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Les développements des systèmes de transport, les changements dans les tendances de consommation et des conditions telles que la COVID-19 ont augmenté à la fois la demande et la charge du transport de marchandises. Étant donné que diverses entreprises transportent des marchandises dans le monde entier pour évaluer la durabilité, la vitesse et la résilience des systèmes de transport de marchandises, des systèmes de mesure de la fluidité des données et du fret sont nécessaires. Dans cette étude, un modèle de prise de décision intégré est proposé pour donner la priorité aux alternatives de mesure de la fluidité du fret. Le modèle proposé est composé de deux étapes principales. Dans la première étape, la méthodologie logarithmique des poids additifs (LMAW) basée sur les normes de Dombi est utilisée pour trouver les poids des critères. Dans la deuxième phase, une évaluation étendue basée sur la méthode de la distance de la solution moyenne (EDAS) avec Dombi onction pour l'agrégation est présentée pour déterminer les résultats finaux de classement des alternatives. Trois alternatives de mesure de la fluidité du fret sont proposées, à savoir ne rien faire, intégrer les activités de fret dans Metaverse pour mesurer la fluidité et former une gouvernance mondiale des activités de fret pour mesurer la fluidité à partir des données disponibles. Treize critères, qui sont regroupés sous quatre aspects principaux à savoir la technologie, la gouvernance, l'efficacité et la durabilité environnementale, et une étude de cas au cours de laquelle un cadre de base est formé pour que les experts évaluent les alternatives compte tenu des critères utilisés dans le processus décisionnel multicritères. Les résultats de l'étude indiquent que l'intégration des activités de fret dans Metaverse pour mesurer la fluidité est l'alternative la plus avantageuse, alors que ne rien faire est la moins avantageuse. Los desarrollos en los sistemas de transporte, los cambios en las tendencias de consumismo y condiciones como el COVID-19 han aumentado tanto la demanda como la carga en el transporte de mercancías. Dado que varias empresas transportan mercancías en todo el mundo para evaluar la sostenibilidad, la velocidad y la resistencia de los sistemas de transporte de mercancías, se necesitan sistemas de medición de datos y fluidez de la carga. En este estudio, se propone un modelo integrado de toma de decisiones para priorizar las alternativas de medición de la fluidez de la carga. El modelo propuesto se compone de dos etapas principales. En la primera etapa, se utiliza la Metodología Logarítmica de Pesos Aditivos (LMAW) basada en normas Dombi para encontrar los pesos de los criterios. En la segunda fase, se presenta una Evaluación extendida basada en el método de Distancia de la Solución Media (EDAS) con Dombi unción para la agregación para determinar los resultados finales de clasificación de las alternativas. Se proponen tres alternativas de medición de la fluidez de la carga, a saber, no hacer nada, integrar las actividades de carga en Metaverse para medir la fluidez y formar una gobernanza global de las actividades de carga para medir la fluidez a través de los datos disponibles. Trece criterios, que se agrupan en cuatro aspectos principales: tecnología, gobernanza, eficiencia y sostenibilidad ambiental, y un estudio de caso en el que se forma un marco básico para que los expertos evalúen las alternativas considerando que los criterios se utilizan en el proceso de toma de decisiones multicriterio. Los resultados del estudio indican que integrar las actividades de carga en Metaverso para medir la fluidez es la alternativa más ventajosa, mientras que no hacer nada es la menos ventajosa. Developments in transportation systems, changes in consumerism trends, and conditions such as COVID-19 have increased both the demand and the load on freight transportation. Since various companies are transporting goods all over the world to evaluate the sustainability, speed, and resiliency of freight transportation systems, data and freight fluidity measurement systems are needed. In this study, an integrated decision-making model is proposed to advantage prioritize the freight fluidity measurement alternatives. The proposed model is composed of two main stages. In the first stage, the Dombi norms based Logarithmic Methodology of Additive Weights (LMAW) is used to find the weights of criteria. In the second phase, an extended Evaluation based on the Distance from Average Solution (EDAS) method with Dombi unction for aggregation is presented to determine the final ranking results of alternatives. Three freight fluidity measurement alternatives are proposed, namely doing nothing, integrating freight activities into Metaverse for measuring fluidity, and forming global governance of freight activities for measuring fluidity through available data. Thirteen criteria, which are grouped under four main aspects namely technology, governance, efficiency, and environmental sustainability, and a case study at which a ground framework is formed for the experts to evaluate the alternatives considering the criteria are used in the multi-criteria decision-making process. The results of the study indicate that integrating freight activities into Metaverse for measuring fluidity is the most advantageous alternative, whereas doing nothing is the least advantageous one. أدت التطورات في أنظمة النقل، والتغيرات في اتجاهات النزعة الاستهلاكية، وظروف مثل COVID -19 إلى زيادة الطلب والحمل على نقل البضائع. نظرًا لأن العديد من الشركات تنقل البضائع في جميع أنحاء العالم لتقييم استدامة وسرعة ومرونة أنظمة نقل البضائع، فهناك حاجة إلى أنظمة قياس سيولة البيانات والشحن. في هذه الدراسة، يُقترح نموذج متكامل لصنع القرار للاستفادة من إعطاء الأولوية لبدائل قياس سيولة الشحن. يتكون النموذج المقترح من مرحلتين رئيسيتين. في المرحلة الأولى، يتم استخدام منهجية لوغاريتمية الأوزان المضافة (LMAW) القائمة على معايير دومبي لإيجاد أوزان المعايير. في المرحلة الثانية، يتم تقديم تقييم موسع يعتمد على طريقة المسافة من الحل المتوسط (EDAS) مع Dombi unction للتجميع لتحديد نتائج الترتيب النهائي للبدائل. يتم اقتراح ثلاثة بدائل لقياس سيولة الشحن، وهي عدم القيام بأي شيء، ودمج أنشطة الشحن في ميتافيرس لقياس السيولة، وتشكيل حوكمة عالمية لأنشطة الشحن لقياس السيولة من خلال البيانات المتاحة. ثلاثة عشر معيارًا، تم تجميعها تحت أربعة جوانب رئيسية وهي التكنولوجيا والحوكمة والكفاءة والاستدامة البيئية، ودراسة حالة يتم فيها تشكيل إطار أرضي للخبراء لتقييم البدائل مع مراعاة استخدام المعايير في عملية صنع القرار متعددة المعايير. تشير نتائج الدراسة إلى أن دمج أنشطة الشحن في ميتافيرس لقياس السيولة هو البديل الأكثر فائدة، في حين أن عدم القيام بأي شيء هو البديل الأقل فائدة.

