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While a firm knows the carbon price with certainty under a tax, it must form an expectation about future allowance prices to identify its cost-effective abatement investment under a capand-trade program. We illustrate graphically how errors in forming this expectation increase the costs of irreversible pollution abatement investment under cap-and-trade relative to a tax. We describe empirical “cost-effectiveness anomalies” in allowance markets that may be attributed to cap-and-trade's inherent uncertainty. We model investment under simulated US carbon tax and cap-and-trade policies and find that allowance price uncertainty can increase resource costs 20 percent for a given quantity of emission abatement.

Decarbonizing the building sector is extremely important to mitigating climate change as the sector contributes 40% of the overall energy consumption and 36% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Net-zero energy buildings are one of the promising decarbonization attempts due to their potential of decreasing the use of energy and increasing the total share of renewable energy. To achieve a net-zero energy building, it is necessary to decrease the energy demand by applying efficiency enhancement measures and using renewable energy sources. Net-zero energy buildings can be classified into four models (Net-Zero Site Energy buildings, Net-Zero Emissions buildings, Net-Zero Source Energy buildings, and Net-Zero Cost Energy buildings). A variety of technical, financial, and environmental factors should be considered during the decision-making process of net-zero energy building development, justifying the use of multi-criteria decision analysis methods for the design of net-zero energy buildings. This paper also discussed the contributions of renewable energy generation (hydropower, wind energy, solar, heat pumps, and bioenergy) to the development of net-zero energy buildings and reviewed its role in tackling the decarbonization challenge. Cost-benefit analysis and life cycle assessment of building designs were reviewed to shape the priorities of future development. It is important to develop a universal decision instrument for optimum design and operation of net-zero energy buildings.

This paper considers several alternative forms of an energy imbalance market (EIM) proposed in the nonmarket areas of the Western Interconnection. The proposed EIM includes two changes in operating practices that independently reduce variability and increase access to responsive resources: balancing authority cooperation and sub-hourly dispatch. As the penetration of variable generation increases on the power system, additional interest in coordination would likely occur. Several alternative approaches could be used, but consideration of any form of coordinated unit commitment is beyond the scope of this analysis. This report examines the benefits of several possible EIM implementations--both separately and in concert.

Cette thèse est basée sur des simulations numériques régionales et aborde, d’un point de vue énergétique, la variabilité à Méso (O(10-100)km) et Sous-mésoéchelle (O(0.1-10)km) dans la région du Courant des Aiguilles.(i) La variabilité de sous-mésoéchelle à la transition entre les deux branches du Courant des Aiguilles (28◦E-26◦E) est dominée, en l’absence de méandres de mésoéchelle, par des tourbillons cycloniques frontaux formant un ‘vortex street’. La tension ambiante frontogénétique intensifie le cisaillement frontal qui déclenche l’instabilité barotrope menant à la génération de tourbillons de sous-mésoéchelle.(ii) Un budget modal d’Energie Cinétique des Tourbillons est développé pour caractériser les transferts d’énergie entre les différentes structures verticales. Les interactions canalisées par la topographie (3 processus) résultent globalement en une perte d’énergie pour les tourbillons de mésoéchelle plus grande que les processus de dissipation (friction au fond et vent) et une cascade verticale inverse (interactions triadiques) renforce les tourbillons de mésoéchelle dans les zones au large.(iii) Notre budget modal permet de caractériser la région du Courant des Aiguilles comme une source nette d’énergie pour les tourbillons de mésoéchelle en contradiction avec celui estimé à partir de données d’altimétrie. Cette différence vient des données d’altimétrie ne tenant pas compte de la contribution principale de la dynamique aux sources et puits d’énergie des tourbillons de mésoéchelle (partie linéaire de la dynamique agéostrophique du mode barotrope et du 1er mode barocline). This dissertation is based on regional numerical simulations and addresses, from an energetic perspective, the Meso (O(10-100)km) and Submesoscale (O(0.1- 10)km) variability in the Agulhas Current region.(i) Submesoscale variability at the transition between the two Agulhas Current branches (28◦E-26◦E) is dominated, in the absence of mesoscale meanders, by cyclonic frontal eddies forming a ’vortex street’. The frontogenetic background strain intensifies the frontal shear which triggers the barotropic instability leading to submesoscale eddies generation.(ii) A modal Eddy Kinetic Energy budget is derived to characterize the energy transfers between the different vertical structures. Interactions canalized by topography (3 processes) globally result in a larger energy loss for mesoscale eddies than dissipation processes (bottom friction and wind) and an inverse vertical cascade (triadic interactions) reinforces mesoscale eddies in offshore areas.(iii) Our modal budget allows to characterize the Agulhas Current region as a net energy source for mesoscale eddies in contradiction with one inferred from altimetry data. The discrepancies come from altimetry data not accounting for the main contribution of the dynamics to mesoscale eddies energy sources and sinks (ageostrophic linear part of the dynamics of the barotropic and 1st baroclinic modes).

