Great walls over African rivers: Chinese engagement in African hydropower projects

Recent acceleration of Chinese engagement in African hydropower is attracting increasing attention and concern. Yet there is scant research and little reliable data on this engagement. This article analyses Chinese hydropower engagement based on a new, verified dataset. We examined over 100 projects reported by the media and lists compiled by other organizations, amassing case studies for each project using desk research, interviews and field visits. We demonstrate that Chinese engagement in African hydropower is often overestimated in both numbers and value. Further, misunderstanding and myths abound regarding Chinese financing and construction practices. This evidence‐based understanding provides a firmer foundation for advocacy, research and efforts by other companies and funding agencies to co‐operate with Chinese actors in this controversial sector.     

考虑先期和当期资源投入的能源应急协同研究

鉴于当前中国能源应急协同过程中暴露出的临时性和过度依赖政府的问题,构建了两种情况下政府和能源供应链企业的应急协同模型,一种是仅有当期应急协同资源投入,一种是有先期和当期两种应急协同资源投入。通过对两种情况的建模以及结果的比较分析,表明两种情况下政府和能源供应链企业的最优协同参与度一样,且受到边际协同收益及补偿力度等参数的影响;政府的补偿力度与能源供应链企业的应急协同参与度正相关,政府的协同参与度与能源供应链企业的边际协同收益负相关;应急协同资源投入与政府的协同参与度正相关,应急协同资源投入与政府的补偿力度正相关;高效的日常应急资源投入有利于提高当前能源应急协同收益,反之亦然。通过算例分析,对研究结果进行直观验证和说明。建议政府和能源供应链企业应加快建设常态化的应急管理体系;政府和能源供应链企业应权责分明,合理分工;加快构建能源应急补偿机制,调动能源供应链企业应急积极性,使其承担更多的责任,以此提高能源应急协同效率。     

河北省发展新能源的思考

河北省是一个能源消费大省,并且产需缺口越来越大,能源安全问题日益凸现,而大力发展新能源和可再生能源是解决能源问题的根本途径。通过分析河北省发展新能源的有利条件,对其开发利用提出几点建议：政府设法鼓励新能源和可再生能源产业;加强新能源和可再生能源技术研发;通过市场推动新能源和可再生能源开发。     

States and the nuclear power. An international perspective

This paper analyzes the evolution of public policies on nuclear energy from an international perspective highlighting an interesting sociological paradox: the opposition to nuclear power contributed to the development of the environmental movement; and at present, the promoters of this kind of energy are including environmental arguments in their discourses, the fear of climate change and the reduction of CO₂. Although the Kyoto Protocol does not accept this kind of energy as a clean development mechanism (CDM), its promotion is carried out on the basis of environment objectives, so that the nuclear lobby is obtaining more social acceptation thanks to the environmental discourse in the last four decades. For this research, the nuclear policies at an international level are analyzed inside a wider research about the nuclear debate financed by Encuentro Foundation (Spain).     

Are there domino effects between consumers' ordinary and ‘green’ practices? An analysis of quantitative data from a sensitisation campaign on personal carbon footprint

This paper studies how consumers' reported practices related to food, energy use in housing, daily mobility, and tourism are combined and structured. Social practice theories are the main theoretical framework of this research. Data are drawn from a sensitisation campaign run by the WWF-Belgium and the methods developed to attempt to translate the theoretical focus to practices. Results show that both the low number of ‘green’ practices reported and the multiplicity of combinations of practices indicate a rather important compartmentalisation of ‘green’ practices and seem to refute the hypothesis of vast domino effects in these four different areas. In addition, a wider openness to information on environmentally friendlier practices is associated with a larger number of such practices, which raises questions about the design of such campaigns. Finally, there is no conventionalised way of linking practices and commitments taken by the respondents to reduce their environmental impact. A few policy recommendations are derived for sensitisation campaigns that often assume domino effects between ‘green’ practices, and for tools dealing with personal carbon awareness.     

我国居民收入差距与消费需求的关系研究

消费的增长依赖于收入的增长,目前,我国城乡收入差距不断扩大,对消费需求产生了多方面的负面影响,因此,必须采取有效措施缩小城乡收入差距,扩大消费需求,以保持国民经济的持续快速增长。基于我国居民收入差距过大的现实,文章从多角度剖析了我国居民收入差距过大的成因,对我国收入差距过大对居民消费的影响进行了分析,阐述了过大的居民收入差距对居民消费需求扩张的制约机理。在此基础上提出了缩小收入差距,提高居民消费水平的具体对策。     

Regional and local sustainable development

Twenty years after the Rio Conference of 1992 the issue of sustainability is still at the core of considerations in regard to the future of humankind. As a step forward in 1997 the Kyoto Protocol was agreed to, although the main actors have not been part of it. Since then all international congresses on the issue have failed. A new approach seems to be necessary, which steps aside of the international and national levels. The regional and local levels are definitely more appropriate, because direct participation of citizens and institutional actors is more feasible. Also for the regional and local levels labour is the main actor, as the production and distribution are the central areas for action for sustainability. That does not mean that consumption or finance have to be neglected. The trade unions in the past have often been reluctant to commit themselves for sustainability, as it seemed to endanger jobs. Slowly this attitude has been changed, and they fully engage now, e.g. with Attac and other similar movements.     

Too much information? Predictors of information overload in the context of online news exposure

As the Internet provides massive amounts of heterogeneous information, people may perceive this medium as challenging. The difficulty to evaluate and select relevant information increases as more and more diverse sources and content are available. Information overload (IO) may be the consequence. The research presented here gives a first comprehensive overview of possible indicators for IO in the context of online news exposure. Based on an online survey (N=419), we found that younger people with less information-seeking self-efficacy were more susceptible to experience IO. Additionally, we identified motivations for media consumption and information retrieval strategies in the Internet that imply IO. With our results, we contribute to a further understanding of IO and provide an important basis for future research needed to face the challenges resulting from the rising media diversity.     

Comment on Bermingham's Summary of the U.N.'s Year 2000 Replacement Migration,Is it a Solution to Declining Population and Aging?

The UN's solicitousness for developed countries because of the possibility of their being depopulated seems disingenuous. In fact, developed countries are typically the losers from vast immigrant flows, and the underdeveloped countries that rid themselves of excess population are the gainers.     

The Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Methodological Artefact?

A number of recent publications claims to have demonstrated that the pattern of environmental pollution in growing economies follows an inverted parabolic curve, called the environmental Kuznets curve. It is suggested that the Kuznets curve is a logical consequence of the kind of measurement but with little meaning for future, efficiency based environmental policies. Environmental Space as an measure of environmental pressures is introduced, accounting for the total use of energy, materials and land. Based on this, the trends in overall resource consumption are described. No indication of an environmental Kuznets curve can be found for the total resource throughput in several countries.