Abstract Rapid economic growth and accelerating urbanization in the past three decades have accelerated the exhaustion of China’s mineral resources. China is the world’s largest consumer and importer of nickel resources; therefore, a growing domestic demand will increase China’s import dependence and in turn make it potentially vulnerable to supply shortages. One hundred years from 1950 to 2050 were examined for China’s nickel utilization. Identified domestic nickel resources can only sustain China’s industries until 2017, but nickel will reach peak utilization around the year of 2020–2022. Given the 5% annual increase in applications and the growing importation of minerals in China, the carrying duration of nickel resources until 2020 will require a nickel-recycling rate of more than 90%. To sustain China’s nickel utilization, future strategies should foster three solutions: maintaining a high level of imports, adjusting the landscape of nickel applications, and shifting from virgin mining of geological minerals to urban mining of anthropogenic resources.

The study assesses the relationship between technology innovation and renewable energy in the G10 countries. According to the findings, technology innovation has a significant impact on renewable energy in various countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, and the USA. It argues that technological innovation is one of the most important elements in renewable energy in these countries because of their strong innovative base and huge spending on research and development. However, the results for the remaining countries show no causation from technology innovation to renewable energy, implying that variables other than technology innovation drive renewable energy development. On the other hand, renewable energy does Granger cause technology innovation in Germany, the Netherlands, and the USA. These countries need to invest in implementation instead of spending on the existing infrastructure. Furthermore, the increased dependence on fossil fuels and nuclear energy may leave renewables undeveloped, with less emphasis on renewable-technology diffusion.

Accurate estimation of urban residential building-related energy consumption (URBEC) and energy intensity per unit floor area at the national level has significant implications for the analysis of carbon emission peaks. However, reliable data on China's building floor space (BFS) are lacking, resulting in unclear energy intensity levels. This study proposes a China BFS estimation method (CBFSEM) based on improved building stock turnover model. Using CBFSEM, it estimates the BFS of historic urban dwelling stock, the demolished and newly built dwelling from 2000 to 2015. It then estimates the corresponding energy consumption and intensity based on the obtained urban residential BFS data. Results showed that total URBEC in China increased dramatically from 217.1 Mtce in 2000 to 417.2 Mtce in 2015 with an average annual growth rate of 4.45%. China's total dwelling stock almost doubled, from 10.6 billion m2 in 2000 to 27.4 billion m2 in 2015 with an annual growth rate of 6.56%. The operational energy consumption accounted for approximately 70% of total URBEC and the building material production energy intensity was the highest in total URBEC, >60 kgce/m2. A comparison with the China Population Census showed that the deviations were well below 8%, which indicated the reliability of the CBFSEM and the estimated results. In general, this study fills the gap in available data and addresses the shortage of estimation methods for BFS and energy intensity. It also provides the government with technical support and scientific evidence to promote building energy efficiency.

