Efficiency standards versus negotiated agreements in the electrical appliance sector

Associées à l'étiquetage énergétique, les normes d'efficacité minimum ont prouvé leur effet de stimulation de l'efficacité énergétique. Mais les normes sont souvent difficiles à mettre en place à cause de la résistance du secteur industriel. Ce papier compare les normes d'efficacité et l'étiquetage énergétique avec une démarche volontaire des industriels du secteur électro-ménager.étiquetage;appareil électroménager;efficacité énergétique;accord volontaire;norme

The Static and Dynamic Efficiency of Instruments of Promotion of Renewables

This paper deals with a comparative analysis of the economic and social efficiency of the instruments used to promote renewable energy sources (RES), first from a static standpoint and then using dynamic criteria to assess their ability to stimulate technological progress and cost reduction. First, the instruments are analysed in relation to the classical discussion of environmental policy that opposes price-based instruments versus quantity-based instruments in an uncertain environment (feed-in tariffs as price based system on one hand, quotas + green certificates, competitive bidding as quantity-based instruments on the other hand). Next, the incentives to invest and innovate in the context of each framework are analysed in relation to the sharing of the surplus associated with each of them between producers/constructors and consumers or the public budget. Finally, the paper looks at the overall cost-efficiency of the policies on the basis of each instrument, by referring to factual evidence in European experiences. It concludes that if social preference is attached to climate change prevention and reflected in a high quantitative objective for renewables, sliding scale feed-in tariffs are a good compromise in order to promote technical progress and national RES industry also. The quota/certificate system also presents a number of advantages in terms of static efficiency, but its ability to stimulate innovation still has to be confirmed by experience.énergies renouvelables;progrès technologique;certificat vert

Physical Properties of Four SZE-Selected Galaxy Clusters in the Southern Cosmology Survey

We present the optical and X-ray properties of four clusters recently discovered by the South Pole Telescope (SPT) using the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE). The four clusters are located in one of the common survey areas of the southern sky that is also being targeted by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and imaged by the CTIO Blanco 4-m telescope. Based on publicly available griz optical images and XMM-Newton and ROSAT X-ray observations we analyse the physical properties of these clusters and obtain photometric redshifts, luminosities, richness and mass estimates. Each cluster contains a central elliptical whose luminosity is consistent with SDSS cluster studies. Our mass estimates are well above the nominal detection limit of SPT and ACT; the new SZE clusters are very likely massive systems with M>~5x10^14 M_sun.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. ApJL accepte

Globalization and Distorted Development: In Search of a System Perspective for Sustainability

The controversial relationship between globalization and social development still dominates the intellectual and socio-political debate of our days.  The 21st century has evolved, so far, without an agreement between those who promise prosperity and opportunities in an expanded and international world market and those who claim that globalization, as it has been carried on today,  is a negative force for peace, equity, and social development.While the most visible effects of globalization include the internationalization of the world economy, the expansion of markets, and a growing interconnectedness among countries, the process also carries major consequences for social development. In fact, the most serious consequence, especially in Third World countries, is the inability of national governments to invest in programs of social welfare.  Policies of national development are being reduced as the role of the state is being diminished. Today, social stratification has become international while inequality remains global.As demonstrated by today’s financial and economic international crisis, current patterns of globalization reaffirm a growing interdependence of the world economy, modern technology, and communications. The same process, however, carries little or no change in old conditions of international stratification, global inequality, and insufficient efforts for social development.This paper examines three main issues pertinent to globalization:(1) First, the notion that globalization is a new phenomenon and a different paradigm is highly questionable.  Less developed countries have had long histories of dependent relationships and vulnerability to external political and economic powers.  (2) Globalization has produced conditions of “distorted development” characterized by economic growth without social development. (3) More functional and sustainable relationships between globalization and social development are explored and discussed. The paper reviews sociocybernetic principles of the “Viable System” suggested by Stafford Beer

