Growth behavior and resource potential evaluation of gas hydrate in core fractures in Qilian Mountain permafrost area,Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The Qilian Mountain permafrost area located in the northern of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a favorable place for natural gas hydrate formation and enrichment, due to its well-developed fractures and abundant gas sources. Understanding the formation and distribution of multi-component gas hydrates in fractures is crucial in accurately evaluating the hydrate reservoir resources in this area. The hydrate formation experiments were carried out using the core samples drilled from hydrate-bearing sediments in Qilian Mountain permafrost area and the multi-component gas with similar composition to natural gas hydrates in Qilian Mountain permafrost area. The formation and distribution characteristics of multi-component gas hydrates in core samples were observed in situ by X-ray Computed Tomography (X-CT) under high pressure and low temperature conditions. Results show that hydrates are mainly formed and distributed in the fractures with good connectivity. The ratios of volume of hydrates formed in fractures to the volume of fractures are about 96.8% and 60.67% in two different core samples. This indicates that the fracture surface may act as a favorable reaction site for hydrate formation in core samples. Based on the field geological data and the experimental results, it is preliminarily estimated that the inventory of methane stored in the fractured gas hydrate in Qilian Mountain permafrost area is about 8.67×10¹³ m³, with a resource abundance of 8.67×10⁸ m³/km². This study demonstrates the great resource potential of fractured gas hydrate and also provides a new way to further understand the prospect of natural gas hydrate and other oil and gas resources in Qilian Mountain permafrost area.©2023 China Geology Editorial Office.     

Marine governance in an industrialised ocean: A case study of the emerging marine renewable energy industry

The world׳s oceans are currently undergoing an unprecedented period of industrialisation, made possible by advances in technology and driven by our growing need for food, energy and resources. This is placing the oceans are under intense pressure, and the ability of existing marine governance frameworks to sustainably manage the marine environment is increasingly being called into question. Emerging industries are challenging all aspects of these frameworks, raising questions regarding ownership and rights of the sea and its resources, management of environmental impacts, and management of ocean space. This paper uses the emerging marine renewable energy (MRE) industry, particularly in the United Kingdom (UK), as a case study to introduce and explore some of the key challenges. The paper concludes that the challenges are likely to be extensive and argues for development of a comprehensive legal research agenda to advance both MRE technologies and marine governance frameworks.     

“资源诅咒”命题与中国在非直接投资对非洲的影响

近10余年来,中国对非洲直接投资的增长势头令人瞩目。与此同时,西方对中国在非投资的非议也甚嚣尘上,他们以"资源诅咒"命题为理论根据,宣扬中国在非投资活动是所谓的"新殖民主义"。对中国在非直接投资的主要行业、特征和"资源诅咒"命题的科学性进行了考察,认为"资源诅咒"命题本身存在很多缺陷,并不足以作为分析评价中国在非投资活动的理论基础,探究了西方把"资源诅咒"命题作为理论根据的根源和中国在非投资对非洲的真实影响,提出了建议。     

Hydrocarbons, popular protest and national imaginaries: Ecuador and Bolivia in comparative context

This paper examines contemporary struggles over hydrocarbon governance in Ecuador and Bolivia. Our comparative analysis illustrates the ways that petro-capitalism, nationalist ideologies, popular movements and place conjoin in the governance of oil and natural gas. In the case of Ecuador, state employees drew on their labor relations and political training to oppose the government’s efforts to privatize the state oil company. In Bolivia, urban popular movements opposed the privatization of the hydrocarbons industry and its domination by foreign firms. In both cases, hydrocarbons struggles involved the production of imaginative geographies of the nation and it hydrocarbon resources, which in turn drew on historical memories of nationhood. Whereas neoliberal political and economic restructuring sought to re-organize national hydrocarbons companies, redraw concessions, and draft new resource extraction laws, hydrocarbon movements aimed to counter these processes by re-centering hydrocarbon governance within a populist vision of the nation-state. In contrast to analyses of resource conflict in the environmental security and resource curse literatures, the cases of Ecuador and Bolivia demonstrate that such struggles cannot be reduced to models of opportunity structure, war profiteering, or resource scarcity (or abundance). Rather, these cases show that political economy and cultural politics are inseparable in the context of resource conflicts, which involve struggles over the meanings of development, citizenship and the nation itself.     

