Rents in the European power sector due to carbon trading

The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) has imposed a price on the allowances for CO₂ emissions of electricity companies. Integrating this allowance price into the price of electricity earns a rent for companies who have received these allowances for free. During Phase I, 2005–2007, rents corresponding to the aggregate value of allocated allowances amounted to roughly € 13 billion per year. However, due to the specific price-setting mechanism in electricity markets true rents were considerably higher. This is due to the fact that companies also that have not received any allowances gain additional infra-marginal rents to the extent that their variable costs are below the new market price after inclusion of the allowance price. Producers with low carbon emissions and low marginal costs thus also benefit substantially from carbon pricing. This paper develops a methodology to determine the specific interaction of the imposition of such a CO₂ constraint and the price-setting mechanism in the electricity sector under the assumption of marginal cost pricing in a liberalized European electricity market. The article thus provides an empirical estimate of the true total rents of power producers during Phase I of the EU-ETS (2005–2007). The EU ETS generated in Phase I additional rents in excess of € 19 billion per year for electricity producers. These transfers are distributed very unevenly between different electricity producers. In a second step, the paper assesses the impact of switching from free allocation to an auctioning of allowances in 2013. We show that such a switch to auctioning will continue to create additional infra-marginal rents for certain producers and will leave the electricity sector as a whole better off than before the introduction of the EU ETS.     

The impact of intervening tasks on response preparation.

Response preparation usually facilitates performance, but it may also interfere with other concurrent tasks. In this article, the authors used event-related brain potentials to study how intervening tasks affect response preparation. In 3 experiments, participants performed intervening tasks during the preparation of a precued hand choice response. Intervening tasks were simple or choice foot responses to tones with different probabilities or at different times during the preparation period. The contingent negative variation component indicated that the intervening task led to an increased recruitment of processing resources, whereas behavioral data and the lateralized readiness potential indicated a deliberately reduced level of preparedness. Two factors seem to be responsible for this result pattern, a bottleneck-like postponement of the prepared response and a reluctance of participants to prepare prior to expected interference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A user‐based method for rating street trees

Responses to questionnaires completed by 1,174 householders who rated characteristics of their street trees were subjected to factor analysis. The most important factors were general benefits, ground disturbance, disease, safety, seasonal marking, droppings and suckers, which became the basis for scales on which each species could be scored. These scales represent an economical and coherent method which can complement simulation and expert rating systems, for describing householder opinion towards street trees.     

On Restricting Planar Curve Evolution to Finite Dimensional Implicit Subspaces with Non-Euclidean Metric

This paper deals with restricting curve evolution to a finite and not necessarily flat space of curves, obtained as a subspace of the infinite dimensional space of planar curves endowed with the usual but weak parametrization invariant curve L ²-metric.     

Life-Cycle Assessment of the Recycling of Magnesium Vehicle Components

Life-cycle assessment is basically the assessment of a product from the cradle to the grave. Ideally, a product is recycled after its useful life is complete and the end-of-life of the first life cycle leads to the beginning of a new product system. For the end-of-life of magnesium vehicle parts, there are various possible paths to a second life cycle. When magnesium parts are dismantled or magnesium is separated after shredding, the resulting magnesium alloys can be used for secondary, noncritical applications. However, the typical case for magnesium components is that the magnesium postconsumer scrap ends up in the nonferrous metals fraction that consists primarily of aluminum, magnesium, and heavy metals. Today, aluminum is typically fed into a second life cycle as a secondary alloy, and magnesium becomes part of the aluminum cycle as an alloy addition. In this article, we evaluate the environmental effects of using magnesium in the aluminum cycle. We also assess the influence of end-of-life scenarios on the overall environmental impact of a component’s life cycle. The primary focus of our analysis is the evaluation of the effects of magnesium vehicle components on greenhouse gas emissions.     

Characterization of bump arrays at RF/microwave frequencies

A systematic procedure for the characterization of complex bump configurations at RF and microwave frequencies, is presented. Beginning with simple arrangements—single- and two-coupled bumps—full-wave electromagnetic (EM) field analysis, circuit simulations and RF measurements were used for the development and validation of their respective equivalent circuit models. These models were then extended to characterize three-coupled bumps, both in linear and triangular configurations. Finally, a combination of all the electrical parameters obtained from these simple bump configurations was used to characterize a complete bump array, taking into consideration that for pitches used in most high-speed packages, EM coupling between a bump and its “next but one” neighbor can be neglected.     

Effect of organosilane coupling agents on microstructure and properties of nanosilica/epoxy composites

Three types of silane coupling agents, γ‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane, γ‐glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, and γ‐methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, were used as modifiers to modify the surface of the nanosilica, respectively, and the nanocomposites of the epoxy resin filled with nano‐sized silica modified by three silane coupling agents were prepared by physical blending. The properties of the modified silica nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrum and particle‐size analyzer. The microstructure, mechanical behavior, and heat resistant properties of the nanocomposites were investigated by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermo gravimetric analyses, differential thermal gravity, differential scanning calorimetry, and flexural tests. The results showed that these modifiers are combined to the surfaces of nanosilica by the covalent bonds, and they change the surface properties of nanosilica. The different structures of coupling agents have different effects on the dispersibility and stability of modified particles in the epoxy matrix. In comparison, the silica nanoparticles modified by γ‐glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane exhibit a good dispersivity. The nanocomposites with 4 wt% weight fraction nanosilica modified by γ‐glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane have higher thermal decomposing temperature and glass transition temperature than those of the other two composites with the same nanosilica contents, and they are raised by 43.8 and 8°C relative to the unmodified composites, respectively. The modified silica nanoparticles have good reinforcing and toughening effect on the epoxy matrix. The ultimate flexural strengths of the composites with 4 wt% nanoparticles modified by γ‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane, γ‐glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, and γ‐methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane are increased by 10, 30, and 8% relative to the unmodified composites, respectively. The flexural fracture surfaces of modified composites present ductile fracture features. POLYM. COMPOS. 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers     

The NederDrone: A hybrid lift,hybrid energy hydrogen UAV

Many Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) applications require vertical take-off and landing and very long-range capabilities. Fixed-wing aircraft need long runways to land, and electric energy is still a bottleneck for helicopters, which are not range efficient. In this paper, we introduce the NederDrone, a hybrid lift, hybrid energy hydrogen-powered UAV that can perform vertical take-off and landings using its 12 propellers while flying efficiently in forward flight thanks to its fixed wings. The energy is supplied from a combination of hydrogen-driven Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel-cells for endurance and lithium batteries for high-power situations. The hydrogen is stored in a pressurized cylinder around which the UAV is optimized. This work analyses the selection of the concept, the implemented safety elements, the electronics and flight control and shows flight data including a 3h38 flight at sea while starting and landing from a small moving ship.