Groundwater Entrepreneurs in China: Selling Water to Meet the Demand for Water

The overall goal of our paper is to better understand the development of groundwater markets in northern China. In particular, we focus on the factors that determine the development of groundwater markets in our attempt to explain their 'breadth' and 'depth.' Based on a survey of 24 randomly sampled villages and 50 randomly sampled tubewells in two provinces (Hebei and Henan Province) in 2001 and a field survey of 68 randomly sampled villages in 4 provinces (Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi) of northern China in 2004, our results show that groundwater markets in northern China have emerged and are developing rapidly. Our results show that groundwater markets in northern China are informal and localized. The markets have developed in a way in which they appear somewhat similar to markets that are found in South Asia. However, groundwater markets differ from markets in South Asia in other ways -- water sellers discriminate in pricing and they almost always work on a spot-market, cash basis (that is, there are no share or labor sharing arrangements as found in South Asia). Econometric results show that the privatization of tubewells is one of the most important driving factors that encourage the development of groundwater markets. Increasing water and land scarcity are also major determinants that induce the development of groundwater markets

Biotechnology policy and regulation in China

The argument refutes claims that China has in recent years fundamentally altered its stance on GMOs in response to trade, food safety and environmental biosafety concerns. On the contrary research investment has increased and policy-makers have continued to emphasise that biotechnology will pay a key role in China’s agricultural future. The paper details China’s achievements in biotechnology research and development, and explains what policies and institutional mechanisms have facilitated Chinese breakthroughs in the field of GMOs. The paper concludes that the recent increase in emphasis on biosafety as a research priority and corresponding elaboration of more sophisticated biosafety regulations suggest that China is committed to developing biotechnology in a balanced and responsible way

Groundwater Entrepreneurs in China: Selling Water to Meet the Demand for Water

The overall goal of our paper is to better understand the development of groundwater markets in northern China. In particular, we focus on the factors that determine the development of groundwater markets in our attempt to explain their 'breadth' and 'depth.' Based on a survey of 24 randomly sampled villages and 50 randomly sampled tubewells in two provinces (Hebei and Henan Province) in 2001 and a field survey of 68 randomly sampled villages in 4 provinces (Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi) of northern China in 2004, our results show that groundwater markets in northern China have emerged and are developing rapidly. Our results show that groundwater markets in northern China are informal and localized. The markets have developed in a way in which they appear somewhat similar to markets that are found in South Asia. However, groundwater markets differ from markets in South Asia in other wayswater sellers discriminate in pricing and they almost always work on a spot-market, cash basis (that is, there are no share or labor sharing arrangements as found in South Asia). Econometric results show that the privatization of tubewells is one of the most important driving factors that encourage the development of groundwater markets. Increasing water and land scarcity are also major determinants that induce the development of groundwater markets.Groundwater markets, Emergence, Characteristics, Determinants, northern China, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, O53, Q15, Q25,

Irrigation, poverty and inequality in rural China

This paper examines the impact of irrigation on rural incomes, poverty and the income distribution in rural China. The relationship between irrigation and income is examined using descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis. A simulation approach is used to explore the impact of irrigation on poverty incidence. To uncover the effect of irrigation on the income distribution, inequality is decomposed by source of income, by group according to access to irrigation and by estimated income flows as a result of specific household characteristics. The results show that irrigation increases income and reduces poverty and inequality.income, inequality, irrigation, poverty, rural China, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty,

The Coal Mine Accident Causation Model Based on the Hazard Theory

AbstractOn the basis of the summary of the existing research, first of all, the essential factors of coal mine accidents was differentiated and analyzed, and the technology equipment defects was believed to be the essential reasons that affect the coal mine safety. And then using the hazard theory the accident causation in coal mine production system has been divided, and it was believed that coal mine hazard sources consisted of inherent hazards, technology equipment defects and safety management misconducts. On this basis, the coal mine accident causation model on a combination of hazard theory and energy accidental releasing theory was established. Finally, this model was used to analyze the roof-fall accident of Baishui Coal Mine