滇东南铝的地球化学异常及资源预测

滇东南铝矿分原生沉积型和残、堆积型。区内地球化学反映较好。依据典型矿床地球化学、异常参数、矿床地质、储量等要素提取地球化学信息,确定地化异常,并对区内铝矿资源量进行预测。     

The role of resource recycling

Resource recycling reduces the amount of waste discharged into the global environment. The waste reduction achieved by thorough recycling is substantial. Recycling is thus an inseparable part of global environmental protection.We human beings have used mineral resources since the birth of our species. The quantities and increasingly complex forms in which mineral resources have been used at different times in our prehistory and history serve as indices of civilization's advancement. But on the eve of the 21st century, environmental pollution and global warming stemming from spiraling resource and energy consumption pose serious dilemmas for humanity. The rapidity with which our resource consumption has increased approximates exponential growth.The worsening condition of the earth's environment because of massive resource and energy consumption is the result of activity at many stages of production, from the mining of mineral resources to the manufacture of finished products; the culmination of the process is the disposal of products as waste after their use. As we shall see from examples given in this paper, efforts are being made to solve this problem through recycling; but in many areas the problems remain incompletely solved or unsolved altogether.     

沿江岸线资源地理信息系统的设计及实现

利用成熟的GIS技术、数据库技术、网络技术，建设岸线资源管理信息系统来作为沿江开发过程中对岸线资源进行统一管理的工具，根据沿江岸线资源分布的特点，合理地组织、布局生产力，建立工业区、城市群和产业带，提高沿江开发过程中决策的科学性，从而促进沿江开发区内乃至江苏经济持续快速健康发展。因此，对沿江岸线资源管理信息系统的设计及实现进行了详细描述和介绍。     

河南信阳茶叶资源环境优势及发展

信阳茶叶是河南省南部大别-桐柏山区的重要经济作物资源之一。该区域地处北亚热带，气候温暖湿润，生态环境复杂多样，植物资源丰富，是河南的鱼米之乡。气候条件独特，利于优质茶叶生长。因此，虽然以信阳毛尖为代表的信阳茶区茶叶面积小，茶叶总产量少，但产品质量上乘，深受茶叶消费者的喜爱，是全国名优绿茶重要产区。依据信阳茶区茶叶资源环境优势，提出进行名优绿色无公害茶产品的开发；组织茶叶产业化发展；加强信阳茶叶生产的标准化研究推广工作和加强对外经济技术联系协作，为河南省信阳茶叶可持续发展提供科学依据。     

Sustainable environmental resource utilisation: a case study of farmers’ ethnobotanical knowledge and rural change in Bungoma district, Kenya

This paper examines farmers’ ethnobotanical knowledge, innovation and rural change, and indicates one way in which indigenous technical knowledge complementing scientific knowledge may be documented for use by development planners and agencies. This paper firstly identifies plant species recognised as resources by farmers, and considers the value of these resources. Secondly, the paper documents and assesses the ethnobotanical knowledge associated with the utilisation of plant species, before turning to examine how plant resources are defined by use and culture. It also demonstrates that some components of ethnobotanical knowledge have potential for the sustainable development of plant species. The study shows that farmers have started to domesticate some of the ‘traditional’ plants, and new crops have been introduced associated with corresponding innovations in local agricultural systems. Since the farmers have a relatively strong tradition in natural resources conservation, this study suggests that it will be possible to introduce community-based gene banks linked to formal or government facilities. The paper demonstrates that it is important to combine and interweave ‘modern’ and indigenous knowledges to produce a more realistic and sensitive understanding and management of natural environmental resources for sustainable development.     

中国金资源预测及金矿远景区划

本文通过信息量法、方差法、逻辑法及分形理论分别圈定了我国花岗岩型、火山岩型、沉积－变质型岩金矿床的远景区。应用概率法、吉波夫分布法、逆推法、富集系数法、数量化模型Ⅰ法计算了中国金资源总量，并讨论了金成矿区与地质异常的关系。