Absence of wastewater and solid waste facilities impacts the quality of life of many people in developing countries. Implementation of these facilities will benefit public health, water quality, livelihoods and proper...Absence of wastewater and solid waste facilities impacts the quality of life of many people in developing countries. Implementation of these facilities will benefit public health, water quality, livelihoods and property value. Additional benefits may result from the potential recovery of valuable resources from wastewater and solid waste, such as compost, energy, phosphorus, plastics and paper. Improving water quality through implementation of wastewater and solid waste interventions requires, among others, an analysis of i) sources of pollution, ii) mitigating measures and resource recovery potentials and their effect on water quality and health, and iii) benefits and costs of interventions. We present an integrated approach to evaluate costs and benefits of domestic and industrial wastewater and solid waste interventions. To support a policy maker in formulating a cost and environmentally effective approach, we quantified the impact of these interventions on 1) water quality improvement, 2) resource recovery potential, and 3) monetized benefits versus costs. The integration of technical, hydrological, agronomical and socio-economic elements to derive these three tangible outputs in a joint approach is a novelty. The approach is demonstrated using the heavily polluted Indonesian Upper Citarum River in the Bandung region. Domestic interventions, applying simple (anaerobic filter) technologies, were economically most attractive with a benefit cost ratio (BCR) of 3.2, but could not reach target water quality standards. To approach the target water quality, both advanced domestic (nutrient removal systems) and industrial wastewater treatment interventions were required, leading to a BCR of 2. We showed that benefits from selling recovered resources represent here an additional driver for improving water quality and outweigh the additional costs for resource recovery facilities. While included benefits captured some of the major items, these may have been undervalued. Based on these findings, water quality interventions justify their costs and are socially and economically beneficial.展开更多
Agroforestry and beekeeping are widely promoted as prospective Nature-</span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:""> </span></span></span><span...Agroforestry and beekeeping are widely promoted as prospective Nature-</span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:""> </span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:""><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Based Income Generating Activities (NIGAs) to improve livelihoods while at </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">the same time enhancing biodiversity conservation in degrading</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> agro-ecologies. These activities can diversify and increase famers’ incomes and support in</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">stinctive biota and fauna resilience. However, evidence to showcase and compare their long-term benefits is scant. We use the case of Uluguru</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> Mountains in Tanzania to evaluate and compare viability of agroforestry and beekeeping projects using the Cost</span></span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:""> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Benefit Analysis (CBA) approach. The results of analysis yielded positive NPVs for both agroforestry and beekeeping projects at discount rates not higher than 8.2% and 8.5% respectively. Overall, the comparison of economic viability between agroforestry and beekeeping projects revealed that the former was relatively more profitable than the later in terms of both the NPV and Benefit</span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:""> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Cost Ratio (BCR) criteria. However, the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for beekeeping was slightly higher than that of agroforestry. Yet, we underscore the fact that these two projects can jointly be implemented to enhance livelihoods of farmers and support biodiversity conservation in the study </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">area </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">and other parts with similar agro-ecologies in developing countries. However, farmers in these agro-ecologies need to be supported by governments and non-government development partners in terms of training and inspiration to shift from orthodox farming to sustainable NIGAs.展开更多
In 2012, genetically engineered (GE) crops were grown by 17.3 million farmers on over 170 million hectares. Over 70% of harvested GE biomass is fed to food producing animals, making them the major consumers of GE cr...In 2012, genetically engineered (GE) crops were grown by 17.3 million farmers on over 170 million hectares. Over 70% of harvested GE biomass is fed to food producing animals, making them the major consumers of GE crops for the past 15 plus years. Prior to commercialization, GE crops go through an extensive regulatory evaluation. Over one hundred regulatory submissions have shown compositional equivalence, and comparable levels of safety, between GE crops and their conventional counterparts. One component of regulatory compliance is whole GE food/feed animal feeding studies. Both regulatory studies and independent peer-reviewed studies have shown that GE crops can be safely used in animal feed, and rDNA fragments have never been detected in products (e.g. milk, meat, eggs) derived from animals that consumed GE feed. Despite the fact that the scientific weight of evidence from these hundreds of studies have not revealed unique risks associated with GE feed, some groups are calling for more animal feeding studies, including long-term rodent studies and studies in target livestock species for the approval of GE crops. It is an opportune time to review the results of such studies as have been done to date to evaluate the value of the additional information obtained. Requiring long-term and target animal feeding studies would sharply increase regulatory compliance costs and prolong the regulatory process associated with the commercialization of GE crops. Such costs may impede the development of feed crops with enhanced nutritional characteristics and durability, particularly in the local varieties in small and poor developing countries. More generally it is time for regulatory evaluations to more explicitly consider both the reasonable and unique risks and benefits associated with the use of both GE plants and animals in agricultural systems, and weigh them against those associated with existing systems, and those of regulatory inaction. This would represent a shift away from a GE evaluation process that currently focuses only on risk assessment and identifying ever diminishing marginal hazards, to a regulatory approach that more objectively evaluates and communicates the likely impact of approving a new GE plant or animal on agricultural production systems.展开更多
