Potential of wind power projects under the Clean Development Mechanism in India

Background  

So far, the cumulative installed capacity of wind power projects in India is far below their gross potential (≤ 15%) despite very high level of policy support, tax benefits, long term financing schemes etc., for more than 10 years etc. One of the major barriers is the high costs of investments in these systems. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol provides industrialized countries with an incentive to invest in emission reduction projects in developing countries to achieve a reduction in CO₂ emissions at lowest cost that also promotes sustainable development in the host country. Wind power projects could be of interest under the CDM because they directly displace greenhouse gas emissions while contributing to sustainable rural development, if developed correctly.     

Particle acceleration by ultrarelativistic shocks: theory and simulations

We consider the acceleration of charged particles near ultrarelativistic shocks, with Lorentz factor     . We present simulations of the acceleration process and compare these with results from semi-analytical calculations. We show that the spectrum that results from acceleration near ultrarelativistic shocks is a power law,     , with a nearly universal value     for the slope of this power law.
We confirm that the ultrarelativistic equivalent of the Fermi acceleration at a shock differs from its non-relativistic counterpart by the occurrence of large anisotropies in the distribution of the accelerated particles near the shock. In the rest frame of the upstream fluid, particles can only outrun the shock when their direction of motion lies within a small loss cone of opening angle     around the shock normal.
We also show that all physically plausible deflection or scattering mechanisms can change the upstream flight direction of relativistic particles originating from downstream by only a small amount:     . This limits the energy change per shock crossing cycle to     , except for the first cycle where particles originate upstream. In that case the upstream energy is boosted by a factor     for those particles that are scattered back across the shock into the upstream region.     

Robustness of truncated α Ω dynamos with a dynamic α

In a recent work (Covas et al., 1996), the behaviour and the robustness of truncated dynamos with a dynamic were studied with respect to a number of changes in the driving term of the dynamic equation, which was considered previously by Schmalz and Stix (1991) to be of the form AB. Here we review and extend our previous work and consider the effect of adding a quadratic quenching term of the form |B|². We find that, as before, such a change can have significant effects on the dynamics of the related truncated systems. We also find intervals of (negative) dynamo numbers, in the system considered by Schmalz and Stix (1991), for which there is sensitivity with respect to small changes in the dynamo number and the initial conditions, similar to what was found in our previous work. This latter behaviour may be of importance in producing the intermittent type of behaviour observed in the Sun.     

Cambrian sedimentary dykes in the Proterozoic basement of the Västervik area (southeast Sweden): episodic formation inferred from macro- and microfabrics

Fabrics of Cambrian sedimentary dykes formed in Proterozoic granites of the Västervik area (Southeast Sweden) evidence repeated opening/filling and mineralisation/cementation events under varying conditions. Diagnostic features include (1) wall-parallel boundaries between epiclastic fillings and (2) early formed dyke sediments that appear as lithoclasts in subsequently formed sedimentary fillings. The psammitic components mostly consist of well-rounded quartz grains related to a coastal environment and fragments from the granitic host rock. Platy calcitic fragments embedded in the epiclastic matrix originally formed as microveins within already-lithified dyke sediments and the adjacent host rock. Convex downward-pointing, internal sagging structures, together with the preferred orientation of compositional boundaries and long axes of grains/rock fragments parallel to the dyke walls, are interpreted as the result of suction-controlled flow of unconsolidated fillings during episodes of downward dyke growth. Pressure solution of quartz grains are evidence of extensional phases with dyke propagation that were interrupted by phases of horizontal compression normal to the dyke walls. The N–S and NE–SW striking sedimentary dykes formed by opening of a pre-existing joint set during NW–SE oriented rifting during the Cambrian.     

A Green Planet Versus a Desert World: Estimating the Maximum Effect of Vegetation on the Land Surface Climate

We quantify the maximum possible influence of vegetation on the global climate by conducting two extreme climate model simulations: in a first simulation (desert world), values representative of a desert are used for the land surface parameters for all non glaciated land regions. At the other extreme, a second simulation is performed (green planet) in which values are used which are most beneficial for the biosphere's productivity. Land surface evapotranspiration more than triples in the presence of the green planet, land precipitation doubles (as a second order effect) and near surface temperatures are lower by as much as 8 K in the seasonal mean resulting from the increase in latent heat flux. The differences can be understood in terms of more absorbed radiation at the surface and increased recycling of water. Most of the increase in net surface radiation originates from less thermal radiative loss and not from increases in solar radiation which would be expected from the albedo change. To illustrate the differences in climatic character and what it would imply for the vegetation type, we use the Köppen climate classification. Both cases lead to similar classifications in the extra tropics and South America indicating that the character of the climate is not substantially altered in these regions. Fundamental changes occur over Africa, South Asia and Australia, where large regions are classified as arid (grassland/desert) climate in the desert world simulation while classified as a forest climate in the green planet simulation as a result of the strong influence of maximum vegetation on the climate. This implies that these regions are especially sensitive to biosphere-atmosphere interaction.     

Provenance of Upper Devonian clastic (meta)sediments of the Böllstein Odenwald (Mid-German-Crystalline-Zone,Variscides)

International Journal of Earth Sciences - Detrital zircons separated from paragneisses of the northern Böllstein Odenwald (Mid-German Crystalline Zone, Variscides) yielded Cambrian to Upper...     

Testing the Effect of Life on Earth's Functioning: How Gaian Is the Earth System?