Pool boiling in porous media has been applied in various thermal management systems by using latent heat and increasing the heat transfer area and thermal conduction path to improve the heat transfer performance. In mechanical equipment, vibration is an inevitable problem due to reasons such as engine operation and high-speed relative motion between transmission system components, which causes the system components to be affected by vibration forces or vibration accelerations. This study focuses on a review of published articles about the effects of mechanical vibration on the characteristics of boiling process in porous media by two aspects: heat transfer performance and bubble dynamics. Heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and critical heat flux are two main parameters used to measure the boiling heat transfer characteristics of porous media. For bubble dynamics investigations, properties such as migration, fragment, coalescence, departure diameter and frequency are the focus of research attention. Different mechanical vibration parameters, i.e., direction, frequency, and amplitude, will have different effects on the above characteristics. It is worth mentioning that the greatest influence occurs under resonance conditions, and this has been verified through experimental and simulation calculations. This review highlights the importance of considering mechanical vibrations in the design and optimization of porous media systems for efficient heat transfer applications. Further research is warranted to explore the detailed mechanisms and optimize the vibration parameters for enhanced heat transfer performance in thermal management systems using porous media.

Localisation of humanitarian aid has emerged as a major issue after the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 which emphasised the importance of locally-led response as a corrective to power imbalances in the humanitarian system. However, the practical complexities of localised humanitarian aid are yet to be fully discussed. This paper aims to examine the concept of localisation in humanitarian aid through a case study of a local non-governmental organisation, the Cambodian Children's Trust (CCT), in Cambodia. Drawing on the framework of localisation proposed by Baguios et al., (2021), we analyse the application of localisation of child protection programs run by CCT. We provide a holistic understanding of how localisation is conducted in practice, and the impacts it has on the wider humanitarian sector. Our study illustrates that power can be effectively developed to local entities and localisation with empowerment could be achieved despite highly challenging conditions.

Improving efficiency, reducing expenses, and ensuring sustainability in today’s competitive market is made possible by optimising the performance of the food supply chain (FSC). A strong decision-making framework is required to overcome obstacles including high transportation and production costs, uneven quality, and the impact on the environment. To solve these problems, this paper presents an all-inclusive multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) framework that uses enhanced relative utility and nonlinear standardisation (ERUNS) to rank alternatives, Logarithmic percentage change-driven objective weighing (LOPCOW) to determine objective weights, and subjective weight assignment by ratio analysis (SWARA) to determine subjective criterion weights. LOPCOW offers objective weights grounded in facts and indifference thresholds, whereas SWARA records decision-makers (DMs) preferences in weighing factors like sustainability and cost efficiency. The ERUNS methodology then uses utility degree assessments and matrix standardization to rank and evaluate alternatives. An improved method of assessment is to make use of intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFS), which deal with ambiguity by adding membership, non-membership, and hesitation levels. By merging subjective and objective data, this integrated method maximizes FSC performance, provides useful insights for enhancing overall efficiency and sustainability, and offers a viable answer to contemporary difficulties. It also offers helpful insights for improving overall efficiency and sustainability, and it provides a practical response to the challenges that are now being faced.

• Key message Insurance might be an efficient tool to strengthen adaptation of forest management to climate change. A theoretical model under uncertainty is proposed to highlight the effect, on adaptation decisions, of considering adaptation efforts in forest insurance contracts. Results show that insurance is relevant to increase adaptation efforts under some realistic conditions on forest owner’s uncertainty and risk preferences, and on the observability or not of adaptation efforts. • Context One of the challenges of forest adaptation to climate change is to encourage private forest owners to implement adaptation strategies. • Aims We suggest the analysis of forest insurance contracts against natural hazards as a vector to promote the implementation of adaptation efforts by private forest owners. • Methods We propose a theoretical model of insurance economics under risk and under uncertainty. • Results Our results indicate that when climate change makes the probability of the occurrence of the natural event uncertain, then it may be relevant to include adaptation efforts in the insurance contract, leading to an increase in the adaptation efforts of risk-averse and uncertainty-averse forest owners. In addition, we show that the relevance of insurance as a vector to promote adaptation efforts is greater when the forest owner’s effort is unobservable by the insurer as compared to a situation of perfectly observable effort. • Conclusion Under some realistic assumptions, the forest insurance contract seems to be a relevant tool to encourage forest owners to adapt to climate change.

Many aquatic species with stylar polymorphisms have the capacity for clonal and sexual reproduction and are sensitive to the balance of the two reproductive modes when there are a limited number of mating morphs within a population. This study asked how the clonal and sexual reproductive modes perform in populations that contain only a single morph and where fitness gain through sexual reproduction is rare. In clonal aquatic Nymphoides montana, polymorphic populations normally contain two mating morphs in equal frequencies. Populations are sexually fertile and appear to be maintained by pollen transfer between the two partners. However, in a monomorphic population of N. montana where mating opportunities are unavailable, female and male function is impaired and clonality maintains the population. Here, the consequences of intraspecific variation in sexuality were explored between monomorphic and polymorphic N. montana populations in eastern Australia.Comparative measurements of male and female fertility, total dry mass and genotypic diversity using ISSR markers were made between populations with variable sexuality.Very few seeds were produced in the monomorphic population under natural and glasshouse conditions due to dysfunctional pollen and ovules. Stigma-anther separation was minimal in the monomorphic population, which may be a consequence of the relaxed selective pressures that regulate the maintenance of sexual function. However, clonal reproduction was favoured at the expense of sexual reproduction in the monomorphic population; this may facilitate the establishment of sterility throughout the population via resource reallocation or pleiotropic effects. The ISSR results showed that the monomorphic population was one large, single genotype, unlike the multi-genotypic fertile polymorphic populations. Evolutionary loss of sex in a clonal population in which a mating morph is absent was evident; under these conditions clonal growth may assure reproduction and expand the population via spreading stolons.