Poverty alleviation through e-commerce:Village involvement and demonstration policies in rural China

The diffusion of e-commerce has played a significant role in recent rural economic development in China.E-commerce is also considered as an efficient channel to alleviate poverty in rural China.Voluminous studies have investigated the contribution of e-commerce to agricultural development,yet it is lacking empirical evidence as to the effects of e-commerce on rural poverty alleviation.Since the year of 2014,in order to develop rural e-commerce,Chinese government launched the National Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project.This gradual involvement policy offered a natural experiment for evaluation of e-commerce.Based on village-level survey data from rural China and Heckit method,our study finds that rural e-commerce has a significantly positive effect on rural income.Moreover,the effect is inverted U-shaped for the relative-poverty villages.The estimation of the propensity scores matching model confirms that the results are robust.The following policy recommendations are proposed:(1)policy support to rural e-commerce should prioritize the povertystricken villages.By doing so,the marginal income effects of e-commerce will be maximized.(2)Investment in internet infrastructure and establishment of human resources for e-commerce in rural areas will have spillover effects,increasing rural income through the"digital dividend".

Potential and Suitability Evaluation of CO_2 Geological Storage in Major Sedimentary Basins of China,and the Demonstration Project in Ordos Basin

From 2010 to 2012, the China Geological Survey Center for Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology Survey （CHEGS） carried out the project ＂Potential evaluation and demonstration project of CO2 Geological Storage in China＂. During this project, we developed an evaluation index system and technical methods for the potential and suitability of CO2 geological storage based on China＇s geological conditions, and evaluated the potential and suitability of the primary basins for COz geological storage, in order to draw a series of regional scale maps （at a scale of 1：5000000） and develop an atlas of the main sedimentary basins in China. By using these tools, we delineated many potential targets for CO2 storage. We also built techniques and methods for site selection and the exploration and assessment of CO2 geological storage in deep saline aquifers. Furthermore, through cooperation with the China Shenhua Coal to Liquid and Chemical Co., Ltd., we successfully constructed the first coal-based demonstration project for CO2 geological storage in deep saline aquifers in the Yijinhuoluo Banner of Ordos in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which brought about the basic preliminary theories, techniques, and methods of geological CO2 storage in deep saline aquifers under China＇s geological conditions.

±800-kV UHVDC demonstration project passed live line test

On December 26, 2009, in the main control room of Shanghai Fengxian Converter Station, the voltage value on the screen rose from zero to 800 kV. This represented the demonstrative ±800-kV

Research and Demonstration of Direct Air-Cooling System for 600-MW Fossil-Fired Power Plants

Given the distribution feature of resources such as coal and water, the requirements for the development of Chinese power industry, and the fact of monopoly by foreign companies, it is very necessary and significant to independently research and develop air-cooling technologies. Through experimental research, simulative calculation, process and equipment development, field tests and a demonstration project, the design and operation technologies for air-cooling system are grasped and relevant key equipment is developed. The results of the demonstration project show that the technical indicators for the air-cooling system have met or exceeded the design requirements. Part of the research results have been incorporated into the relevant national design standards. The technologies developed have been applied to more than 23 sets of thermal power units of or above 600 MW in China.

A demonstration project for smart grid started in Tianjin

On April 7, the construction of 110-kV Hechanglu intelligent substation in Tianjin Binhai New Area was started, inaugurating the comprehensive demonstration project for smart grid in Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City.

Demonstration of the Nearly Zero Energy Building Concept

Nearly zero energy buildings (nZEB) will become an obligatory energy efficiency standard in Europe. Following to common guidelines in European legislation, the countries investigated technical and economic framework for the preparation of detailed national technical definition of nZEB. Slovenia accepted the nZEB criteria in early 2015. This paper describes the technical and economic background for identification of economically viable concepts of highly energy efficient apartment building. The highrise demonstration building Eco Silver House revealed that meeting nZEB standards was not an easy task, not so much for technical reasons, but mostly due to the processes, inadequate skills, not fully compliant regulation and insufficient possibilities for interaction between the building and energy networks. Analysis of cost effectiveness showed that the Eco Silver House fulfilled minimal requirements of cost-optimal for apartment building with Net Present Value of 272 EUR/m2 and Primary energy use of 79 kWh/ m2?a in line with the Slovenian national cost optimal study of minimum energy performance requirements from the year 2014. At the time, the requirement of 50% share of renewables in final energy use is not fulfilled, but will be easily reached when EU2020 energy efficiency targets set in the Slovenian Energy Act regarding the RES share in district heating systems and public power grid will be gradually implemented. The demonstration project FP7 EE-HIGHRISE confirms that in spite of the barriers, the nZEB minimum requirements defined on profound theoretical studies can be met in practice.