The Gaia hypothesis of Lovelock states that life regulates Earth's functioning for its own benefit, maintaining habitable, or even optimum conditions for life. But what is beneficial? What is good for one species, may be bad for another. Problems associated with this important, but ill-defined hypothesis make it difficult to test. In order to address these problems and make the concept of Gaia testable, I give a precise definition of terms. Based on these definitions, I put forward four null hypotheses, describing increasing beneficial effects of life on the conditions of Earth, ranging from an ‘Antigaian’ to an ‘optimising Gaian’ null hypothesis. I list some indications for rejection of all but one hypothesis, and conclude that life has indeed a strong tendency to affect Earth in a way which enhances the overall benefit (that is, carbon uptake). However, this does not imply that the biota regulates Earth's environment for its own benefit.     

A hydrographic time series station in the Wadden Sea (southern North Sea)

In the tidal inlet between the East Frisian islands of Langeoog and Spiekeroog, southern North Sea, a time-series station was set up in autumn 2002 as part of the research programme BioGeoChemistry of Tidal Flats run by the University of Oldenburg. The purpose of the station is to provide continuous data on physical, biological and chemical parameters. In addition to instruments recording basic hydrographic and meteorological parameters, the time-series station is equipped with acoustic Doppler profilers for measuring surface waves and current profiles. Compact optical spectrometers are being used for spectral measurements of seawater transmission and for daylight reflectance. Additional sensors were installed for measuring oxygen, nutrients and methane in the seawater. The data shall help to quantify the flux of dissolved and suspended matter between the backbarrier tidal flat and the open sea and to characterise the material transformation in the tidal flat area by biogeochemical processes over the tidal cycle. Due to its novel design, operation of the station is also possible during winter and under extreme weather conditions (gales, storm surges, and sea ice) when data sampling with conventional platforms such as research vessels, buoys, or smaller poles could not be performed in the past. In this way, time series of data are obtained, which include events that are most relevant to the evolution of this coastal area. The performance of the station and its equipment are presented with data covering 6 years of operation. Time series of air and water temperature as well as seawater salinity demonstrate the multiyear dynamics of these parameters in the East Frisian Wadden Sea. Hydrographic data collected under specific meteorological conditions such as gales and storm surges exemplify the all-weather capabilities of the station and its value for studying hydrographic processes in the Wadden Sea.     

Climate or development: is ODA diverted from its original purpose?

We analyze the interaction of climate and development policy that has taken place since the early 1990s. Increasing dissatisfaction about the results of traditional development cooperation and the appeal of climate policy as a new policy field led to a rapid reorientation of aid flows. At the turn of the century, over 7% of aid flows were spent on greenhouse gas emissions mitigation. However, the contribution of emissions mitigation projects to the central development objective of poverty reduction as specified in the Millennium Development Goals is limited and other project types are likely to be much more effective. Adaptation to climate change can be expected to have higher synergies with poverty alleviation than mitigation, primarily through its impact on health, the conservation of arable land and the protection against natural disasters. An analysis of the Clean Development Mechanism shows that projects addressing the poor directly are very rare; even small renewable energy projects in rural areas tend to benefit rich farmers and the urban population. Use of development aid for CDM projects and / or their preparation via capacity building is thus clearly not warranted. We further analyze whether the use of development aid for climate policy could be justified as a countermeasure against the emission increase related to successful development itself. However, countries that are achieving an improvement of human development from a low level are unlikely to increase their energy consumption substantially. Only at a level where the middle class expands rapidly, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions soar. Thus targeting middle class energy consumption by appliance efficiency standards and public transport-friendly urban planning are the most effective measures to address developing country emissions. Rural renewable energy provision in poor countries has a much higher impact on poverty, but a much lower impact on greenhouse gas emissions. We conclude that while there are valid reasons for long-term collaboration with emerging economies on greenhouse gas mitigation, there should be a separate budget line for such activities to avoid “obfuscation” of a decline of resources aimed at poverty alleviation. Nevertheless, mitigation will remain attractive for donors because it ensures quick disbursements and relatively simple measures of success. Moreover, mitigation activities in developing countries provide politicians in industrialized countries with a welcome strategy to divert the attention of their constituencies from the lack of success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions domestically.     

(Near-)real-time orbit determination for GNSS radio occultation processing

The processing of GPS radio occultation measurements for use in numerical weather predictions requires a precise orbit determination (POD) of the host satellite in near-real-time. Making use of data from the GRAS instrument on Metop-A, the performance of different GPS ephemeris products and processing concepts for near-real-time and real-time POD is compared. While previous analyses have focused on the achievable along-track velocity accuracy, this study contributes a systematic comparison of the resulting estimated bending angles. This enables a more rigorous trade-off of different orbit determination methodologies in relation to the end-user needs for atmospheric science products. It is demonstrated that near-real-time GPS orbit and clock products have reached a sufficient quality to determine the Metop-A along-track velocity with an accuracy of better than 0.05 mm/s that was formerly only accessible in post-processing. The resulting bending angles are shown to exhibit standard deviation and bias differences of less than 0.3 % compared with post-processed products up to altitudes of at least 40 km, which is notably better than 1 % accuracy typically assumed for numerical weather predictions in this height regime. Complementary to the analysis of ground-based processing schemes, the potential of autonomous on-board orbit determination is investigated for the first time. Using actual GRAS flight data, it is shown that a 0.5 m 3D rms position accuracy and a 0.2 mm/s along-track velocity accuracy can in fact be obtained in real-time with the currently available GPS broadcast ephemeris quality. Bending angles derived from the simulated real-time processing exhibit a minor performance degradation above tangent point heights of 40 km but negligible differences with respect to ground-based products below this altitude. Onboard orbit determination and, if desired, bending angle computation, can thus enable a further simplification of the ground segment in future radio occultation missions and contribute to reduced product latencies for radio occultation data assimilation in numerical weather predictions.