Analysis - MOVING ON FROM MOORE

A Belgian research centre whose pioneering use of 'open innovation' has provided vital technology for most of the world's largest semiconductor companies is changing the way it works, in a bid to meet new technological and innovation challenges. IMEC, based in Leuven, runs collaborative research and development programmes to develop next-generation manufacturing processes for key chip companies. It works by setting out a programme for developing these processes, then inviting companies to become partners in the pre-competitive work. IMECs launch a 'More than Moore' programme, under which it has combined many of its research teams into a single multi-disciplinary organisation headed by Luc Van den hove, acting as chief operating officer. This is expected to improve the way the scientific disciplines work together, which is becoming ever more important as technology solutions are increasingly driven by end applications. The programme will develop variants of IMECs mainstream 130 nm manufacturing process on 200 mm wafers, tuned to particular applications or to enable the integration of other technologies     

Are US electric utilities improving their sustainability disclosures and performance?

This paper examines whether voluntary sustainability disclosures are associated with sustainability performance for a sample of 47 investor-owned electric utilities that disclosed SASB-consistent sustainability information in their SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) filings in the period 2014–2018. We collect sustainability performance indicators from company sustainability reports to determine whether companies with a good disclosure policy on a topic also have good sustainability performance on the given topic. Our findings suggest that the most frequent disclosures are grid resiliency, greenhouse gas emissions, and end-use efficiency while the least disclosed topics are energy affordability and nuclear safety. The data shows that companies that perform among the best on one sustainability performance measure may not be the best on other measures. Correlation analysis and mean difference tests indicate that there is no strong connection between sustainability performance and disclosure quality. Thus, the present strategy of voluntary sustainability disclosure may not be a direct indicator of actual sustainability performance.     

火电厂模糊优化选址

随着电力市场化的进行,发电企业之间的竞争日益激烈。在新的形势下,如何对火电厂进行优化选址,以增强电网的安全和企业的竞争力,已成为电网和发电企业共同关注的问题。通过对众多选址因素的分析,建立了包括经济性、安全性、环保性和社会性指标在内的火电机组选址的完整优化指标体系;充分利用地理信息系统(GIS)的可视化功能,将整个选址区域划分为若干个连续单元,依照火电厂选址的可行性指标确定可行单元,并计算各单元指标数据;最后通过建立各单元的模糊识别模型,实现了整个区域内火电机组的优化选址。案例计算表明研究结果具有很强的适用性,它对优化电源选址具有重要意义。     

在全面开放的电力市场中用户用电管理及其策略

分析了在全面开放的竞争的环境下用户的用电特点、用户成本结构与用户用电成本。传统的环境下,用户对用电没有太多的选择。而在全面开放的竞争的电力市场中,用户将有更多的选择,最主要的是可以选择其电力供应公司（发电公司和配电公司）以及选择电价和服务。不同用存在不同的成本结构。用户用电决定其购电成本,用户用电质量、可靠性等决定其服务成本,用户停电损失决定其停电成本。研究了用户4种基本购电方式。不同的购电方式影响着用户的用电成本。在用户用电成本的基础上深入研究了用户的用电管理以及用户的用电策略。研究结果表明,用户加强用 采取适当的用电策略在一定程度上可以降低用户用电成本。     

Electrochemical power sources:key agents for energy sustainability(Ⅰ)

1 Society and energy in transitionThe mastery of energy has always been the key to a betterstandard-of-living·The concept of energy is,however,difficult tounderstand———it is an abstract quantity that manifests itself inmany forms,namely,chemical,elect…     

Green shoots from tumbleweed - [engineering automotive]

The car industry is in a bad way. Vehicles sit unsold on garage forecourts, factories are semi-idle and countless manufacturing jobs are at risk. Even the world's most profitable carmaker, Toyota, has had its first losses in nearly 70 years. While the future of the car is not in doubt, the shape it takes will be heavily influenced by the need to turn this tumbleweed into green shoots. State aid for the credit-crunched car companies is being offered only in exchange for a commitment to making greener vehicles.     