Building energy efficiency is a long-term strategy to achieve sustainable development, but the inconsistencies of main interests during the implementation lead to the need for government regulation in building energy ...Building energy efficiency is a long-term strategy to achieve sustainable development, but the inconsistencies of main interests during the implementation lead to the need for government regulation in building energy conservation. Implementation of building energy efficiency of government regulation covers three aspects of construction and involves relevant participators, so the paper analyzes interests and roles of the related subjects in building energy saving, explore the motivations and its conversion mechanism of each player, and dissect the game relationship of associated earnings of developers' and consumers' behaviors selection under government control. Finally, the paper proposes basic requirements of building incentive policies for related subjects under government control to regulate the main behaviors of subjects in building energy efficient buildings and achieve energy efficiency goals and balance of all parties' benefits.展开更多
[ Objective] The paper was to operate the application and promotion of non-pesticide replacing high-toxic pesticides techniques in Kunming City, and to analyze its benefit. [ Method ] Through application and promotion...[ Objective] The paper was to operate the application and promotion of non-pesticide replacing high-toxic pesticides techniques in Kunming City, and to analyze its benefit. [ Method ] Through application and promotion of frequency trembler grid lamps, sticking plate trapping technology, construction of treatment ponds for field waste vegetable leaves, standardized (accurate) cultivation techniques, cultivation techniques of disease-resistant varieties and diverse cultivation technologies, the promotion benefit of non-pesticide replacing high-toxic pesticides techniques was comprehensively investigated and evaluated. [ Result ] The appli- cation and promotion area of non-pesticide replacing high-toxic pesticides techniques in Kunming City during 2006 -2010 reached 94 667 hm2. The investigation on control efforts and quantitative analysis of cost/benefit showed that the beneficial result of application and promotion of non-pesticide replacing high-toxic pesticides techniques was higher than the direct benefit of application and promotion of traditional pesticide replacing techniques. This improvement innovated the traditional pesticide replacing method in replacement work of high-toxic pesticides, reducing the usage volume of pesticide in Kunming City. [ Conclusion] The application and promotion of non-pesticide replacing high-toxic pesticides techniques improved the economic, social and ecological benefit of replacement work of high-toxic pesticides, protected the agricultural ecological environment and promoted the sustainable development of agricultural production.展开更多
Electric interconnection is an essential trend for future large-scale development and utilization of renewable energy.China has proposed the concept of Global Energy Interconnection to realize the clean utilization of...Electric interconnection is an essential trend for future large-scale development and utilization of renewable energy.China has proposed the concept of Global Energy Interconnection to realize the clean utilization of energy through the interconnection of power grids and optimize the allocation of global energy resources.This study proposes the Kazakhstan-China-Republic of Korea networking scheme,analyzing the characteristics of power supply and demand in these countries.Based on the regional economic analysis and power development,four interconnection schemes are proposed utilizing UHVDC technology.Accordingly,existing problems and favorable factors are fully considered.The investment analysis of±1100 kV and±800 kV lines,configuration scheme of the converter station,and investment estimation of four interconnection schemes are given.展开更多
Background:Much land is subject to damage by construction,development and exploitation with consequent loss of environmental function and services.How might the loss be recovered?Results:This article develops principl...Background:Much land is subject to damage by construction,development and exploitation with consequent loss of environmental function and services.How might the loss be recovered?Results:This article develops principles of environmental rehabilitation.Key issues include the following.Rehabilitation means restoring the previous condition.Whether or not to restore is not a technical but a value judgement.It is subject to adopting the sustainability ethic.If the ethic is followed under rule of law then rehabilitation must be done always to’the high standard’which means handing down unimpaired environmental function and no extra land management.The elements of the former condition that it is intended to restore must be specified.Restoring these in any given case is the purpose of that rehabilitation project.The specified restoration elements must be easily measurable with a few simple powerful metrics.Some land damage is not fixable so restraint must be exercised in what construction,development and exploitation are permitted.If sustainability is adopted then cost benefit analysis is not a valid form of project appraisal because trading off present benefits against future losses relies on subjectively decided discount rates,and because natural capital is hard to price,indispensable,irreplaceable and non-substitutable.Elements often to be restored include agricultural land capability,landscape form and environmental function.Land capability is a widely used convention and,with landscape form,encapsulate many key land factors,and are easily measurable.Restoring soil and thereby environmental function provides the necessary base for an ecological pyramid.Conclusions:The need for rehabilitation is not to be justified by cost-benefit or scientific and technological proof,but rests on a value judgement to sustain natural capital for present and future generations.Decision on what activities and projects to permit should be based on what is physically and financially fixable on current knowledge.Business and government must be proactive,develop rehabilitation standards,work out how to meet the standards,design simple powerful metrics to measure performance against the standards,embark on continuous improvement,and report.展开更多
In the current context of vigorously promoting the construction of ecological civilization, land consolidation in the construction of the constant pursuit of ecological design, to achieve sustainable use of land resou...In the current context of vigorously promoting the construction of ecological civilization, land consolidation in the construction of the constant pursuit of ecological design, to achieve sustainable use of land resources, China has made great progress in ecological land consolidation. In this paper, through the comparison of flow design and cross section design of agricultural canal design in ecological land remediation and traditional land remediation, the characteristic design of some agricultural canals in ecological land remediation was introduced, and the ecological, social and economic benefits of two land remediation methods were systematically analyzed. The analysis shows that ecological agricultural canals play a great role in protecting biodiversity, alleviating the contradiction between people and land, saving energy, purifying water resources and improving land quality, the research result has provided the basis and the model for the land consolidation in carrying on the ecology type ditch design.展开更多
