3,316 research outputs found

    Radioactive Waste Disposal at Sea: Public Ideas, Transnational Policy Entrepreneurs, and Environmental Regimes by Lasse Ringius

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    Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96666/1/798175.pd

    Relative phase stability and lattice dynamics of NaNbO3_3 from first-principles calculations

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    We report total energy calculations for different crystal structures of NaNbO3_3 over a range of unit cell volumes using the all-electron full-potential (L)APW method. We employed both the local-density approximation (LDA) and the Wu-Cohen form of the generalized gradient approximation (GGA-WC) to test the accuracy of these functionals for the description of the complex structural behavior of NaNbO3_3. We found that LDA not only underestimates the equilibrium volume of the system but also predicts an incorrect ground state for this oxide. The GGA-WC functional, on the other hand, significantly improves the equilibrium volume and provides relative phase stability in better agreement with experiments. We then use the GGA-WC functional for the calculation of the phonon dispersion curves of cubic NaNbO3_3 to identify the presence of structural instabilities in the whole Brillouin zone. Finally, we report comparative calculations of structural instabilities as a function of volume in NaNbO3_3 and KNbO3_3 to provide insights for the understanding of the structural behavior of K1x_{1-x}Nax_xNbO3_3 solid solutions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review

    Conventional Politics for Unconventional Drilling? Lessons from Pennsylvania's Early Move into Fracking Policy Development

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    The emergence of hydraulic fracturing techniques is generating a dramatic expansion of the development of domestic natural gas resources in the U nited S tates and abroad. Fracking also poses a series of environmental protection challenges that cut across traditional medium and program boundaries. Formal constraints on federal government engagement thus far devolve considerable latitude to individual states for policy development. This provides an important test of whether recent scholarly emphasis on highly innovative state environmental and energy policies can be extended to this burgeoning area. P ennsylvania has moved to the epicenter of the fracking revolution, reflecting its vast Marcellus Shale resource and far‐reaching 2012 legislation. This article examines the P ennsylvania case and notes that the state's emerging policy appears designed to maximize resource extraction while downplaying environmental considerations. The case analysis generates questions as to whether this experience constitutes an influential state early mover that is likely to diffuse widely or is instead an aberration in a rapidly diversifying state policy development process.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98279/1/ropr12018.pd

    Enhancement of piezoelectricity in a mixed ferroelectric

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    We use first-principles density-functional total energy and polarization calculations to calculate the piezoelectric tensor at zero temperature for both cubic and simple tetragonal ordered supercells of Pb_3GeTe_4. The largest piezoelectric coefficient for the tetragonal configuration is enhanced by a factor of about three with respect to that of the cubic configuration. This can be attributed to both the larger strain-induced motion of cations relative to anions and higher Born effective charges in the tetragonal case. A normal mode decomposition shows that both cation ordering and local relaxation weaken the ferroelectric instability, enhancing piezoelectricity.Comment: 5 pages, revtex, 2 eps figure

    Carbon Taxation and Policy Labeling: Experience from American States and Canadian Provinces

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    A vast economics literature embraces taxation of the carbon content of fossil fuels as the superior policy approach for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, experience around the world suggests that carbon taxes face exceedingly difficult political hurdles. Federal experience in the United States and in Canada confirms this pattern. This article reviews sub‐federal policy development among American states and Canadian provinces, a great many of which have pursued climate policy development. With one major exception, explicit carbon taxation appears to remain a political nonstarter. At the same time, states and provinces have been placing indirect carbon prices on fossil fuel use through a wide range of policies. These tend to strategically alter labeling, avoiding the terms of “tax” and “carbon” in imposing costs. The article offers a framework for considering such strategies and examines common design features, including direct linkage between cost imposition and fund usage to build political support.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91109/1/j.1541-1338.2012.00564.x.pd

    The ferroelectric transition in YMnO3_3 from first principles

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    We have studied the structural phase transition of multiferroic YMnO3_3 from first principles. Using group-theoretical analysis and first-principles density functional calculations of the total energy and phonons, we perform a systematic study of the energy surface around the prototypic phase. We find a single instability at the zone-boundary which couples strongly to the polarization. This coupling is the mechanism that allows multiferroicity in this class of materials. Our results imply that YMnO3_3 is an improper ferroelectric. We suggest further experiments to clarify this point.Comment: published version, PRB (rapid comm), slight change in presentatio

    Taxing Fracking: The Politics of State Severance Taxes in the Shale Era

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    States producing gas and oil have long levied severance taxes at the point of extraction, commonly placing most revenues into general funds. These taxes have assumed new meaning in many states amid the expansion of gas and oil production accompanying the advent of hydraulic fracturing. We reviewed all major statutes and constitutional amendments related to severance taxes that were enacted at the state level during the first decade of the “shale era” (2005–14). There have been only modest adjustments in statutory tax rates and some evidence that states have attempted to reduce these rates, possibly in response to growing national production. In turn, there is also evidence that states have begun to pursue more targeted strategies for revenue use, including some expanded focus on responding to the negative externalities linked to drilling, expanded revenue sharing with localities, and increased long‐term protection of resources through state trust funds.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112282/1/ropr12127.pd

    Random local strain effects in homovalent-substituted relaxor ferroelectrics: a first-principles study of BaTi0.74Zr0.26O3

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    We present first-principles supercell calculations on BaTi0.74Zr0.26O3, a prototype material for relaxors with a homovalent substitution. From a statistical analysis of relaxed structures, we give evidence for four types of Ti-atom polar displacements: along the , , or directions of the cubic unit cell, or almost cancelled. The type of a Ti displacement is entirely determined by the Ti/Zr distribution in the adjacent unit cells. The underlying mechanism involves local strain effects that ensue from the difference in size between the Ti4+ and Zr4+ cations. These results shed light on the structural mechanisms that lead to disordered Ti displacements in BaTi(1-x)Zr(x)O3 relaxors, and probably in other BaTiO3-based relaxors with homovalent substitution.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
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