An approach to health assessment for tools in milling machine

Tool health is identified as the most significant index of the machining process, which directly influences the surface quality of work-piece. An online health monitoring for tools has become more crucial in manufacturing industries. In this study, a health assessment approach for tools in milling machine is presented. First, the vibration signal of tools is decomposed into a finite number of components called intrinsic mode function (IMF) by the empirical mode decomposition (EMD), which are regarded as the initial feature vector matrices. Second, Singular value decomposition (SVD) is used to extract the singular values of the matrices, which forms the feature vector for health assessment. Third, a Self-organizing mapping (SOM) network is introduced to map the extracted feature vectors into Minimum Quantization Error (MQE), and the Taguchi system is then employed to reduce the redundant features. Finally, the MQE is normalized into a confidence value (CV), representing the health status of the tools. A case study demonstrates that the proposed approach can effectively realize the health assessment for tools in milling machine by monitoring of the vibration signals

An approach to performance assessment and fault diagnosis for hydraulic pumps

The hydraulic pump is the heart of the hydraulic system. Therefore, monitoring the condition of such a pump in real time is crucial to the reliability of the entire system. In this study, a method that assesses the performance of and diagnoses faults in hydraulic pumps is proposed. This method is based on wavelet packet transform (WPT) and a self-organizing mapping (SOM) neural network. First, WPT is used to decomposes the vibration signal into components. The energy of each component is then extracted and normalized to form feature vectors. Second, the SOM neural network, which is trained by normal data only, maps feature vectors into minimum quantization errors, which are then normalized into confidence values (CVs). Performance is assessed by tracking CV trends. Finally, SOM, which is trained by both normal and faulty samples, classifies faults into different groups when they occur. These groups represent the various fault modes of the hydraulic pump. In addition, Taguchi method is employed to reduce the number of redundant features and extract the principal components, thereby ensuring the effectiveness of the approach. A case study based on the vibration dataset of the rig of a test plunger pump is conducted to demonstrate the ability of the proposed method to assess the performance of a hydraulic pump and suitably diagnose faults

Performance Assessment and Fault Diagnosis for Hydraulic Pump Based on WPT and SOM

Hydraulic pump is the heart of hydraulic system, therefore a real-time condition monitoring for hydraulic pump is crucial to the reliability of the entire system. In this study, a method for performance assessment and fault diagnosis to hydraulic pump based on wavelet packet transform (WPT) and Self-organizing mapping (SOM) neural network is proposed. First, WPT is utilized to decompose the vibration signal into components, energy of each component is extracted and normalized to form the feature vector. Second, SOM neural network, trained only by normal data, is used to map feature vectors into Minimum Quantization Error (MQE), which is then normalized into confidence values (CV). Performance assessment is accomplished by tracking the trends of CVs. Finally, when faults occur, SOM, trained by both normal and faulty samples, is employed to classify the faults into different groups, which delegates different fault modes of the hydraulic pump. In addition, Taguchi method is used to reduce the redundant features and extract the principal components to ensure the effectiveness of the approach. A case study based on the vibration dataset of test plunger pump rig is conducted to demonstrate that the proposed method is able to assess the performance of hydraulic pump and diagnose faults suitably

Can China continue feeding itself ? the impact of climate change on agriculture

Several studies addressing the supply and demand for food in China suggest that the nation can largely meet its needs in the coming decades. However, these studies do not consider the effects of climate change. This paper examines whether near future expected changes in climate are likely to alter this picture. The authors analyze the effect of temperature and precipitation on net crop revenues using a cross section consisting of both rainfed and irrigated farms. Based on survey data from 8,405 households across 28 provinces, the results of the Ricardian analysis demonstrate that global warming is likely to be harmful to China but the impacts are likely to be very different in each region. The mid latitude region of China may benefit from warming but the southern and northern regions are likely to be damaged by warming. More precipitation is beneficial to Chinese farmers except in the wet southeast. Irrigated and rainfed farmers have similar responses to precipitation but not to temperature. Warmer temperatures may benefit irrigated farms but they are likely to harm rainfed farms. Finally, seasonal effects vary and are offsetting. Although we were able to measure the direct effect of precipitation and temperature, we could not capture the effects of change in water flow which will be very important in China. Can China continue feeding itself if climate changes? Based on the empirical results, the likely gains realized by some farmers will nearly offset the losses that will occur to other farmers in China. If future climate scenarios lead to significant reductions in water, there may be large damages not addressed in this study.Climate Change,Crops&Crop Management Systems,Global Environment Facility,Common Property Resource Development,Rural Development Knowledge&Information Systems