Asking about the future: methodological insights from energy biographies

Temporality is fundamental to qualitative longitudinal (QLL) research, inherent in the design of returning to participants over time, often to explore moments of change. Previous research has indicated that talking about the future can be difficult, yet there has been insufficient discussion of methodological developments to address these challenges. This paper presents insights from the Energy Biographies project, which has taken a QLL and multimodal approach to investigating how everyday energy use can be understood in relation to biographical pasts and imagined futures. In particular, we detail innovative techniques developed within the project (e.g. SMS photograph activities) to elicit data on anticipated futures, in ways that engender thinking about participants’ own biographical futures and wider societal changes. We conclude by considering some of the significant benefits and challenges such techniques present. These methodological insights have a wider relevance beyond the substantive topic for those interested in eliciting data about futures in qualitative research.     

Theorizing the social: Émile Durkheim's theory of force and energy

This paper offers a new interpretation of Émile Durkheim's The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912) as the basis for reconsidering the Tarde–Durkheim debate of 1903 and the distinctions between a theory of social force and a theory of social assemblage. Resisting traditional interpretations of Durkheim's scientism, this essay traces how concepts of force and energy are centrally developed in Elementary Forms to draw new lines between epistemology to ontology for twentieth-century theory. I argue that Durkheim develops an ‘energetic epistemology’ that conceives of the human capacity for shared meaning as a product of invested energy in the form of continually enacted and evolving material practice, thought, and attention. According to Durkheim, when a member of a collective perceives a god or feels belief, he or she actually perceives the accumulated energy of on-going creation and maintenance of objects and ideas by members of a collective. Sacred objects, images, and ideas bear the trace of collective energy the more they are carefully crafted, maintained in spaces that are specially arranged, and written into behavioural codes. This reading of Durkheim allows us to consider him in a lineage of social constructivists and, particularly, in relation to Ludwik Fleck, who has been largely confined to different theoretical discussions when his contributions to sociology have been acknowledged at all. By reconsidering Durkheim, we have occasion to rethink his sociology and understand how he redrew the lines between thought and action, between epistemology and ontology, through the material framework of energy and force.     

上海生态文明建设的激励和约束机制研究

生态文明建设是一项系统工程,需要通过整体推进,构筑规划、建设、管理、技术、产业、社会和合作协同发展的综合体系。未来上海应以建立和完善市场机制为核心,以法律机制为前提,以政府监管机制为保障,以能力建设机制为基础,以社会参与机制为监督,按照"引逼结合、多方合力、突出重点、先行先试"的原则,加快上海生态文明建设机制创新。主要途径有:完善碳排放交易试点,建立长效市场机制;推进分布式能源应用,提高清洁能源比重;加快新能源汽车推广,优化交通能源结构;培育发展再制造产业,推广先进制造理念。     

Housing hardship and energy insecurity among native-born and immigrant low-income families with children in the United States

The costs for rent and utilities account for the largest share of living expenses, yet these two critical dimensions of material hardship have seldom been examined concurrently in population-based studies. This paper employs multivariate statistical analysis using American Community Survey data to demonstrate the relative risk ratio of low-income renter-occupied households with children experiencing ‘rent burden', ‘energy insecurity', or a ‘double burden’ as opposed to no burden. Findings suggest that low-income households are more likely to experience these economic hardships in general but that specific groups are disproportionately burdened in different ways. For instance, whereas immigrants are more likely to experience rental burden, they are less likely to experience energy insecurity and are also spared from the double burden. In contrast, native-born African Americans are more likely than all other groups to experience the double burden. These results may be driven by the housing stock available to certain groups due to racial residential segregation, decisions regarding the quality of housing low-income householders are able to afford, as well as home-country values, such as modest living and energy conservation practices, among immigrant families. This paper also points to important policy gaps in safety net benefits related to housing and energy targeting low-income households.     

The Environmental Risks of Incomplete Globalisation

As the liberal optimism of the long 1990s has faded into a world of growing inequality and resurging nationalism, there is less certainty about the prospects of economic convergence and global integration. Beyond the formidable human cost of maintaining a divided world, the possibility of incomplete globalisation also gives rise to a number of environmental risks. While environmental political theory generally sees strength in localism, history rather shows that a robust world trade system is crucial to offset local resource scarcities and that cosmopolitan norms of solidarity are essential for helping communities to rebuild after environmental catastrophe. In relation to climate change, statist thinking has led to a focus on non-scalable technologies and a silent acceptance of chronic poverty abroad as a way of avoiding a climate emergency. Contrary to such views, this paper argues that accelerating the transition to a fully integrated high-energy planet may more effectively mitigate Anthropocene risks.     

乙二醇机组的温度模糊控制器设计与仿真

针对我国通信行业和计算机行业大型机房耗电量大的现状，提出了一种乙二醇机组控制系统。介绍了它的工作原理，阐述了它的总体控制方案，并重点阐述了采用温度模糊PID控制器对室内温度进行调节。仿真和实验结果表明：采用温度模糊控制器的系统运行稳定、可靠性高、节能效果明显，具有广阔的应用前景。     

论民族素质能量的积聚途径和方式--民族素质研究之四

本文利用丰富的资料,从教育、研究与开发、知识产权保护、开放度等四个方面,对民族素质能量积聚的途径、方式进行了开拓性的研究.     

碳排放约束下能源经济效率的区域空间分布研究——基于能源消费结构门槛视角

利用2000—2012年样本数据对全要素省际能源经济效率进行了测算,研究发现样本期间绝大部分省市自治区能源经济效率整体都呈不断下降的趋势,并且生产过程中低效率地区大幅增加,分布状态由“点状”向“面状”扩散,尤其是中西部地区下降较为明显,究其原因主要为:二氧化碳排放和能源消费结构是能源经济效率变化和地区差异的重要影响因素;据此运用门槛分析方法对其进行区域空间分布研究,将全国30个省市自治区划分为低排放—结构较合理、低排放—结构欠合理、高排放—结构较合理类群、高排放—结构欠合理和高排放—结构不合理5大类群,最后结合各类型区域自身发展特点,提出因地制宜的低碳绿色发展建议,并从需求侧和供给侧两方面提出能源经济效率改善的政策建议。     

中国对中亚能源投资的法律问题及对策

中国与中亚在能源方面合作不断加强,逐步形成了更加紧密的能源安全共同体,然而在双方投资与合作过程中诸多相关法律问题也不断涌现,使中国对中亚地区的能源投资风险加大。文章对中亚能源投资中对投资的界定、投资准入、政治风险及环境保护等相关投资法律问题进行研究与分析,提出中国在中亚投资与合作过程中的相应对策,将对中国能源投资规避风险、保护投资利益大有裨益。