Economic Growth and CO₂-Emissions: What If Vietnam Followed China’s Development Path?

Vietnam and China both are quickly emerging market economies in Asia. China has had an unprecedented economic growth in Asia for the past 30 years. Also, Vietnam’s GDP is increasing, but more slowly. However, Vietnam is starting to catch up. Against this background, this article assesses the question what the economic and environmental impacts in Vietnam would be, if the country followed China’s development path. Based on econometric analysis, it is shown that currently, Vietnam is lagging behind China in terms of economic growth for 11 years. Although Vietnam and China have a similar primary energy mix in the early 1980s, China is still massively relying on coal, whereas Vietnam starts to develop hydro power in the late 1980s on large scale. Due to a quick growth of per-capita income, per capita emissions in China are already catching up with those of North-European economies such as Denmark, Finland and Germany. The question arises, what if Vietnam followed China’s development path. Using econometric models of GDP and CO2-emissions, two scenarios for Vietnam are analyzed, a scenario following China’s development path and one alternative scenario pursuing the current development patterns until 2050. The results show that the additional impact of following China’s economic development path is minor. Vietnam would only have a 0.5% percentage point per annum higher GDP growth. In other words, Vietnam would grow relatively quickly anyway. However, following China’s development path also in terms of high CO2-emissions per capita, would increase the growth of CO2-emissions in Vietnam by 2.3 percentage points per annum and would lead to an increase of CO2-emissions in 2050 by 2.6 bn. tons compared with the scenario in which Vietnam sticks to its own development patterns. However, in that case, Vietnam also had a 25% lower per capita income compared with the scenario following China’s development path. Here, the people and government in Vietnam have to make a strategic choice.

Innovative Use of Light-Weight Radioisotopes in Therapeutics and the Engineering of Light-Power Generators

Light weight radioisotope (LWR) 89Sr and 90Sr could be obtained from used rods in fission atomic plants. The economics of the disposal of nuclear bars indicate the convenience to develop added value applications. The difference in t1/2 allows 89Sr to deliver its energy at a rate 200 times higher than 90Sr. A large emission number of low penetrating power particles in a short time characterize 89Sr, which allows that these highly radioactive LWR involves a rather limited danger. Chemical similitude of calcium and strontium uptake has led to the use of 89Sr in treatment of bone cancer metastasis. 89Sr damages animal tissues because ionize water, but penetrates through the skin about: 5 to 8 mm. Hence, to obtain it in insoluble form, like obtaining 89Sr silicate, could make possible its wider use. Purifying 89Sr from contaminant 90Sr allows that after one year do not leave any contamination. LWR could be covered with scintillators substances, which by subtracting kinetic energy from beta-radiation, emit light and function as a major source of shielding. This treatment engineers Radioisotope Light Generators (RLG). Their light could activate photovoltaic cells (PV), which could lead to nano-devices without moving parts RLG-PV.

Potentials for Saving Energy and CO_2-Emission Through the Use of EPM Technologies

The paper demonstrates how electromagnetic processing of materials(EPM)provides significant opportunities for saving primary energy and reducing carbon emissions in industrial thermal processes.Potentially electricity can replace up to 100%of other energy carriers currently used for process heat.For the time horizon from now to the year 2050 a transition scenario is developed and described.In this scenario the industrial processes are gradually switched from the actual situation to a situation with 100%electrically operated industrial processes.The developed scenarios take into account the most energy intensive industrial thermal processes,which could be replaced by electrothermal technologies and offer obviously the biggest future potential in terms of saving of primary energy and reducing of carbon emissions.As the average primary energy factor(PEF)gradually decreases from 2.5 currently,to 1 for a 100%renewable electricity system,the benefits of EPM will gradually increase.For each step in the development of the PEF the annual primary energy savings and annual reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are calculated and described in this paper.

Possible generation of π-condensation in a free space by collisions between photons and protons

A sharply peaked structure is found in the angular distribution of emitted π~+ mesons from photon–proton collisions.This offers a possible way to generate a π~+-condensation in free space. To make the stimulated emission of π~+-mesons efficient, a ring resonator is designed.

Tailoring of a robust asymmetric aramid nanofibers/MXene aerogel film for enhanced infrared thermal camouflage and Joule heating performances

The development of infrared(IR)surveillance technology has led to a growing interest in thermal camouflage.However,the trade-off relationship between low IR-emissivity and thermal insulation hinders the advance of thermal camouflage materials.Herein,guided by multi-physics simulation,we show a design of asymmetric aramid nanofibers/MXene(ANF/MXene)aerogel film that realizes high-efficient thermal camouflage applications.The rationale is that the asymmetric structure contains a thermal-insulation three-dimensional(3D)network part to prevent effective heat transfer and a low IR-emissivity(~0.3)dense surface layer to suppress radiative heat emission.It is remarkable that the synergy mechanism in the topology structure contributes to over 40%reduction of target radiation temperature.Impressively,the tailored asymmetric ANF/MXene aerogel film also enables sound mechanical properties such as a Young’s modulus of 44.4 MPa and a tensile strength of 1.3 MPa,superior to most aerogel materials.It also exhibits great Joule heating performances including low driving voltage(4 V),fast thermal response(<10 s),and long-term stability,further enabling its versatile thermal camouflage applications.This work offers an innovative design concept to configure multifunctional structures for next-generation thermal management applications.