Bike-share systems have been installed in cities worldwide as a way to attract travelers to use transit rather than the automobile. This has been proved to be an effective way of mitigating congestion on the road. The...Bike-share systems have been installed in cities worldwide as a way to attract travelers to use transit rather than the automobile. This has been proved to be an effective way of mitigating congestion on the road. The objective of this study is to develop a method to determine the size of the bike-share program in terms of the number of bicycles, the number and location of the stations, the number of docks at each station. To achieve the objectives of this study, a literature review was conducted on university bike-sharing systems in the U.S. and abroad. Various cases of bike-share programs were analyzed, in which each case consisted of a different number and location of bike-share stations. The demand corresponding to these stations was used as the input to a simulation model developed in this study to determine the number of docks in stations and bicycles in the system on and around campus at UNLV. These sizing parameters of the bike-share system then were used in a cost and benefit analysis to determine which cases could achieve maximum benefit, given a limitation of the initial costs. It was found that provision of one peripheral station and three internal stations at strategic locations provide relatively higher benefit cost ratio at lower initial cost.展开更多
Financial expenses Of China’s textile machinery in fiscal year 2008 rose 28.81%due to higher indebtedness(60.57%of indebtedness rate).Analysts anticipated animminent weakening of momentum for China’s textile machine...Financial expenses Of China’s textile machinery in fiscal year 2008 rose 28.81%due to higher indebtedness(60.57%of indebtedness rate).Analysts anticipated animminent weakening of momentum for China’s textile machinery markets owing toweaker consumer spending and easing export growth.展开更多
According to the latest statistics released by China TextileMachinery & Accessories Association(CTMA),the export value offoreign-funded enterprises from Jan.to Oct.2008,reached 0.502billion US dollars,a year-on-ye...According to the latest statistics released by China TextileMachinery & Accessories Association(CTMA),the export value offoreign-funded enterprises from Jan.to Oct.2008,reached 0.502billion US dollars,a year-on-year increase of 0.08 percent.展开更多
Unsustainable land use management and the resulting soil erosion are among the most pervasive problems in rural Ethiopia,where most of the country’s people live,jeopardizing food security.Despite various efforts to i...Unsustainable land use management and the resulting soil erosion are among the most pervasive problems in rural Ethiopia,where most of the country’s people live,jeopardizing food security.Despite various efforts to introduce soil conservation measures and assess their costs and benefits,it is unclear how efficient these measures are from an economic point of view in securing food production.This paper examines the costs and benefits of three soil conservation measures applied in the country in three different rural districts facing different degrees of soil erosion problems using survey data collected from 750 farm households.A production function is estimated to quantify the costs and benefits of more sustainable land use management practices.We show that the soil conservation measures significantly increase productivity and hence food security.Comparing the costs and benefits,the results indicate that implementing soil conservation measures would benefit farm communities in the case study areas through increased grain productivity and food security.展开更多
Integration testing is an integral part of software testing.Prior studies have focused on reducing test cost in integration test order generation.However,there are no studies concerning the testing priorities of criti...Integration testing is an integral part of software testing.Prior studies have focused on reducing test cost in integration test order generation.However,there are no studies concerning the testing priorities of critical classes when generating integration test orders.Such priorities greatly affect testing efficiency.In this study,we propose an effective strategy that considers both test cost and efficiency when generating test orders.According to a series of dynamic execution scenarios,the software is mapped into a multi-layer dynamic execution network(MDEN)model.By analyzing the dynamic structural complexity,an evaluation scheme is proposed to quantify the class testing priority with the defined class risk index.Cost–benefit analysis is used to perform cycle-breaking operations,satisfying two principles:assigning higher priorities to higher-risk classes and minimizing the total complexity of test stubs.We also present a strategy to evaluate the effectiveness of integration test order algorithms by calculating the reduction of software risk during their testing process.Experiment results show that our approach performs better across software of different scales,in comparison with the existing algorithms that aim only to minimize test cost.Finally,we implement a tool,ITOsolution,to help practitioners automatically generate test orders.展开更多
China has put great efforts into air pollution control over the past years and recently committed to its most ambitious climate target.Cost and benefit analysis has been widely used to evaluate the control policies in...China has put great efforts into air pollution control over the past years and recently committed to its most ambitious climate target.Cost and benefit analysis has been widely used to evaluate the control policies in terms of past performance,future reduction potential,and direct and indirect impacts.To understand the cost and benefit analysis for air pollution control in China,we conducted a bibliometric review of more than 100 studies published over the past two decades,including the current research progress,most commonly adopted methods,and core findings.The control target in cost and benefit analysis has shifted in three stages,from individual and primary pollution control,moving to joint prevention of multiple and secondary pollutants,and then towards synergistic control of air pollution and carbon.With the expansion of the research scope,the integrated assessment model has gradually demonstrated the necessity for long-term ex-anti policy simulation,especially for dealing with complex factors.To ensure long-term air quality,climate,public health,and sustainable economic development,substantial evidence from published studies has suggested that China needs to continue its efforts in the upstream adjustment of the energy system and industrial structure with multi-regional and-sector collaboration.This cost and benefit review paper provides decision-makers with the fundamental information and knowledge gaps in air pollution control strategies in China,and direction for facing future challenges.展开更多
