The Alternative Motor Fuels Act, alternative-fuel vehicles, and greenhouse gas emissions

The corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard is the major policy tool to improve the fleet average miles per gallon of automobile manufacturers in the US. The Alternative Motor Fuels Act (AMFA) provides special treatment in calculating the fuel economy of alternative-fuel vehicles to give manufacturers CAFE incentives to produce more alternative-fuel vehicles. AMFA has as its goals an increase in the production of alternative-fuel vehicles and a decrease in gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper examines theoretically the effects of the program set up under AMFA. It finds that, under some conditions, this program may actually increase the production of fuel-inefficient gasoline vehicles, gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.     

A field evaluation case study of the environmental and energy impacts of traffic calming

This study quantifies the energy and environmental impact of a selection of traffic calming measures using a combination of second-by-second floating-car global positioning system data and microscopic energy and emission models. It finds that traffic calming may result in negative impacts on vehicle fuel consumption and emission rates if drivers exert aggressive acceleration levels to speed up to their journeys. Consequently by eliminating sharp acceleration maneuvers significant savings in vehicle fuel consumption and emission rates are achievable through driver education. The study also demonstrates that high emitting vehicles produce CO emissions that are up to 25 times higher than normal vehicle emission levels while low emitting vehicles produce emissions that are 15–35% of normal vehicles. The relative increases in vehicle fuel consumption and emission levels associated with the sample traffic calming measures are consistent and similar for normal, low, and high emitting vehicles.     

Ecologically based hybrid life cycle analysis of continuously reinforced concrete and hot-mix asphalt pavements

An ecologically-based hybrid life cycle assessment model is used to evaluate the resource consumption and atmospheric emissions of continuously reinforced concrete and a hot-mix asphalt pavements. The cumulative mass and ecological resource consumption values are lower for continuously reinforced concrete, but the median values of cumulative energy and industrial energy consumption were lower for hot-mix asphalt. In addition, the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement results in a higher sensitivity for the ecological resource consumption of hot-mix asphalt compared to that of fly ash when use on the natural capital utilization of continuously reinforced concrete pavement. The cumulative and industrial exergy consumption values are significantly reduced with increases in reclaimed asphalt pavement and fly ash, and the use of low fuel transportation modes.     

Environmental impacts of public transport systems using real-time control method

Public Transport (PT) systems rely more and more on online information extracted from both operator’s intelligent equipment and user’s smartphone applications. This allows for a better fit between supply and demand of the multimodal PT system, especially through the use of PT real-time control actions/tactics. In doing so there is also an opportunity to consider environmental-related issues to approach energy saving and reduced pollution. This study investigates and analyses the benefits of using real-time PT operational tactics in reducing the undesirable environmental impacts. A tactic-based control (TBC) optimization model is used to minimize total passenger travel time and maximize direct transfers (without waiting). The model consists of a control policy built upon a combination of three tactics: holding, skip-stops, and boarding limit. The environmental-related measure is the global warming potential (GWP) using the life cycle assessment technique. The methodology developed is applied to a real life case study in Auckland, New Zealand. Results show that TBC could reduce the GWP by means of reduction of total passenger travel times and vehicle travel cycle time. That is, the TBC model results in a 5.6% reduction in total GWP per day compared with an existing no-tactic scenario. This study supports the use of real-time control actions to maintain a reliable PT service, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and subsequently moving towards greener PT systems.     

铁路建设项目社会经济环境影响评价研究进展

社会经济环境影响评价（Socioeconomic Environmental Imp3ct Assessment．简称SEIA）作为一项综合的环境影响评价（Environmental Impact Assessment。简称EIA）的重要组成部分,由于其重要的理论和现实意义。正日益引起重视。受到越来越多的关注。与其它行业相比,铁路工程在社会经济环境影响方面显得尤为突出。但从目前的实际情况来看。关于铁路建设项目SEIA的研究尚处于起步阶段,文献很少。理论不成熟,实际操作也不规范,许多方面缺乏统一的认识。系统地回顾了SEIA研究历史和现状．并总结了国内铁路建设项目SEIA存在的主要问题。     

Trade-offs between mobility and equity maximization under environmental capacity constraints: A case study of an integrated multi-objective model

This paper investigates the performance of a policy decision tool proposed for multi-objective decision under different policy interventions. This tool deals with the trade-off between mobility and equity maximization under environmental capacity constraints. Two system objectives, maximization of mobility and equity, are formulated in terms of the sum of total car ownership and number of trips, and the differences in accessibility between zones. Environmental capacities are based on production efficiency theory in which the frontier emission under maximum system efficiency is taken as environmental capacity. To examine the performance of the proposed model, three types of hypothetical policies (network improvement, population increase and urban sprawl) are formulated. Effects are simulated using data pertaining to Dalian City, China. Results show that the proposed model is capable of representing the trade-offs between mobility and equity based on different policy interventions. Compared with two extreme cases with the single objective of mobility maximization or equity maximization, the Pareto-optimal solutions provide more interesting practical options for decision makers. Taking the solution based on the maximum equity as an example, the policy of urban sprawl yields the most significant improvement in both emission and accessibility of the three scenarios.     

扶贫道路项目后评价体系的研究

在参考世界银行项目后评价程序与方法的基础上，结合河南省世界银行扶贫道路项目的项目管理经验和特点，建立具有特色的扶贫道路项目后评价体系。     

黄土地区铁路建设项目对地下水环境的影响研究

在我国西北地区,铁路项目的隧道工程越来越多,其对黄土含水层的地下水环境影响受到关注。为减轻隧道工程对地下水环境的影响,保证当地居民正常的生活用水及生态用水,以穿越黄土地区的铁路项目南惠隧道为例,在现场调查的基础上,介绍该隧道工程线路附近区域的水文地质条件及隧道外环境现状,重点分析该隧道工程的建设对线位附近地表水库、两侧村民饮用水井及对隧道洞顶植被可能产生的影响,并结合工程的具体情况,提出相应的环境保护措施,确保工程对地下水环境的影响降到最低。并对同类隧道工程给出工程环保选线上的一些建议。     

西安至韩城城际铁路线路走向方案研究

西安至韩城城际铁路是关中城市群城际铁路网中的重要项目,线路方案受沿线城镇布局、城市规划、环境保护区、煤矿采空区、旅游开发区等多种因素影响。从规划选线、环保选线、地质选线、工程选线以及站位选线等不同方面,以综合选线的研究方法在众多的控制因素中通过技术经济比选和利益平衡选择出一个能够满足各方利益诉求的线路方案。目前本项目已经通过预可行性研究初步评审,评审专家和沿线地方政府均对推荐的线路方案予以肯定。