Engineering Study on the Treatment of Multi-soil-layering System on the Rural Domestic Wastewater in Taihu Basin

By combining with the actual situation in the rural area,the practical technology of domestic wastewater treatment which had the wide popularization value was developed in the rural area of Taihu Basin.Moreover,the multi-soil-layering system was used to treat the concentrated rural domestic wastewater,and the demonstration project was established in Fenshui Village,Yixing,Jiangsu.The result showed that the infrastructure and operating cost of system was low,and the treatment effect was good.The average removal ratios of COD,NH+4-N,TN,TP and SS were respectively 70%,83%,59%,76% and 94%.The quality of yielding water could reach Grade A standard of Pollutant Emission Standards in Urban Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Numerical Hydrodynamics Study Around Turbine Array of Tidal Stream Farm in Zhoushan, China

In recent decades,great efforts have been made to efficiently explore tidal stream energy due to its unique advantages of easy prediction and great potential.China recently launched a national tidal stream farm demonstration project in the waterway between Putuoshan and Hulu Islands in the Zhoushan area.Before deployment of the turbine array,it is necessary to understand the hydrodynamic changes associated with the construction of a turbine array.In this study,we developed a depth-averaged hydrodynamics model that solves the shallow water governing equations to simulate the tidal hydrodynamics around the Zhoushan Archipelago.The simulation results agree with field data in terms of the water elevation and stream velocity.We considered two types of turbine arrays in this study and investigated their impacts on the local hydrodynamics.In general,the stream velocity in the northern and southern areas is reduced due to the power take-off of the turbine array,whereas stream velocity in the western and eastern areas is slightly increased due to the blockage impact of the turbine array.

Qinghai-Tibet Expressway experimental research

As one part of the National Highway Network Planning in China, the Qinghai-Tibet Expressway （QTE） from Golmud to Lhasa will be built in the interior of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau （QTP） across about 630 km of permafrost lands. Due to the problematic interactions between the engineering foundations and permafrost, the frozen-soil roadbed of the QTE will be subjected to the more intense thermal disturbances due to the wider black surface. The design and construction for long-term thermal and mechanical stability will face more severe challenges than those in ordinary highways and railways in the same region. In order to provide scientific support for cold regions engineering practices, the QTE Experimental Demonstration Project （EDP） was constructed in situ in the vicinity of the Beilu＇he Permafrost Station in the interior of the QTP. In this paper, the anticipated problems of the proposed QTE project are enumerated, and the structures of the test sections for QTE EDP are described. Through numerical simulations, it was found that the heat transfer processes occurring in each specific road structure are significantly different. The heat accumulation in the highway embankment is mainly due to the black bituminous pavement, but in the railway embankment with its gravel surfaces, it mainly comes from the side slopes. As a result, the net heat accumulation of the highway embankment is three times higher than that in the railway. In expressway, the heat accumulation is further increased because of the wider pavement so that significantly more heat will be accumulated in the roadbed beneath the centerline area. Thus, the thermal stability of the fro- zen-soil roadbed and the underlying permafrost of the QTE can be seriously threatened without proper engineering measures protection against thawing. Based on research and practical experiences from the operating Qinghai-Tibet Railway （QTR） and the Qinghai-Tibet Highway （QTH）, combined with the predicted characteristics of heat transfer in an expressway embankment, nine kinds of engineering measures for mitigating the thaw settlement of foundation soils through the cooling the roadbed soils were built and are being tested in the EDP. The design of the monitoring system for the EDP and the observed parameters were also described.

Development and commercial application of Baosteel sintering flue gas recirculating process

Because of the low temperature, large waste gas volume, high pollutant content, and complicated compositions, waste heat recovery and emission gas treatment of sintering flue gas have always presented a challenge in the steel industry, and this issue has attracted widespread attention both locally and abroad. Recently, based on the first domestic pilot plant and demonstration project, Baosteel has performed a series of innovative research and development investigations on its sintering flue gas recirculating （SFGR） process,in which the system design and optimization, dioxin-related contaminant source suppression, ore matching structure optimization, wear- resistant design of cycling fans and pipelines, high-efficiency dust removal equipment, system control and stable operation strategy, flue gas mixing and switching control, circular hood sealing, oxygen content conditioning, recirculation sintering system process control, and model development have been studied, and a complete set of equipment and technology for the SFGR process has been initially developed. The investigation results suggest that the SFGR process can not only significantly reduce exhaust gas volume and pollutant emissions but also recover low-temperature waste heat and reduce the energy consumption of sintering; therefore, the overall technologies possess great value in energy savings ,pollution emission reduction, and sintering ore quality/yield improvement.