Besides crops, agriculture supplies all three major categories of ecosystem services (ES). However, agriculture also supplies an array of ecosystem dis-services (EDS) that may harm other ecosystems. The flows of E...Besides crops, agriculture supplies all three major categories of ecosystem services (ES). However, agriculture also supplies an array of ecosystem dis-services (EDS) that may harm other ecosystems. The flows of ES and EDS are directly dependent on the management of agricultural ecosystems. The traditional method of Chinese agriculture, which supports sustainable agriculture, has been proven to increase ES and reduce EDS. However, there is a lack of a detailed understanding of the ES and EDS associated with traditional agriculture, and also of differences between traditional and modem agriculture. In this study, an investigation was conducted on the ecosystem services (ES) and ecosystem dis-services (EDS) of traditional and modem agriculture in Congjiang County, Guizhou Province, China. Afterwards, the economic values of ES and EDS were quantified experimentally and calculated based on the market price. The results show that: the net economic value of traditional rice-fish agriculture was 3.31 x 104 CNY.haI (6.83 CNY = 1 USD as of July, 2009) and that of rice monoculture was 1.99 x 104 CNY.ha ~. Significant differences existed between traditional rice-fish and rice monoculture fields for their economic values of some ES or EDS. A benefit and cost analysis (BCA) model was used to adjust the conflict between the economic income and environmental loss from traditional and modem agricul- ture. The BCA model not only calculates the net income but also monetizes the EDS of the agricultural systems. The results showed that the net income of rice-fish agriculture was 1.94x 104CNY.ha-1 higher than that of rice monoculture. However, the benefit to cost ratio (BCR) of rice-fish agriculture was lower than that of rice monoculture, indicating that the traditional agricultural model was not the most optimized choice for farmers. The value of the rice-fish agriculture was much higher than that of the rice monoculture. Thus, when considering the benefits that rice-fish agriculture contributes to the large- scale society, these agricultural methods needs to be utilized. Furthermore, the labor opportunity costs were calculated and the comprehensive value of rice mono- culture was negative. Finally, the compensation standard was calculated based on the comprehensive benefit analysis. The lowest level was 1.09×103 CNY.ha-1, and the highest level was 1.21 × 104 CNY.ha-1.展开更多
Energy consumption rates have been rising globally at an escalating pace since the last three decades.The exploration of new renewable and clean sources of energy globally is thus gaining prime importance.In Australia...Energy consumption rates have been rising globally at an escalating pace since the last three decades.The exploration of new renewable and clean sources of energy globally is thus gaining prime importance.In Australia,coal is still the primary source of energy,which,during the process of energy production,generates greenhouse gases,subsequently resulting in environmental degradation.Within this context,the paper compares the economic and environmental benefits of utilizing two renewable energy production sources:algae building technology(ABT)and solar PV panels.A case study site for retrofitting a specified area on the front facade of a multi-storied building at the University of Technology Sydney,City Campus,Australia was thus chosen for the study.A cost and benefit analysis model using the following performance indicators;return on investment,payback period as well as net present value of the two systems,was thus initiated.Annual revenue generation of both systems which included tangible and intangible benefits of both systems were simultaneously calculated.The investment and operation and maintenance costs of both systems were calculated based on market research as well as quantitative data adapted from our literature review.Our conclusions show that closed tubular photobioreactor systems have more benefit than solar panel system from an environmental impact perspective considering Australia’s current struggle with water scarcity,drought,air pollution and carbon emission reduction goals.展开更多
Urban green land compensation plays an impor-tant role in county development,ecological environment management and many other fields.The concept,methods and principles of urban green land are introduced in this paper....Urban green land compensation plays an impor-tant role in county development,ecological environment management and many other fields.The concept,methods and principles of urban green land are introduced in this paper.According to the pay fee method,the value and ecological function of various types of urban green land were analyzed.The cost-benefit analysis method(CBAM)was used to estimate different external diseconomy benefits caused by green land loss.The authors applied CBAM to estimate such benefits in the case of Shanghai,China,and calculated the actual compensation value for green land.Results indicated that in 2002,the compensation value for the green land of Shanghai was RMB 8.58×10^(5) Yuan/hm^(2).展开更多
Wind power generation has been developing rapidly in recent years.Therefore,the mechanism for promoting wind power integration becomes increasingly important.In this paper,a novel mechanism of intraday market is propo...Wind power generation has been developing rapidly in recent years.Therefore,the mechanism for promoting wind power integration becomes increasingly important.In this paper,a novel mechanism of intraday market is proposed,which can utilize updating information of wind power and effectively exploit the shiftable load.The mechanism is compatible with the existing market framework,and promotes wind power producers(WPPs)to be more competitive in the market.Thus,the WPPs could make decisions for multiple market transactions in various trading timescales according to the market price.Moreover,the WPPs can optimize their decisions continuously in the intraday market at different time points in the model.The case study on IEEE-RTS verifies the proposed method is valid and feasible.It can support wind power integration and increase the benefit of the whole system as well.展开更多
This paper presents a method of economic assessment for planned projects in the process of highway network planning. Economic assessment method is being done on the basis of cost benefit analysis, and the cost and be...This paper presents a method of economic assessment for planned projects in the process of highway network planning. Economic assessment method is being done on the basis of cost benefit analysis, and the cost and benefit calculation methods are discussed respectively.展开更多
