457 research outputs found
Who Wins in an Energy Boom? Evidence from Wage Rates and Housing
This paper presents evidence on the distributional effects of energy extraction by examining the recent U.S. energy boom. The boom increased local wage rates in almost every major occupational category. The increase occurred regardless of whether the occupation experienced a corresponding change in employment, suggesting a more competitive labor market that benefited local workers. Local housing values and rental prices both increased, thereby benefiting landowners. For renters, the increase in prices was completely offset by a contemporaneous increase in income. The results indicate that bans on drilling have negative monetary consequences for a large share of local residents
Are Building Codes Effective at Saving Energy? Evidence from Residential Billing Data in Florida
In response to the 1973 oil embargo, many states began passing building energy codes in order to promote energy efficiency. While the vast majority of states have energy codes in place, policymakers are now attempting to legislate energy codes at the federal level to help address more recent concerns about energy efficiency and climate change. Nevertheless, surprisingly little is known about whether energy codes are an effective way to reduce energy consumption in practice. This paper provides the first evaluation of an energy-code change that uses residential billing data on both electricity and natural gas, combined with data on observable characteristics of each residence. The study takes place in Gainesville, Florida, and the empirical strategy is based on comparisons between residences constructed just before and just after Florida increased the stringency of its energy code in 2002. We find that the increased stringency of the energy code is associated with a 4-percent decrease in electricity consumption and a 6-percent decrease in natural-gas consumption. The pattern of savings is consistent with reduced consumption of electricity for air-conditioning and reduced consumption of natural gas for heating. We also estimate economic costs and benefits and find that the private payback period for the average residence is 6.4 years. The social payback period, which accounts for the avoided costs of air-pollution emissions, ranges between 3.5 and 5.3 years.
MAESTRI Toolkit for Industrial Symbiosis: overview, lessons learnt and implications
This paper presents a structured approach to support the development of self-organized industrial symbiosis, the Toolkit for Industrial Symbiosis. Developed within MAESTRI project, it provides a set of tools and methods to help companies gain value from wasted resources and contributes to MAESTRI goal of advancing the sustainability of European manufacturing and process industry. A participatory approach was taken for its development. The ultimate objective of this work is to encourage companies to change their attitude and consider waste as a resource and potential source for value creation
Superconductivity and Density Wave in the Quasi-One-Dimensional Systems: Renormalization Group Study
The anisotropic superconductivity and the density wave have been investigated
by applying the Kadanoff-Wilson renormalization group technique to the
quasi-one-dimensional system with finite-range interactions. It is found that a
temperature (T) dependence of response functions is proportional to exp(1/T) in
a wide region of temperature even within the one-loop approximation. Transition
temperatures are calculated to obtain the phase diagram of the
quasi-one-dimensional system, which is compared with that of the
pure-one-dimensional system. Next-nearest neighbor interactions (V_2) induce
large charge fluctuations, which suppress the d_{x^2 -y^2}-wave singlet
superconducting (dSS) state and enhance the f-wave triplet superconducting
(fTS) state. From this effect, the transition temperature of fTS becomes
comparable to that of dSS for large V_2, so that field-induced f-wave triplet
pairing could be possible. These features are discussed to comprehend the
experiments on the (TMTSF)_2PF_6 salt.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Effects of Spin Fluctuations in Quasi-One-Dimensional Organic Superconductors
We study the electronic states of quasi-one-dimensional organic conductors
using the single band Hubbard model at half-filling. We treat the effects of
the on-site Coulomb interaction by the fluctuation-exchange (FLEX) method, and
calculate the phase diagram and physical properties. The calculated pressure
dependence of the Neel temperature coincides well with the experimental one. We
also show that a pseudogap is formed in the density of states near the chemical
potential and that d-wave superconductivity appears next to the
antiferromagnetic state. Moreover the NMR relaxation rate increases on cooling
in the low-temperature region.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to apprear in J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Spin-Density-Wave Phase Transitions in Quasi-One-Dimensional Dimerized Quarter-Filled Organic Conductors
We have studied spin density wave (SDW) phase transitions in dimerized
quarter-filled Hubbard chains weakly coupled via interchain one-particle
hopping, . It is shown that there exists a critical value of ,
, between the incoherent metal regime () and the
Fermi liquid regime () in the metallic phase above the SDW
transition temperature. By using the 2-loop perturbative renormalization-group
