An economic–ecological model to evaluate impacts of nutrient abatement in the Baltic Sea

This paper presents a coupled economic–ecological model that integrates a catchment model with a marine model and incorporates economic data to analyse the long-term economic and ecological consequences of nutrient abatement in the Baltic Sea. The spatially explicit model describes dynamics of soil phosphorus in arable land, developments of nutrient concentrations and phytoplankton biomass in the sea basins, and inter-annual variation in nutrient loads and biophysical processes. The performance of the model is demonstrated by computing the least-cost solution to reach the good environmental state of the sea – as implied by the Baltic Sea Action Plan – within a time span of 40 years. The total cost of achieving this target is 1487 M€ annually. Spatially optimal allocation of load reductions differs from the load reduction targets of the Baltic Sea Action Plan, and focuses more on the control of phosphorus loads.     

Development of strategies for reducing air pollutant emissions in the European community

In view of increasing economic and environmental problems, energy supply strategies as well as air pollutant emission reduction strategies are required. These strategies should be designed in accordance with the specific development of a country or region. In the past they were mainly considered with respect to the finiteness of natural resources and the scarcity of economic resources. In recent years the ‘joint-production’ of air pollutant emissions in the energy sector has been increasingly recognized as an additional argument. As a consequence, concepts on future energy pathways, which should be efficient with respect to both economic development and environmental protection, have to be devised. For this purpose energy-environmental models such as EFOM-ENV can be used as analytic tools. The paper discusses optimal future energy supply structures that result from different strategies for air-pollution control in the countries of the European Community. The results have been obtained by applying the energy flow optimization model (EFOM), which has been extended by additional environmental modules to EFOM-ENV. The issues of the paper are based on research activities that the authors are performing for the Commission of the European Communities (CEC), Brussels, and the European Research Center for Air Pollution Control Measures (PEF), Karlsruhe, in close co-operation with research institutes in member countries of the European Community.     

An integrated data envelopment analysis and free disposal hull framework for cost-efficiency measurement using rough sets

Traditional cost-efficiency analysis methods require exact and precise values for inputs, outputs and input prices. However, this is not the case in many real-life applications. This study proposes a rough cost-efficiency approach to the problem of ranking efficient decision making units (DMUs). Based on rough set theory, a nonparametric methodology for cost-efficiency analysis is developed. The merits of this methodology include computational ease and the capacity to incorporate data uncertainty. Furthermore, it applies to both convex data envelopment analysis (DEA) and non-convex free disposal hull (FDH) technologies under different returns-to-scale assumptions. A numerical example and a real-life case study in the Japanese banking industry demonstrate the applicability of the proposed framework. In particular, the rankings of the DMUs resulting from the proposed models are compared with those obtained using the maximum technical efficiency loss index.     

Techno-economic modelling and analysis of hydrogen fuelling stations

Climate change is probably the most relevant global challenge. For this reason, governments are promoting energy efficiency programmes, carbon capture technologies, and renewable energies as a way to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate climate change. Hydrogen is a clean alternative to fossil fuels in automotive applications. In this context, the objective of this project is to find the best design of a hydrogen refuelling station in terms of the number of banks and their size, having as a final aim the most cost-efficient design. This study suggests that, from an economic point of view, a state of charge for the vehicle of 100% is not adequate, since it requires very large high-pressure banks at the station, which increases significantly its setup costs. The study finds that high-pressure banks have to be bigger in volume than the low-pressure banks to minimise the total cost of the station, including setup and operational costs along its timespan. Finally, the project shows that the optimal number of banks is 4 or a maximum of 5. As a side conclusion, these results have practical implications for firms, as they might reduce the time spent in the design process of a hydrogen refuelling station.     

Open corpus architecture for personalised ubiquitous e-learning

As the e-learning area matures, there are a growing number of e-learning content providers that produce and distribute material that covers a large range of topics, differs in quality and is represented in various formats. Lately, different devices and various network technologies allow extensive user access to educational content almost anywhere, anytime and from any device. Ubiquitous e-learning has the potential to provide continuous and context-based, educational material to human learners anytime, anywhere and on any device. Since each person has different expectations related to the content, the performance of the delivery and display of that content, it is desirable for an ubiquitous e-learning environment to provide user-oriented personalisation of e-learning material. However very often there are multiple sources of e-learning material at various web locations (open corpus resources) that cover the same topic, but differ in terms of quality, formatting and even cost. It is very difficult for learners to select the content that best suits their interests and goals, characteristics of the device used and delivery network as well as their cost budget. This paper proposes an innovative ubiquitous e-learning environment called Performance-based E-learning Adaptive Cost-efficient Open Corpus frameworK (PEACOCK) that provides support for the selection and distribution of personalised e-learning rich media content (e.g. multimedia, pictures, graphics and text) to e-learners such as it will best suit users’ interests and goals, meet their formatting preferences and cost constraints, while considering the limitations introduced by the end-user devices and the delivery networks to the user. PEACOCK’s main goal is to maximise the users’ e-learning experience and increase their learning satisfaction and learning outcome.     

利用攻防树实现网络安全风险分析及成本/效益控制

攻击树建模是一种传统的网络安全风险分析方法。在此基础上,提出了防御树建模方法,它能从防御的角度对安全防御措施、成本和可靠度等诸多因素进行逻辑分析,弥补了单从攻击角度评估网络安全风险的不足。在防御树建模的基础上,提出了优化安全防御措施的两种成本／效益控制算法,对算法的复杂度进行了分析。这两种算法能分别从成本优先和防御可靠度优先这两个角度对防御村进行裁剪。     

我国紧密纺发展中存在的问题与建议

探讨当前我国紧密纺发展中存在的问题及解决思路。分析了我国紧密纺技术发展现状及存在的主要问题,提出了一些思考与建议。指出:应努力解决好存在的问题,充分认识紧密纺高投入、高回报、高风险的特点,应从企业实际和市场需求出发,合理配置紧密纺发展规模,改变粗放型发展模式,抓好精细化管理,确保必要的管理投入,稳定提高成纱质量,力求较高的投资回报,避免无序发展带来的后遗症。认为:我国应坚持技术创新,创造具有我国特色的紧密纺装置,促进紧密纺的健康发展。     

Cost-effectiveness analysis of R&D on solar cells in Japan

The purpose of this paper is to validate plan of R&D on solar cells in the (New-) Sunshine Program of Japan by using cost-effectiveness analysis and to demonstrate usefulness of the analysis for R&D planning. Based on the analysis, R&D goals and/or allocation of R&D expenditure of multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) might not be appropriate after FY1996. And R&D expenditure for solar cells might be decided without forecasting increase of the mc-Si solar cell production by the subsidization programs.     

Do network industries plan to eliminate inefficiencies in response to regulatory pressure? The case of railways in Great Britain

This paper outlines an econometric analysis of business planning data examining the scope for efficiency improvements of regulated firms in regulatory price reviews. Historical data may not fully reflect current industry cost structures, whereas forecast data offers evidence on cost evolution. Business Plans can provide useful information on planned elimination of inefficiencies in response to regulatory pressure. Network Rail submitted such data to the British railway regulator at the last Periodic Review (2013). Using a cost frontier model, the organisation's business units are analysed to determine the extent of their plans to eliminate internal inefficiencies and response to regulatory incentives.