文摘Absence of wastewater and solid waste facilities impacts the quality of life of many people in developing countries. Implementation of these facilities will benefit public health, water quality, livelihoods and property value. Additional benefits may result from the potential recovery of valuable resources from wastewater and solid waste, such as compost, energy, phosphorus, plastics and paper. Improving water quality through implementation of wastewater and solid waste interventions requires, among others, an analysis of i) sources of pollution, ii) mitigating measures and resource recovery potentials and their effect on water quality and health, and iii) benefits and costs of interventions. We present an integrated approach to evaluate costs and benefits of domestic and industrial wastewater and solid waste interventions. To support a policy maker in formulating a cost and environmentally effective approach, we quantified the impact of these interventions on 1) water quality improvement, 2) resource recovery potential, and 3) monetized benefits versus costs. The integration of technical, hydrological, agronomical and socio-economic elements to derive these three tangible outputs in a joint approach is a novelty. The approach is demonstrated using the heavily polluted Indonesian Upper Citarum River in the Bandung region. Domestic interventions, applying simple (anaerobic filter) technologies, were economically most attractive with a benefit cost ratio (BCR) of 3.2, but could not reach target water quality standards. To approach the target water quality, both advanced domestic (nutrient removal systems) and industrial wastewater treatment interventions were required, leading to a BCR of 2. We showed that benefits from selling recovered resources represent here an additional driver for improving water quality and outweigh the additional costs for resource recovery facilities. While included benefits captured some of the major items, these may have been undervalued. Based on these findings, water quality interventions justify their costs and are socially and economically beneficial.
文摘Agroforestry and beekeeping are widely promoted as prospective Nature-</span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:""> </span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:""><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Based Income Generating Activities (NIGAs) to improve livelihoods while at </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">the same time enhancing biodiversity conservation in degrading</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> agro-ecologies. These activities can diversify and increase famers’ incomes and support in</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">stinctive biota and fauna resilience. However, evidence to showcase and compare their long-term benefits is scant. We use the case of Uluguru</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> Mountains in Tanzania to evaluate and compare viability of agroforestry and beekeeping projects using the Cost</span></span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:""> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Benefit Analysis (CBA) approach. The results of analysis yielded positive NPVs for both agroforestry and beekeeping projects at discount rates not higher than 8.2% and 8.5% respectively. Overall, the comparison of economic viability between agroforestry and beekeeping projects revealed that the former was relatively more profitable than the later in terms of both the NPV and Benefit</span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:""> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Cost Ratio (BCR) criteria. However, the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for beekeeping was slightly higher than that of agroforestry. Yet, we underscore the fact that these two projects can jointly be implemented to enhance livelihoods of farmers and support biodiversity conservation in the study </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">area </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">and other parts with similar agro-ecologies in developing countries. However, farmers in these agro-ecologies need to be supported by governments and non-government development partners in terms of training and inspiration to shift from orthodox farming to sustainable NIGAs.
基金support from National Research Initiative Competitive Grant no.2009-55205-05057Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no.2011-68004-30367 and 2013-68004-20364 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculturesupported by funds from the W.K.Kellogg endowment to the UC Davis Department of Animal Science
文摘In 2012, genetically engineered (GE) crops were grown by 17.3 million farmers on over 170 million hectares. Over 70% of harvested GE biomass is fed to food producing animals, making them the major consumers of GE crops for the past 15 plus years. Prior to commercialization, GE crops go through an extensive regulatory evaluation. Over one hundred regulatory submissions have shown compositional equivalence, and comparable levels of safety, between GE crops and their conventional counterparts. One component of regulatory compliance is whole GE food/feed animal feeding studies. Both regulatory studies and independent peer-reviewed studies have shown that GE crops can be safely used in animal feed, and rDNA fragments have never been detected in products (e.g. milk, meat, eggs) derived from animals that consumed GE feed. Despite the fact that the scientific weight of evidence from these hundreds of studies have not revealed unique risks associated with GE feed, some groups are calling for more animal feeding studies, including long-term rodent studies and studies in target livestock species for the approval of GE crops. It is an opportune time to review the results of such studies as have been done to date to evaluate the value of the additional information obtained. Requiring long-term and target animal feeding studies would sharply increase regulatory compliance costs and prolong the regulatory process associated with the commercialization of GE crops. Such costs may impede the development of feed crops with enhanced nutritional characteristics and durability, particularly in the local varieties in small and poor developing countries. More generally it is time for regulatory evaluations to more explicitly consider both the reasonable and unique risks and benefits associated with the use of both GE plants and animals in agricultural systems, and weigh them against those associated with existing systems, and those of regulatory inaction. This would represent a shift away from a GE evaluation process that currently focuses only on risk assessment and identifying ever diminishing marginal hazards, to a regulatory approach that more objectively evaluates and communicates the likely impact of approving a new GE plant or animal on agricultural production systems.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71171141)Post-funded Projects of Social Science Planning in Tianjin (Grant No. TJGLHQ1403)
文摘Building energy efficiency is a long-term strategy to achieve sustainable development, but the inconsistencies of main interests during the implementation lead to the need for government regulation in building energy conservation. Implementation of building energy efficiency of government regulation covers three aspects of construction and involves relevant participators, so the paper analyzes interests and roles of the related subjects in building energy saving, explore the motivations and its conversion mechanism of each player, and dissect the game relationship of associated earnings of developers' and consumers' behaviors selection under government control. Finally, the paper proposes basic requirements of building incentive policies for related subjects under government control to regulate the main behaviors of subjects in building energy efficient buildings and achieve energy efficiency goals and balance of all parties' benefits.
