Spectroscopy of solar prominences from space and ground

Two quiescent solar prominences were observed in July 2000 from SUMER aboard SOHO and from the two German solar telescopes at Tenerife. Two‐dimensional images taken at the VTT simultaneously in the spectral lines Hβ at 4862 Å and Ca II at 8542 Å show no significant spatial variation of their pressure‐sensitive emission ratio. Slit spectra of the Ca II 8542 Å and He I 10830 Å lines obtained at the Gregory‐Coudé telescope yield 8000 K < T_kin < 9000 K and 3 km/s < V_n–th < 8 km/s. Among the various spectral ranges observed with SUMER, we first investigate the Lyman emission lines, which were fitted by Gaussians yielding reliable spectral radiances and line widths for the series members 5 < k < 18. A determination of the level population gives for the lower series members a Boltzmann temperature of 60 000 K, the higher members being over‐populated. This temperature indicates an origin of the Lyman lines from hot surroundings of the cool prominence body seen in the ground‐based data; this also holds for the ‘hotter’ SUMER lines.     

Addressing regional disparities in allowance allocation in China’s national emissions trading scheme

China's national emissions trading scheme (ETS) is expected to be operational in 2017. Effectively addressing regional disparities at the provincial level in allowance allocation will greatly affect the acceptance of the allocation approach and thus deserves careful consideration. This article aims to explore possible approaches for addressing regional disparities, by introducing regional adjustment factors (RAF) in free allowance allocation. Based on the principle of ‘national unified rules?+?stricter adjustment by provincial authorities’, four single factorial and three multi-factorial methods are proposed to calculate the RAFs, through a normalization process. These methods are associated with the most acknowledged factors dealing with regional disparities, including per-capita GDP; per-capita CO₂ emissions; industrial sector contribution to GDP; economy-wide emissions control targets and CO₂ emissions per unit GDP, per unit power and heat output and per unit industrial added value. A comparative analysis is made for the seven methods, in regard to value distribution and level of matching regional political demand.

Key policy insights

• ‘Allowing stricter regional adjustment’ represents a dominant feature for China's national ETS, which aims to address regional disparities and government demands.

• How the adjustment plan is designed will have a major influence on the operation of the national ETS and regional business competitiveness. Provincial governments need to consider the trade-off between auction revenue and local business competitiveness.

• Applying the different methods leads to more scattered results for some regions, for whom the choice of adjustment approach will therefore have a greater impact.

• Based on the analysis, four adjustment methods that generate similar results – the per-capita GDP-based method, the intensity reduction target-based method, the 12th FYP target-based method and intensity-based grandfathering – are recommended for most provincial-level regions, with some exceptions.

     

Analysis of Stock Market Development and CO2 Emissions on OECD Countries via an Empirical Model

Accompanying economic growth, CO₂ emissions have polluted the natural environment worldwide. This study highlights the special problems with stock market development and CO₂ emissions in 25 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries during 1971–2007 to trace the trend of CO₂ emissions while countries grow their economies. A panel‐data model is applied to analyze the relationships between stock market (SM) development, energy consumption, gross domestic product (GDP), and CO₂ emissions in 25 OECD countries. Low‐GDP countries show different results from high‐GDP countries in the trends of SM development and CO₂ emissions, and dynamic effects occur in SM development and CO₂ emissions under various GDP conditions. There is a negative relationship between SM development and CO₂ emissions if countries enjoy high economic growth, which means that these countries avoid CO₂ emissions through SM development. However, a positive relationship is found between SM development and CO₂ emissions if countries experience low economic growth, which means that SM development does not show the boycott‐effect relationship with CO₂ emissions when countries experience low levels of economic development. This study shows a correlation between SM development and CO₂ emissions among OECD countries.     

新疆碳排放影响因素分析与政策建议

气候变化和二氧化碳减排问题已引起全世界的关注.本文运用岭回归分析1995-2008 年新疆碳排放与人口、经济、技术间的关系,并进一步探讨了产业结构和主导产业对碳排放的影响,以寻找减排的技术路线和对策,推动区域低碳经济的发展.结果表明：①不合理的经济结构和人口增长对碳排放有显著的推动作用,技术进步虽在一定程度上缓解了碳排放,但影响甚微;②新疆过分依赖自然资源的经济增长方式和以第二产业为主的经济结构是导致温室气体排放量增加的主要原因;③研究期间,新疆的主导产业均为以石油天然气开采、石油化工、煤化工为主的重工业,但其在工业总产值的比重却有较大提升,导致对能源的消耗急剧增加.未来在全球化背景下,新疆应转变经济增长模式,加大生态保护力度,更多地依靠科技创新、技术进步和制度的改进,大力发展低碳产业.     

King Canute muses in the South Seas: Why aren’t Pacific Islands transitioning to low carbon sea transport futures?

Transition to low carbon sea transport is a logical response to the extreme dependency of the Pacific Islands region on imported fossil fuel, its significant vulnerability to the effects of climate change and the critical shipping needs of Pacific Island countries (PICs). Building on previous work in low carbon sea transport in the Pacific, this paper further considers the barriers to achieving such transition by assessing, through a ‘post-Paris Agreement’ lens, the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted by PICs and contrasting these to the near total lack of investment and planning for low carbon transition in the transport sector with the parallel occurrence in the electricity sector where ~USD 2 billion of donor investment is deployed or queued despite electricity using only ~20% of fossil fuel across the region. Consistent with recent international studies, inadequate and inappropriate financing and policy have been identified as dominant transition barriers for low carbon sea transport development in PICs. This paper further examines the regional level barriers to policy development, and finds them inhibited by the silo nature of the major regional actors. The implications that the Paris Agreement has for climate financing to support the essential research and capacity development needed to underpin a successful low carbon sea transport transition strategy at any useful scale and speed are also considered in this paper.     

