other oceans.     

Seasonal carbon distribution of copepods in the eastern Weddell Sea, Antarctica

Copepods were sampled by a multiple opening-closing net in the eastern Weddell Sea during various seasons (late winter/early spring, summer, autumn). Total copepod biomass integrated over the upper 1000 m varied seasonally between 1.7 mg C m⁻³ in late winter/early spring and 3.7 mg C m⁻³ in autumn. After the dark season the copepods were rather evenly distributed vertically and highest biomass levels were found in the mid-water layers between about 200 m and 500 m. By contrast, especially in summer but also in autumn copepod biomass concentrated in the uppermost water layer. A total of 64 calanoid species were identified in the upper 1000 m with maximum species numbers in the deepest layer. The large calanoids Calanus propinquus, Calanoides acutus, Metridia gerlachei, Euchaeta antarctica and the small calanoid Microcalanus pygmaeus prevailed and accounted for 60–70% of total copepod biomass, while the small poecilostomatoid Oncaea and the cyclopoid Oithona species comprised about 20%. Hence, the distribution pattern of the entire copepod biomass is strongly influenced by the life cycles of a few dominant species.     

低碳消费中公益广告的角色分析

本文通过对消费者信息处理过程的阶段分析,阐述低碳消费的观念作为公益广告的形式在传播中的信息传达阶段和信息扩散阶段的流程节点。在公益广告传播中要通过各种表现形式引导消费者对低碳消费信息认知,其次从正面的信息传达和反面的＂警钟诉求＂来塑造大众与低碳消费信息的情感,最后通过直接的信息诉求激励和间接的降低＂充欲主义＂的影响来促使消费行为发生乃至形成习惯。     

潜艇舱室固态胺CO2清除技术的基础理论分析

简述了国内外潜艇舱室二氧化碳的清除方法,指出了固态胺技术将是未来发展的主要方向之一,分析了固态胺吸附与再生的理论基础,给出了成功应用该技术需要优先解决的系列问题。     

Heterogeneous fixed fleet vehicle routing considering carbon emission

The paper considers heterogeneous fixed fleet vehicle routing with carbon emission to minimizing the sum of variable operation costs. A cost-benefit assessment of the value of purchasing or selling of carbon emission rights, using a mixed integer-programming model to reflect heterogeneous vehicle routing, is incorporated. Essentially, the use of a carbon market as a means of introducing more flexibility into an environmentally constrained network is considered. Tabu search algorithms are used to obtain solutions within a reasonable amount of computation time. In particular, we show the possibility that the amount of carbon emission can be reduced significantly without sacrificing the cost due to the benefit obtained from carbon trading.