基金Supported by Non-pesticide Replacing High-toxic Pesticides Project in Yunnan Province (ynzz-200733)~~
文摘[ Objective] The paper was to operate the application and promotion of non-pesticide replacing high-toxic pesticides techniques in Kunming City, and to analyze its benefit. [ Method ] Through application and promotion of frequency trembler grid lamps, sticking plate trapping technology, construction of treatment ponds for field waste vegetable leaves, standardized (accurate) cultivation techniques, cultivation techniques of disease-resistant varieties and diverse cultivation technologies, the promotion benefit of non-pesticide replacing high-toxic pesticides techniques was comprehensively investigated and evaluated. [ Result ] The appli- cation and promotion area of non-pesticide replacing high-toxic pesticides techniques in Kunming City during 2006 -2010 reached 94 667 hm2. The investigation on control efforts and quantitative analysis of cost/benefit showed that the beneficial result of application and promotion of non-pesticide replacing high-toxic pesticides techniques was higher than the direct benefit of application and promotion of traditional pesticide replacing techniques. This improvement innovated the traditional pesticide replacing method in replacement work of high-toxic pesticides, reducing the usage volume of pesticide in Kunming City. [ Conclusion] The application and promotion of non-pesticide replacing high-toxic pesticides techniques improved the economic, social and ecological benefit of replacement work of high-toxic pesticides, protected the agricultural ecological environment and promoted the sustainable development of agricultural production.
基金supported by the Technical Assistant 9690 project of Asian Development Bank(ADB).
文摘Electric interconnection is an essential trend for future large-scale development and utilization of renewable energy.China has proposed the concept of Global Energy Interconnection to realize the clean utilization of energy through the interconnection of power grids and optimize the allocation of global energy resources.This study proposes the Kazakhstan-China-Republic of Korea networking scheme,analyzing the characteristics of power supply and demand in these countries.Based on the regional economic analysis and power development,four interconnection schemes are proposed utilizing UHVDC technology.Accordingly,existing problems and favorable factors are fully considered.The investment analysis of±1100 kV and±800 kV lines,configuration scheme of the converter station,and investment estimation of four interconnection schemes are given.
文摘Background:Much land is subject to damage by construction,development and exploitation with consequent loss of environmental function and services.How might the loss be recovered?Results:This article develops principles of environmental rehabilitation.Key issues include the following.Rehabilitation means restoring the previous condition.Whether or not to restore is not a technical but a value judgement.It is subject to adopting the sustainability ethic.If the ethic is followed under rule of law then rehabilitation must be done always to’the high standard’which means handing down unimpaired environmental function and no extra land management.The elements of the former condition that it is intended to restore must be specified.Restoring these in any given case is the purpose of that rehabilitation project.The specified restoration elements must be easily measurable with a few simple powerful metrics.Some land damage is not fixable so restraint must be exercised in what construction,development and exploitation are permitted.If sustainability is adopted then cost benefit analysis is not a valid form of project appraisal because trading off present benefits against future losses relies on subjectively decided discount rates,and because natural capital is hard to price,indispensable,irreplaceable and non-substitutable.Elements often to be restored include agricultural land capability,landscape form and environmental function.Land capability is a widely used convention and,with landscape form,encapsulate many key land factors,and are easily measurable.Restoring soil and thereby environmental function provides the necessary base for an ecological pyramid.Conclusions:The need for rehabilitation is not to be justified by cost-benefit or scientific and technological proof,but rests on a value judgement to sustain natural capital for present and future generations.Decision on what activities and projects to permit should be based on what is physically and financially fixable on current knowledge.Business and government must be proactive,develop rehabilitation standards,work out how to meet the standards,design simple powerful metrics to measure performance against the standards,embark on continuous improvement,and report.