Climbing the ladder [career advancement]

Changes in the work environment and in the traditional rungs to success brought about by increasing global competition, which has pressured leading American companies to place more emphasis on profitability, are discussed. The different career tracks traditionally found in manufacturing companies are examined. Strategies for building skills that lead to increased respect and influence throughout the industry are described     

照明的明天：什么是热点

从社会、产品和应用的角度,举例说明未来数年照明的＂热点＂。从社会的角度,说明可持续发展以及相关节能产品和应用设计的持续重要性。要更加关注完全无废料的设计,即＂从摇篮到摇篮＂（from cradle to cradle）的设计。从产品的角度,说明固态将成为许多产品应用的标准。在固态照明方面,由于所提供的数据常常有误而令新用户不满,因此向固态照明转变的脚步会放缓。若有效控制固态照明中的眩光,须有新型的光学设计。目前的评价体系,是通过经验方法获得,完全不适用于固态照明环境,因此需要全新的眩光评价体系。普通室内照明的显色性和色表规格,过去以白炽灯为基准,现在须设定严格的新标准。在应用方面,若要达到非视觉生物效应,智能动态照明也要成为一种标准。我们将看到,为减少因生物钟失调而出现的问题,会广泛应用光学治疗。在固定路灯方面,随着汽车系统本身的发展,不会再优先考虑物体的能见度。我们需要的不再是路灯亮度概念,而是更加三维的概念。若综合考虑中间视觉的所有效果,路灯光源的最有效光谱应该偏暖白光。老年人会丧失短波长视觉能力,是其中的主要原因。     

电力市场环境下电网公司的人才配置及管理

人才的储备、培养和管理将对电网公司在电力市场竞争中获胜起到至关重要的作用。通过对电力市场环境下电网公司所需人才的分析,建议在今后的工作中逐步补充。同时做好人才的管理,真正做到“招好人、用好人”,使电网企业在激烈的市场竞争中立于不败之地。     

Healthcare technology, economics, and policy: an evolving balance

Economic and policy issues increasingly influence healthcare technology solutions as we wrestle with keeping healthcare quality high while keeping costs under control. The healthcare system is also undergoing rapid change brought about by managed care, shifting care to team providers in an outpatient or home environment. The development of health technologies under new market arrangements needs to be examined so that quality of care and cost are not at cross roads. As these issues continue to evolve in the public forum, it is critical for engineers and contributors to technology in healthcare to understand the dynamics that influence technology need and and adoption in the healthcare market. We hope that this special issue will provide a basis for initial understanding of these issues and stimulate further involvement by the bioengineering community at large, for the improvement of healthcare across all of society.     

Sustainability and the design of knowledge tools

The concept of sustainable development has gained widespread support over the last decade, with many organizations adopting it as an important goal. The motivation behind people's interest in sustainable development is the belief that current human activities may degrade the environment and cause serious negative consequences for human populations. These concerns are especially understandable when we consider that the current practices of industrialized countries will in the future be used to support an ever-growing population. What needs to be present in any useful discussion of sustainability is a rigorous application of both relevant theory and technological expertise. These are examples of knowledge tools which can be used to organize and give meaning to data, create and analyze concepts, and synthesize the two (data and concepts) to aid in decision making. The author offers some insights which may help in the design of knowledge tools for a sustainable civilization     

Survival skills in downsizing company

Unfortunately, many of us will be in companies that are downsizing at some point in our careers. Often such reductions in staff at companies create a work environment that is less than optimal. However, the guidelines discussed by the author are intended to help you in maintaining gainful employment during the process. These guidelines deal with downsizing situations where the company still survives in some form. They are less applicable to companies that fail entirely. Also, sometimes, the reductions can be massive and quick, but other times they may be measured and slow. The guidelines cover the following topics: don't assume you're safe; don't panic; don't duck and cover; don't let poor morale affect yours; do look for opportunities; do maintain the network; be vigilant for external opportunities; and do be a good scout.     

Property rights versus stewardship

Industries and families continue to forsake American cities for suburban and formerly rural sites, simultaneously leaving non-productive sites (“brownfields”) in the cities and removing “greenfield” land from agricultural or biologically productive use. With a few exceptions, urban regions that once functioned as communities are continuing to undergo economic and social decline. Discussion or debate about the problem (including whether it is a problem at all) invokes often-unexamined systems of values or worldviews. Students of business, manufacturing engineering, and industrial engineering are taught about the importance of site selection for new production facilities from a competitiveness perspective; but social and environmental impacts per se of these economics based decisions are not part of the criteria. The author argues that decisions regarding new site locations made by manufacturing companies also should include social and environmental values in addition to economic criteria. Because it is in the public interest for companies to incorporate these additional decision criteria, the public policy process must be used to create incentive. A method is offered to help mitigate the problem of colliding worldviews     

Pricing for system security [power tariffs]

Security in power systems refers to the ability of the system to withstand imminent disturbances (contingencies). Maintaining security is an issue which must be addressed at the system level. It is shown in this paper, however, that it is possible to maintain power system security in an operating environment with many participants (power companies, independent power producers, co-generators, consumers) each attempting to optimize their own benefit, through pricing incentives and appropriate information exchange. Rates for power generation/consumption and for an offer to use during a contingency, as well as information on the probability distribution of contingency need for each participant, are derived so that individual optimization will lead to the socially optimal solution in which power system security is optimized and the aggregate benefit is maximized     