On the Continuous Formation of Field Spheroidal Galaxies in Hierarchical Models of Structure Formation

We re-examine the assembly history of field spheroidals as a potentially powerful discriminant of galaxy formation models. Whereas monolithic collapse and hierarchical, merger-driven, models suggest radically different histories for these galaxies, neither the theoretical predictions nor the observational data for field galaxies have been sufficiently reliable for precise conclusions to be drawn. A major difficulty in interpreting the observations, reviewed here, concerns the taxonomic definition of spheroidals in merger-based models. Using quantitative measures of recent star formation activity drawn from the internal properties of a sample of distant field galaxies in the Hubble Deep Fields, we undertake a new analysis to assess the continuous formation of spheroidal galaxies. Whereas abundances and redshift distributions of modelled spheroidals are fairly insensitive to their formation path, we demonstrate that the distribution and amount of blue light arising from recent mergers provides a more sensitive approach. With the limited resolved data currently available, the rate of mass assembly implied by the observed colour inhomogeneities is compared to that expected in popular Lambda-dominated cold dark matter models of structure formation. These models produce as many highly inhomogeneous spheroidals as observed, but underpredict the proportion of homogeneous, passive objects. We conclude that colour inhomogeneities, particularly when combined with spectroscopic diagnostics for large, representative samples of field spheroidals, will be a more valuable test of their physical assembly history than basic source counts and redshift distributions. Securing such data should be a high priority for the Advanced Camera for Surveys on Hubble Space Telescope.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, submitted to MNRA

Amélioration des performances énergétiques des équipements de froid domestique : étiquettes, normes de performances et accords volontaires

Compte tenu de leur importance relative dans la consommation d'énergie des ménages, de nombreuses politiques et mesures visent à maîtriser les consommations d'énergie associées à la production de froid domestique. Ce texte décrit les principales mesures adoptées pour accélérer la diffusion de réfrigérateurs plus efficients sur le plan énergétique : étiquetage des consommations, seuils de performance et accords volontaires. Il montre que l'étiquetage associé à des normes de performance constitue un instrument particulièrement efficace pour améliorer l'efficacité énergétique dans ce secteur, instrument qui tend à se généraliser dans les pays industrialisés et progressivement aussi dans de nombreux pays en développement.EFFICACITE ENERGETIQUE ; ETIQUETAGE ; APPAREIL ELECTROMENAGER

High resolution near-infrared imaging of submillimeter galaxies

We present F110W (~J) and F160W (~H) observations of ten submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST's) NICMOS camera. Our targets have optical redshifts in the range 2.20<z<2.81 confirmed by millimeter CO or mid-IR spectroscopy, guaranteeing that the two bands sample the rest-frame optical with the Balmer break falling between them. Eight of ten are detected in both bands, while two are detected in F160W only. We study their F160W morphologies, applying a maximum-deblending detection algorithm to distinguish multiple- from single-component configurations, leading to reassessments for several objects. Based on our NICMOS imaging and/or previous dynamical evidence we identify five SMGs as multiple sources, which we interpret as merging systems. Additionally, we calculate morphological parameters asymmetry (A) and Gini coefficient (G); thanks to our sample's limited redshift range we recover the trend that multiple-component, merger-like morphologies are reflected in higher asymmetries. We analyze the stellar populations of nine objects with F110W/F160W photometry, using archival HST optical data when available. For multiple systems, we are able to model the individual components that build up an SMG. With the available data we cannot discriminate among star formation histories, but we constrain stellar masses and mass ratios for merger-like SMG systems, obtaining a mean log(M_*/M_sun)=10.9+/-0.2 for our full sample, with individual values log(M_*/M_sun)~9.6-11.8. The morphologies and mass ratios of the least and most massive systems match the predictions of the major-merger and cold accretion SMG formation scenarios, respectively, suggesting that both channels may have a role in the population's origin.Comment: 41 pages preprint, 3 figures, published in ApJ on 2013 May 1