文摘In the current context of vigorously promoting the construction of ecological civilization, land consolidation in the construction of the constant pursuit of ecological design, to achieve sustainable use of land resources, China has made great progress in ecological land consolidation. In this paper, through the comparison of flow design and cross section design of agricultural canal design in ecological land remediation and traditional land remediation, the characteristic design of some agricultural canals in ecological land remediation was introduced, and the ecological, social and economic benefits of two land remediation methods were systematically analyzed. The analysis shows that ecological agricultural canals play a great role in protecting biodiversity, alleviating the contradiction between people and land, saving energy, purifying water resources and improving land quality, the research result has provided the basis and the model for the land consolidation in carrying on the ecology type ditch design.
文摘Bike-share systems have been installed in cities worldwide as a way to attract travelers to use transit rather than the automobile. This has been proved to be an effective way of mitigating congestion on the road. The objective of this study is to develop a method to determine the size of the bike-share program in terms of the number of bicycles, the number and location of the stations, the number of docks at each station. To achieve the objectives of this study, a literature review was conducted on university bike-sharing systems in the U.S. and abroad. Various cases of bike-share programs were analyzed, in which each case consisted of a different number and location of bike-share stations. The demand corresponding to these stations was used as the input to a simulation model developed in this study to determine the number of docks in stations and bicycles in the system on and around campus at UNLV. These sizing parameters of the bike-share system then were used in a cost and benefit analysis to determine which cases could achieve maximum benefit, given a limitation of the initial costs. It was found that provision of one peripheral station and three internal stations at strategic locations provide relatively higher benefit cost ratio at lower initial cost.
文摘Financial expenses Of China’s textile machinery in fiscal year 2008 rose 28.81%due to higher indebtedness(60.57%of indebtedness rate).Analysts anticipated animminent weakening of momentum for China’s textile machinery markets owing toweaker consumer spending and easing export growth.
文摘According to the latest statistics released by China TextileMachinery & Accessories Association(CTMA),the export value offoreign-funded enterprises from Jan.to Oct.2008,reached 0.502billion US dollars,a year-on-year increase of 0.08 percent.
基金The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research(NWOWOTRO)is gratefully acknowledged for funding this project.We are also grateful for the co-funding received from the Institute for Environmental Studies,VU University Amsterdam.A word of thanks goes to Ted Veldkamp and Jurre Tanja from the VU University Amsterdam for their help with the on-site pre-testing of the survey and focus group discussions,and Dr.Melesse Temesgen and Mr.Sebsib Belay from Addis Ababa University for their assistance in organizing the pre-test and data collection.Finally,we are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on previous versions of this paper.As always,the authors remain sole responsible for the content of the paper.
文摘Unsustainable land use management and the resulting soil erosion are among the most pervasive problems in rural Ethiopia,where most of the country’s people live,jeopardizing food security.Despite various efforts to introduce soil conservation measures and assess their costs and benefits,it is unclear how efficient these measures are from an economic point of view in securing food production.This paper examines the costs and benefits of three soil conservation measures applied in the country in three different rural districts facing different degrees of soil erosion problems using survey data collected from 750 farm households.A production function is estimated to quantify the costs and benefits of more sustainable land use management practices.We show that the soil conservation measures significantly increase productivity and hence food security.Comparing the costs and benefits,the results indicate that implementing soil conservation measures would benefit farm communities in the case study areas through increased grain productivity and food security.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.61902056,61977014,and 61603082)the Shenyang Young and Middle-Aged Talent Support Program,China(No.ZX20200272)+1 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,China(No.N2017011)the Open Fund of State Key Lab for Novel Software Technology,Nanjing University,China(No.KFKT2021B01)。
文摘Integration testing is an integral part of software testing.Prior studies have focused on reducing test cost in integration test order generation.However,there are no studies concerning the testing priorities of critical classes when generating integration test orders.Such priorities greatly affect testing efficiency.In this study,we propose an effective strategy that considers both test cost and efficiency when generating test orders.According to a series of dynamic execution scenarios,the software is mapped into a multi-layer dynamic execution network(MDEN)model.By analyzing the dynamic structural complexity,an evaluation scheme is proposed to quantify the class testing priority with the defined class risk index.Cost–benefit analysis is used to perform cycle-breaking operations,satisfying two principles:assigning higher priorities to higher-risk classes and minimizing the total complexity of test stubs.We also present a strategy to evaluate the effectiveness of integration test order algorithms by calculating the reduction of software risk during their testing process.Experiment results show that our approach performs better across software of different scales,in comparison with the existing algorithms that aim only to minimize test cost.Finally,we implement a tool,ITOsolution,to help practitioners automatically generate test orders.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China(No.2019YFC0214805)the National Social Science Foundation of China(No.21AZD060)+1 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.71810107001 and 72073003)the 111 Project Urban Air Pollution and Health Effects(No.B20009),Peking University。
文摘China has put great efforts into air pollution control over the past years and recently committed to its most ambitious climate target.Cost and benefit analysis has been widely used to evaluate the control policies in terms of past performance,future reduction potential,and direct and indirect impacts.To understand the cost and benefit analysis for air pollution control in China,we conducted a bibliometric review of more than 100 studies published over the past two decades,including the current research progress,most commonly adopted methods,and core findings.The control target in cost and benefit analysis has shifted in three stages,from individual and primary pollution control,moving to joint prevention of multiple and secondary pollutants,and then towards synergistic control of air pollution and carbon.With the expansion of the research scope,the integrated assessment model has gradually demonstrated the necessity for long-term ex-anti policy simulation,especially for dealing with complex factors.To ensure long-term air quality,climate,public health,and sustainable economic development,substantial evidence from published studies has suggested that China needs to continue its efforts in the upstream adjustment of the energy system and industrial structure with multi-regional and-sector collaboration.This cost and benefit review paper provides decision-makers with the fundamental information and knowledge gaps in air pollution control strategies in China,and direction for facing future challenges.
