Competitive strategies for original equipment manufacturers considering carbon cap and trade

This paper considers an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) faces competition from an independent remanufacturer (IR) and they both are regulated by carbon cap and trade policy (CTP). We develop models to explore the OEM’s optimal competitive strategy in the face of IR’s competition and environmental regulation. We first investigate the impact of CTP on the OEM and IR. Then, we analyze three competitive strategies that the OEM may choose: remanufacturing, fixed-fee licensing, and royalty licensing. We investigate their optimal decisions under each strategy and identify the conditions under which these strategies can coordinate the OEM and IR. Finally, we explore conditions under which one strategy is superior to another. The results show that the OEM is worse off when competing with the IR under CTP if the carbon cap allocated to the OEM is small. Fixed-fee licensing and royalty licensing can coordinate the OEM and IR not only from an economic perspective but also from an environmental perspective. The OEM’s optimal competitive strategy is determined by thresholds of three critical parameters: the fixed cost of setting up a remanufacturing system, the fixed-fee, and the per-unit royalty. We provide specific guidance on strategy selection for the OEM.     

CFRP圆柱螺旋弹簧静刚度预测理论及仿真

针对实心结构形式的碳纤维复合材料圆柱螺旋弹簧进行了建模分析,明确了相关的设计参数,提出了一种碳纤维复合材料圆柱螺旋弹簧的静刚度预测理论,进行了算例分析,并将理论预测结果与仿真结果进行了比较.结果表明,理论预测值与仿真值相比误差较小,该预测理论可用于碳纤维复合材料圆柱螺旋弹簧的静刚度设计.     

California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard: Modeling financial least-cost pathways to compliance in Northwest California

The transition to low-carbon transportation fuels plays a key role in ongoing efforts to combat climate change. This analysis seeks to optimize potential alternative fuel portfolios that would lead to a 10% reduction in fuel carbon intensity by 2020 as required under California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).We present a novel, probabilistic modeling approach for evaluating alternative fuel portfolios based on their marginal greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement costs. Applied to a case study region in Northwest California, our model enables us to quantify the financial cost of GHG reduction via each fuel pathway, as well as for a portfolio deployed to meet the LCFS target. It also enables us to explore the sensitivity of the alternative fuel portfolio, evaluating the impact of fluctuating prices, fuel carbon intensities, and technology penetrations on the makeup of the portfolio and on the average cost of GHG abatement.We find that battery electric vehicles play a critical role, as they offer the lowest-financial-cost significant abatement in almost all plausible scenarios. However, electric vehicles alone will not be sufficient to reach the target; low-carbon biofuels can be expected to play a role in the achievement of 2020 Low Carbon Fuel Standard targets.     

Energetic,environmental and economic performance of electric vehicles: Experimental evaluation

Fuelled by a rapidly rising human global population, an increasing demand for freedom to travel and the affordability made possible by modern manufacturing there has been an exponential rise in the number of automobiles – in the year 2013 there were in excess of a billion automobiles in use! Three factors that are of serious concern are the consequential energetic, environmental and economic impacts. One solution that is being seen by a number of national governments is the advent (or rather re-introduction) of electric vehicles (EVs). However, one of the key factors that will need to be explored will be the source of the required electricity for the EVs that will define the level of their sustainability.In this article an experimental evaluation of an electric vehicle has been undertaken. The Renault Zoe e-car has been used for this task with the ‘car chasing’ technique employed to measure the driving cycle. The speed and energy use were recorded for the vehicle that was driven along the principal arteries of the City of Edinburgh, Scotland. In a separate activity vehicle driving tests were also undertaken in one town in Slovenia (Celje). In both places urban and suburban routes were covered for different times of the day. Results are presented to quantify the energetic, environmental and economic performance indices for the driven vehicle. A discussion is also provided on the potential for reduction of carbon emissions from the transport sector by provision of environmentally-friendly means of generating electricity.     

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.     

外部粘贴预应力碳纤维板技术加固桥梁结构的工程应用与评估

采用外部粘贴预应力碳纤维板技术对金刚桥进行加固。金刚桥是一座已使用40多年的钢筋混凝土简支T形梁桥,开裂严重,抗弯刚度退化,在汽车荷载作用下梁体挠曲变形明显,需要进行加固并提高其通行荷载。根据正截面承载力验算结果,确定在主梁底部和梁肋两侧尽可能接近底部的位置粘贴预应力碳纤维板进行加固,以提高抗弯强度。加固过程中采用结构基座式的预应力张拉设备对碳纤维板施加1 000 MPa的初始应力,并在桥梁支座处通过永久性锚具设置了可靠的锚固。加固完成后采用标准荷载对桥梁进行荷载试验。试验结果表明:应用预应力碳纤维板加固技术,桥梁结构承载力满足加固设计荷载要求,且挠曲变形显著减小,桥梁结构的内力分布得到明显改善。     

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.