Influencing mechanism of energy-related carbon emissions in Xinjiang based on the input-output and structural decomposition analysis

Analysis of carbon emission mechanism based on regional perspectives is an important research method capable of achieving energy savings and emission reductions. Xinjiang, an important Chinese energy production base, is currently going through a period of strategic opportunities for rapid development. Ensuring stable socio-economic development while achieving energy savings and meeting emission reductions targets, is the key issue currently facing the region. This paper is based on the input-output theory, and conducts a structural decomposition analysis on the factors affecting energy-related carbon emissions in Xinjiang from 1997 to 2007; this analysis employs a hybrid input-output analysis framework of “energy - economy - carbon emissions”. (1) Xinjiang’s carbon emissions from energy consumption increased from 20.70 million tons in 1997 to 40.34 million tons in 2007; carbon emissions growth was mainly concentrated in the production and processing of energy resources, the mining of mineral resources, and the processing industry. (2) The analysis of the direct effects of the influencing factors on carbon emissions showed that the change in per capita GDP, the final demand structure, the population scale, and the production structure were the important factors causing an increase in carbon emissions, while the decrease in carbon emission intensity during this period was the important influencing factor in stopping the growth of carbon emissions. This showed that while the sizes of Xinjiang’s economy and population were growing, the economic structure had not been effectively optimized and the production technology had not been efficiently improved, resulting in a rapid growth of carbon emissions from energy consumption. (3) The analysis of the indirect effects of the influencing factors of carbon emission showed that the inter-provincial export, fixed capital formation, and the consumption by urban residents had significant influence on the changes in carbon emissions from energy consumption in Xinjiang. (4) The growth of investments in fixed assets of carbon intensive industry sectors, in addition to the growth of inter-provincial exports of energy resource products, makes the transfer effect of inter-provincial “embodied carbon” very significant.     

中国房间空气调节器行业节能减排潜力分析

2012年,中国房间空气调节器（空调器）保有量约为3.57亿台,依据抽样调查数据计算得到保有量装机容量,采用各省市夏季平均温度估算超过26℃的时间作为运行时间计算得出年电力消耗约3.28×1011 kW?h,折合碳排放约为318 Mt CO₂当量。由于空调器国内需求量将进一步增长,预计到2030年保有量将达到当前的4～5倍。在电力结构不变情景下,空调器总体能效提高1倍,2030年空调器电力消耗产生的温室气体排放约为603 Mt CO₂当量。假设空调器总体能效提高1倍、高能效产品消费比例进一步提高并伴随中国能源结构调整,如水电、核电、太阳能等低碳能源比例不断提高,在满足中国空调器需求的前提下,2030年中国空调器电力消耗产生的温室气体排放可以争取控制在当前的水平。     

陕西省能源消费结构、产业结构演变对碳排放强度的冲击影响分析

基于陕西省1989-2011年能源消费等统计数据,分析能源消费结构、产业结构的演变特征,建立陕西省能源消费结构-产业结构-碳排放强度系统的VAR模型,对该系统的长期和短期动态关系进行实证分析。结果表明:陕西省的发展模式,是能源消费结构长期以高碳能源为主和产业结构长期以高碳产业为主导。能源消费结构与产业结构的变化对陕西省碳排放强度的减小作用初期微弱;从中长期来,两个结构多元化提高的负效应对碳排放强度的增加有长期持久的抑制作用,且能源消费结构演进对碳排放强度的冲击效果始终大于产业结构变化的冲击效果。优化产业结构和调整能源消费结构尤其是提高低碳产业与低碳能源比重是驱动陕西省碳排放强度下降的有效措施。     

基于结构分解法的北京能源碳排放增量分析(英文)

确保减碳的首要任务是定量测度化石能源消费碳排放的增量影响因素及其大小。为分析北京市1997-2007年的碳排放增量,本文构建了一个扩展的(调入、进口)竞争型经济—能源—碳排放投入产出模型,从整体特征、不同产业、工业行业3个方面,对1997-2007年北京能源消费的碳排放增量进行了结构分解。分析发现:经济规模增长要素(消费、投资、调出和出口等)是拉动碳排放增长的主导因素,能源强度变动效应却是碳减排的决定性因素;在规模扩张因素中,消费和调出超过投资和出口,是碳排放增长的主要贡献者;2002以来新一轮"高碳"特征的工业化导致CO2排量呈急增之势;产业结构调整、三产比重最大使得服务业成为碳排放增长的最大部门,但工业排放的增长却后来居上;碳增排的重点行业是高能耗业,而碳减排的却是能源工业;两时段各效应在不同产业、不同工业行业的影响方向和大小不一。     

美国碳排放权交易体系评析

通过评析当前美国最主要的两类碳排放交易体系--自愿减排和总量控制与交易体系的发展现状与前景得到,自愿减排终因需求不足而难以维系,只有建立碳排放的总量控制与交易体系,才能进行持续的碳交易,完成减碳目标。借鉴美国区域温室气体行动、西部气候倡议和加州总量控制与交易体系的经验,建议中国选择具有一定基础的省份或行业试行总量控制与交易体系,初期排放配额的分配以免费发放为主,拍卖为辅,并严格控制碳抵消的数量和范围等,然后再逐步过渡到拍卖方式。