文摘Besides crops, agriculture supplies all three major categories of ecosystem services (ES). However, agriculture also supplies an array of ecosystem dis-services (EDS) that may harm other ecosystems. The flows of ES and EDS are directly dependent on the management of agricultural ecosystems. The traditional method of Chinese agriculture, which supports sustainable agriculture, has been proven to increase ES and reduce EDS. However, there is a lack of a detailed understanding of the ES and EDS associated with traditional agriculture, and also of differences between traditional and modem agriculture. In this study, an investigation was conducted on the ecosystem services (ES) and ecosystem dis-services (EDS) of traditional and modem agriculture in Congjiang County, Guizhou Province, China. Afterwards, the economic values of ES and EDS were quantified experimentally and calculated based on the market price. The results show that: the net economic value of traditional rice-fish agriculture was 3.31 x 104 CNY.haI (6.83 CNY = 1 USD as of July, 2009) and that of rice monoculture was 1.99 x 104 CNY.ha ~. Significant differences existed between traditional rice-fish and rice monoculture fields for their economic values of some ES or EDS. A benefit and cost analysis (BCA) model was used to adjust the conflict between the economic income and environmental loss from traditional and modem agricul- ture. The BCA model not only calculates the net income but also monetizes the EDS of the agricultural systems. The results showed that the net income of rice-fish agriculture was 1.94x 104CNY.ha-1 higher than that of rice monoculture. However, the benefit to cost ratio (BCR) of rice-fish agriculture was lower than that of rice monoculture, indicating that the traditional agricultural model was not the most optimized choice for farmers. The value of the rice-fish agriculture was much higher than that of the rice monoculture. Thus, when considering the benefits that rice-fish agriculture contributes to the large- scale society, these agricultural methods needs to be utilized. Furthermore, the labor opportunity costs were calculated and the comprehensive value of rice mono- culture was negative. Finally, the compensation standard was calculated based on the comprehensive benefit analysis. The lowest level was 1.09×103 CNY.ha-1, and the highest level was 1.21 × 104 CNY.ha-1.
文摘Energy consumption rates have been rising globally at an escalating pace since the last three decades.The exploration of new renewable and clean sources of energy globally is thus gaining prime importance.In Australia,coal is still the primary source of energy,which,during the process of energy production,generates greenhouse gases,subsequently resulting in environmental degradation.Within this context,the paper compares the economic and environmental benefits of utilizing two renewable energy production sources:algae building technology(ABT)and solar PV panels.A case study site for retrofitting a specified area on the front facade of a multi-storied building at the University of Technology Sydney,City Campus,Australia was thus chosen for the study.A cost and benefit analysis model using the following performance indicators;return on investment,payback period as well as net present value of the two systems,was thus initiated.Annual revenue generation of both systems which included tangible and intangible benefits of both systems were simultaneously calculated.The investment and operation and maintenance costs of both systems were calculated based on market research as well as quantitative data adapted from our literature review.Our conclusions show that closed tubular photobioreactor systems have more benefit than solar panel system from an environmental impact perspective considering Australia’s current struggle with water scarcity,drought,air pollution and carbon emission reduction goals.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.50579003).
文摘Urban green land compensation plays an impor-tant role in county development,ecological environment management and many other fields.The concept,methods and principles of urban green land are introduced in this paper.According to the pay fee method,the value and ecological function of various types of urban green land were analyzed.The cost-benefit analysis method(CBAM)was used to estimate different external diseconomy benefits caused by green land loss.The authors applied CBAM to estimate such benefits in the case of Shanghai,China,and calculated the actual compensation value for green land.Results indicated that in 2002,the compensation value for the green land of Shanghai was RMB 8.58×10^(5) Yuan/hm^(2).
文摘Wind power generation has been developing rapidly in recent years.Therefore,the mechanism for promoting wind power integration becomes increasingly important.In this paper,a novel mechanism of intraday market is proposed,which can utilize updating information of wind power and effectively exploit the shiftable load.The mechanism is compatible with the existing market framework,and promotes wind power producers(WPPs)to be more competitive in the market.Thus,the WPPs could make decisions for multiple market transactions in various trading timescales according to the market price.Moreover,the WPPs can optimize their decisions continuously in the intraday market at different time points in the model.The case study on IEEE-RTS verifies the proposed method is valid and feasible.It can support wind power integration and increase the benefit of the whole system as well.
文摘This paper presents a method of economic assessment for planned projects in the process of highway network planning. Economic assessment method is being done on the basis of cost benefit analysis, and the cost and benefit calculation methods are discussed respectively.