Air filters for general ventilation have mainly been used to control the concentration of indoor particulate matter. In this study, the pressure differential, test dust capacity, quality factor and operating life of class F8 pleat–plate and multi-bag type chemical fiber filters were evaluated using an air filter performance test system. The results showed that the resistance increase rate of multi-bag filter (0.49 Pa/g·(cm/s)) was lower than that of pleat–plate filter (1.94 Pa/g·(cm/s)), the quality factor of the multi-bag filter was lower than that of pleat–plate filter, and the dust capacity of the multi-bag filter was much higher than that of the pleat–plate filter. The operating life of the multi-bag filter was 8 times as that of the pleat–plate filter with the measured PM2.5 of outdoor. The energy consumption of the pleat–plate filter was 2.2 times that of the multi-bag filter. Analyzing the electron microscope photos after dust loading, the dust depth of pleat–plate filter into filter material was thinner than that of multi-bag filter. The research results could provide data support for the design optimization and selection of ventilation filters and the treatment of the particulate matter in indoor environments.

EU Integration raises new requirements to energy sector, including municipal energy sector and improvement of local planning. Important role is assigned to development of energy infrastructure, use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. In order to use financial support from EU Structural funds for regional energy development, qualified applications will have to be developed in adequacy with the requirements for the use and control of EU Structural funds. The latter should be developed in the context of regional development programs (including energy sector development), which should be based on info systems. The Laboratory of Regional Energy Development at LEI is developing integrated info system "TAUSA" for this purpose. This info system is formed as server of data bases with respective bases and additional analysis modules. Information for the consumers of info systems could be available at Internet website. Besides indicators on district heating, "TAUSA" will accumulate data on distribution and end use of renewable energy sources at regional level, which permits to assess main macroeconomic indicators in the development of this economic activity. Matrix model for economic activity of preparing local fuel will enable to evaluate inter-branch links for district heating sector and the role of local fuel production in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) creating process. The macroeconomic model under development will help to assess economic benefit from the use of renewable energy sources in the region, including the facts that it improves employment, increases the flow of taxes to municipal budget, paid by the companies employed in this sector, give new business development opportunities.

Electrically powered buses reduce CO$_{2}$ and noise emissions in urban areas and thus promote the trend towards more livable cities. Upon this reason, more and more cities are introducing their first electrified lines as pilot projects. However, no standardized technology has yet emerged, which is why statements on interactions between vehicle, operation and infrastructure in public transport are proving to be difficult to make. In order to be able to make statistically significant statements in this respect, a simulation model was developed that depicts the three subsystems vehicle, operation and infrastructure. On the basis of measurement data from the PRIMOVE research project in Mannheim, in which an urban bus line is operated with two electrically powered buses, the simulation model was validated and a data basis was laid for further investigations. As a result, simulation studies with more than 700 simulated operating days could be carried out, the results of which represent the input for the following statistical analysis. Based on this analysis, the interactions described above will be demonstrated in the design of the main technical parameters, the battery lifespan and the energy demand of electrical bus lines. Through the findings of these simulations, an optimized version of the already electrified bus line in Mannheim will then be presented. Finally, a novel design methodology for electrification based on a multi-objective optimization is introduced. All parameters of the system are variable in order to apply the presented methodology to other projects and thus underline the general validity of the work.

Environmental pollution liability insurance is becoming increasingly important for China to achieve its emission reduction targets. Insurance pricing is a crucial factor restricting the market share of environment pollution liability insurance, from the perspective of the Black–Scholes pricing model, which in turn has influenced the solvency of insurance companies in China. Firstly, this study analyzes the problems existing in compulsory liability insurance for environmental pollution in China. It proceeds with analyzing the price of compulsory environmental pollution liability insurance using the Black–Scholes pricing model, and derives a high premium insurance rate of 2.44%. Moreover, it performs a multivariate regression analysis using the asset and liability data, taken from the annual report, to identify three key factors affecting the solvency adequacy ratio, namely, capital debt ratio, reflecting the company asset structure; net interest rate on assets, reflecting the asset scale with actual solvency; and claim ratio, reflecting the business quality. Based on the results of regression analysis and robustness test for the China Insurance Clauses (CIC) company, People’s Insurance Company of China (PICC), and Asia-Pacific Property & Casualty Insurance (API) company, it is shown that the effect of total asset, total debt, capital debt ratio, claim ratio, and net interest rate on assets on the solvency adequacy ratio is significant, with respect to the size of the coefficients. Based on the Black–Scholes pricing model found in the previous cycle of liability insurance, and keeping in view the existing problems of environmental pollution liability insurance expenditure, this paper presents suggestions that are conducive to improving the solvency of insurance companies in China.