approach together with the random-phase-approximation, we propose a SDW phase
diagram covering both of the regimes. The SDW phase transition from the
incoherent metal phase for is caused by growth of the
intrachain electron-electron umklapp scattering toward low temperatures, which
is regarded as preformation of the Mott gap. We discuss relevance of the
present result to the SDW phase transitions in the quasi-one-dimensional
dimerized quarter-filled organic conductors, (TMTTF)X and (TMTSF)X.Comment: 19 pages, 13 eps figures, uses jpsj.sty, corrected typo in the text
and figures, no changes to the paper, to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 68,
No.8 (1999
Calibration and Characterization of the IceCube Photomultiplier Tube
Over 5,000 PMTs are being deployed at the South Pole to compose the IceCube
neutrino observatory. Many are placed deep in the ice to detect Cherenkov light
emitted by the products of high-energy neutrino interactions, and others are
frozen into tanks on the surface to detect particles from atmospheric cosmic
ray showers. IceCube is using the 10-inch diameter R7081-02 made by Hamamatsu
Photonics. This paper describes the laboratory characterization and calibration
of these PMTs before deployment. PMTs were illuminated with pulses ranging from
single photons to saturation level. Parameterizations are given for the single
photoelectron charge spectrum and the saturation behavior. Time resolution,
late pulses and afterpulses are characterized. Because the PMTs are relatively
large, the cathode sensitivity uniformity was measured. The absolute photon
detection efficiency was calibrated using Rayleigh-scattered photons from a
nitrogen laser. Measured characteristics are discussed in the context of their
relevance to IceCube event reconstruction and simulation efforts.Comment: 40 pages, 12 figure
Search for non-relativistic Magnetic Monopoles with IceCube
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a large Cherenkov detector instrumenting
of Antarctic ice. The detector can be used to search for
signatures of particle physics beyond the Standard Model. Here, we describe the
search for non-relativistic, magnetic monopoles as remnants of the GUT (Grand
Unified Theory) era shortly after the Big Bang. These monopoles may catalyze
the decay of nucleons via the Rubakov-Callan effect with a cross section
suggested to be in the range of to
. In IceCube, the Cherenkov light from nucleon decays
along the monopole trajectory would produce a characteristic hit pattern. This
paper presents the results of an analysis of first data taken from May 2011
until May 2012 with a dedicated slow-particle trigger for DeepCore, a
subdetector of IceCube. A second analysis provides better sensitivity for the
brightest non-relativistic monopoles using data taken from May 2009 until May
2010. In both analyses no monopole signal was observed. For catalysis cross
sections of the flux of non-relativistic
GUT monopoles is constrained up to a level of at a 90% confidence level,
which is three orders of magnitude below the Parker bound. The limits assume a
dominant decay of the proton into a positron and a neutral pion. These results
improve the current best experimental limits by one to two orders of magnitude,
for a wide range of assumed speeds and catalysis cross sections.Comment: 20 pages, 20 figure
Determining neutrino oscillation parameters from atmospheric muon neutrino disappearance with three years of IceCube DeepCore data
We present a measurement of neutrino oscillations via atmospheric muon
neutrino disappearance with three years of data of the completed IceCube
neutrino detector. DeepCore, a region of denser instrumentation, enables the
detection and reconstruction of atmospheric muon neutrinos between 10 GeV and
100 GeV, where a strong disappearance signal is expected. The detector volume
surrounding DeepCore is used as a veto region to suppress the atmospheric muon
background. Neutrino events are selected where the detected Cherenkov photons
of the secondary particles minimally scatter, and the neutrino energy and
arrival direction are reconstructed. Both variables are used to obtain the
neutrino oscillation parameters from the data, with the best fit given by
and
(normal mass hierarchy assumed). The
results are compatible and comparable in precision to those of dedicated
oscillation experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Flavor Ratio of Astrophysical Neutrinos above 35 TeV in IceCube
A diffuse flux of astrophysical neutrinos above has been
observed at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. Here we extend this analysis to
probe the astrophysical flux down to and analyze its flavor
composition by classifying events as showers or tracks. Taking advantage of
lower atmospheric backgrounds for shower-like events, we obtain a shower-biased
sample containing 129 showers and 8 tracks collected in three years from 2010
to 2013. We demonstrate consistency with the
flavor ratio at Earth
commonly expected from the averaged oscillations of neutrinos produced by pion
decay in distant astrophysical sources. Limits are placed on non-standard
flavor compositions that cannot be produced by averaged neutrino oscillations
but could arise in exotic physics scenarios. A maximally track-like composition
of is excluded at , and a purely shower-like
composition of is excluded at .Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to PR
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