现场总线应用之一：墨西哥PEMEX Refinacion（精炼厂）

现场总线基金会是一个非盈利社团,由超过350个全球领先的过程和制造自动化公司组成,这些公司的主要目标是为独立的、国际化的,可共同使用的现场总线的开发提供一个开放的中立的环境。在这个环境里,终端用户、制造商、高校和研究组织共同致力于开发该技术,提供开发工具、技术支持和培训,进行现场测试和演示,并使产品具有互用性。     

Debt, demographics, and dishonesty

The costs of supporting an aging society, in an era that will experience increased longevity, escalating health care costs, and low birth rates, will become untenable. The adjustments that must ultimately be made will inflict significant economic pain across all sections of society. Many people who regard themselves as being middle class will live out their lives in near-poverty. There are major implications for investment strategies. Long-term returns for most asset classes will be far lower than recent bull markets have led people to expect. Consumers, companies, and local and national governments all acquire debt. The impact of this debt depends on many factors. These include: its real (inflation-adjusted) cost, the degree of leverage and the debt-servicing capability, the uses that are made of the debt, and the identity of the creditors. The aging of western societies is not happening in isolation from demographic trends that are occurring elsewhere in the world. They are reforming totalitarian or corrupt political, legal, and class systems that kept the majority of their populations in poverty. The net result is a dramatic increase in global production capacity.     

电力需求侧管理政策激励过程的动态演化博弈分析

电力需求侧管理（power demand-side management，DSM）具有优化电力资源配置、促进节能减排、移峰填谷、促进可再生能源发展等优点。但在当前电力市场环境下，DSM项目实施过程中项目成本与项目收益具有严重的“不同一性”，对电网企业和电力用户实施DSM项目和接受DSM服务存在一定的抑制作用。同时，电力需求侧管理体系中的政府、电网企业、电力用户三方主体利益出发点不同，必然会存在激烈的博弈。为了确切地分析电力需求侧管理体系各主体之间博弈行为，着眼于电力需求侧管理政策运行环境，采用动态演化博弈模型分析电力需求侧管理过程中政府−；电网企业、政府−；电力用户之间的博弈行为，优化设计电力需求侧管理政策激励措施，消除DSM对电网企业和电力用户投资的抑制作用，促进电力需求侧管理的深化发展。     

Wheeling charge under a deregulated environment

Today's electric power industry is undergoing many fundamental changes due to the process of deregulation. Traditionally, electric power systems in many countries were structured in a single vertically integrated company for providing electric power to their customers based on cost of service. However, a number of countries have implemented or are implementing a free market deregulated industry in recent years. It is strongly believed that deregulation will have profound and important implications on technology within the electric power industry and the operation of industrial systems. Therefore, industrial sectors need to reevaluate potential impacts and strategies of operation under a deregulated environment. One of the most exciting opportunities for the customer is the implementation of wholesale and retail wheeling. With this change, customers will have the option to purchase services and energy from different sources. However, before exercising this right, one has to understand the possible costs and risks associated with this right. From the economic point of view, lower energy cost does not necessarily mean lower utility cost. The cost of wheeling charges and other factors have to be figured into the calculation. Since it is impossible to color the electron, there is no standard formula to calculate wheeling charges within the utility industry. This paper discusses several commonly used wheeling calculation methods used by utility companies. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the vector absolute mega-watt mile method that is used by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas     

智能照明系统综述及浅析

在照明行业日渐以智能化为主打标签的形势下,智能照明技术领域发展迅猛,作为一个新兴起的产品类别,存在许多未知的市场空间和巨大发展潜力。各大企业争先涌入开创市场,技术形式百家争鸣,但许多技术还没有系统的标准解释,行业也欠缺权威的认证模式,导致市场还尚未成熟。本文主要梳理了智能照明发展现状、目前智能照明系统框架和功能,浅评智能照明系统尚存的不足并探讨未来智能照明系统模型发展方向。     

煤炭环境对发电市场影响的模糊综合评价

面对常规能源煤炭需求日趋加重的压力,电力的发展将受到制约,分析煤炭环境的影响对发电企业至关重要。煤炭环境对发电市场的冲击影响程度不仅与煤炭供求有关,而且还与煤炭价格、煤炭运输等因素有关。考虑这些因素,确立煤炭环境影响的评价指标,采用模糊综合评价方法进行煤炭环境对发电市场影响的综合评价,判断煤炭环境对发电市场影响所属评价集类别。该方法可以在稳定发电市场运营条件中起到一定的指导和参考作用。