China Needs Prompt Construction of a Strong National Power Grid (Excerption)

China needs to develop a strong national power grid which takes ultra-high-voltage (UHV) transmission systems as its core. The grid is expected to adopt 1000-kV-class AC and ± 800-kV DC transmission systems. In view of significant achievements in technological research and considerable progress in UHV manufacturing technology, China is capable of developing UHV systems. In order to promote the construction of UHV systems,China Electric Power Research Institute and other institutions have initiated first-phase research activities of UHV transmission technologies. The main contents involve research on UHV transmission technology and its economy,developing and manufacturing abilities on UHV equipment, prospective of UHV network frame and selection of demonstration projects, etc.

China's First UHVAC project conferred “demonstrative standardization project”

On December 14, 2009, the National Standardization Management Commission, China Electricity Council and the State Grid Corporation jointly

Practice of Smart Grid in China ①

An exclusive interview with the author was published in Issue 2,2010 of this journal,in which the starting point and macro-strategy to construct smart grid in China was presented.Meanwhile,the three periods of smart grid construction were also mentioned,namely planning and pilot project construction period,overall construction period,and improving and upgrading period as it is planned by SGCC.At the invitation of this journal,the author wrote an article further introducing the implementation in the first period of SGCC smart grid program.The article will be published in two consecutive issues.

Design of 1000-kV AC Single-Circuit Overhead Transmission Line

The UHVAC 1 000-kV transmission system is so far the one with the most advanced transmission technique applied and highest operation voltage.There are no guidelines or standards available for the design of 1 000-kV overhead transmission line in China.Study on key technologies and design schemes shall be carried out to ascertain the technical principles and construction standards for project construction,which are presented in this paper based on the Southeast Shanxi-Nanyang-Jingmen test and demonstration transmission line.A comparison and analysis of technical data and economic indices between UHV line and other lines are also described.

WMO TYPHOON LANDFALL FORECAST DEMONSTRATION PROJECT(WMO-TLFDP) PROGRESS AND FUTURE PLANS

The "WMO Typhoon Landfall Forecast Demonstration Project(TLFDP)" was started in May 2010 in conjunction with the start of the Shanghai World Expo 2010. The project was successful in terms of assisting the local forecasters in providing an efficient tropical cyclone(TC) forecast service for World Expo 2010, demonstrating the performance of the most up-to-date techniques in TC forecasting, and enhancing the ability of forecasters to effectively use products based on advanced TC forecasting techniques. The first phase was completed in December 2012 and the second phase was completed in December 2015. The third phase(TLFDP-III) started in 2016.During its first(2010-2012) and second(2013-2015) phases, TLFDP collected real-time TC forecast products from 15 Typhoon Forecast Product Providers(TFPPs). The products include deterministic track and intensity forecasts, ensemble track and intensity forecasts, deterministic wind radii forecasts, wind probability forecasts, and gridded model outputs. The products were disseminated through the project's website and the operational website of the Shanghai Typhoon Warning Center.TLFDP has made significant progress in TC forecast verification, including setting up the tools for both realtime and post-season TC forecast verification, developing and integrating several new verification techniques, carrying out a survey on the operational status of TC forecast verification in the western North Pacific region, and contributing to the WMO document "Verification of tropical cyclone forecasts". The post-season forecast verification was reported to the Session of the UNESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee since 2013. New consensus methods for TC track and intensity forecasts were also proposed either based on Ensemble Prediction Systems(EPSs) products or multiple deterministic NWP model products. Two training workshops on TC forecasting were organized by the TLFDP and held in Shanghai, China, in May 2010 and June 2012, respectively, and seven research fellowship projects were implemented as jointly supported by the UNESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee, Shanghai Typhoon Institute and Hong Kong Observatory.In its third phase(TLFDP-III, 2016-2018), the project will continue its effort on demonstration and evaluation of the newly developed forecasting techniques for TCs, and developing and documenting advanced guidance for the verification of TC forecasts, with special attention to TC intensity and precipitation.

Demonstration Project of Safe and Efficient Mining Operations in Extra-thick Coal Seam

Mineable coal reserves in thick and extra-thick seams account for 44% of the total deposit in China. Fullymechanized top-coal caving technology is a new mining method of safe and efficient underground operations in extra-thick seams in China. The development of fullymechanized top-coal caving technology in China, which was successfully applied in Face 8105 in Tashan Coal Mine, Datong, Shanxi, China, is analyzed in this paper.Studies on movement pattern of top-coal and roof from fully-mechanized top caving face in 14–20 m extra-thick seams have been carried out. A series of key technologies were successfully developed, including strata control technology, equipment for high-efficient and high-recovery top caving operations, and safety guarantee technology for low gas occurrence and high gas emission. As a result, the fully-mechanized top-coal caving Face 8105, with large mining height in Tashan Coal Mine, has achieved a recovery rate of 88.9% and an average equipment operation rate of 92.1%. With coal production of 10.84 Mt in 2011,the demonstration project is a technology and equipment breakthrough for fully-mechanized top-coal caving face in extra-thick coal seams with large mining height.