Addressing leakage in the EU ETS : Border adjustment or output-based allocation ?.

The EU ETS has been criticised for threatening the competitiveness of European industry and generating carbon leakage, i.e., increasing foreign greenhouse gas emissions. Two main options have been put forward to tackle these concerns : border adjustments and output-based allocation, i.e., allocation of free allowances in proportion to current production. We compare various configurations of these two options, as well as a scenario with full auctioning and no border adjustment. Against this background, we develop a model of the main sectors covered by the EU ETS: electricity, steel, cement, and aluminium. We conclude that the most efficient way to tackle leakage is auctioning with border adjustment, which generally induces a negative leakage (a spillover). This holds even if the border adjustment does not include indirect emissions, if it is based on EU (rather than foreign) specific emissions, or (for some values of the parameters) if it covers only imports. Another relatively efficient policy is to combine auctioning in the electricity sector and output-based allocation in exposed industries, especially if free allowances are given both for direct and indirect emissions, i.e., those generated by the generation of the electricity consumed. Although output-based allocation is generally less effective than border adjustment to tackle leakage, it is more effective to mitigate production losses in the sectors affected by the ETS, which may ease climate policy adoption.Emission trading; border adjustment; output‐based allocation; competitiveness; carbon leakage;

How to design a border adjustment for the European Union Emissions Trading System ?.

Border adjustments are currently discussed to limit the possible adverse impact of climate policies on competitiveness and carbon leakage. We discuss the main choices that will have to be made if the European Union implements such a system alongside the EU ETS. Although more analysis is required on some issues, on others some design options seem clearly preferable to others. First, the import adjustment should be a requirement to surrender allowances rather than a tax. Second, the general rule to determine the amount of allowances per ton imported should be the product-specific benchmarks that the European Commission is currently elaborating for a different purpose (i.e. to determine the amount of free allowances). Third, this obligation should apply when the imported product is registered at the EU border, and not after the end of the year as is the case for domestic emitters. Fourth, the export adjustment should take the form of a rebate on the amount of allowances a domestic emitter has to surrender. Five, this rebate should equal the above-mentioned product-specific benchmarks, not the emissions of the particular exporting plant or firm. Finally, the adjustment does not have to apply to consumer products but mostly to basic products.Carbon leakage; border adjustment; border tax adjustment; EU ETS; competitiveness;

How to Design a Border Adjustment for the European Union Emissions Trading System?

Border adjustments are currently discussed to limit the possible adverse impact of climate policies on competitiveness and carbon leakage. We discuss the main choices that will have to be made if the European Union implements such a system alongside with the EU ETS. Although more analysis is required on some issues, on others some design options seem clearly preferable to others. First, the import adjustment should be a requirement to surrender allowances rather than a tax. Second, the general rule to determine the amount of allowances per ton imported should be the product-specific benchmarks that the European Commission is currently elaborating for a different purpose (i.e. to determine the amount of free allowances). Third, this obligation should apply when the exported product is registered at the EU border, and not after the end of the year as is the case for domestic emitters. Fourth, the export adjustment should take the form of a rebate on the amount of allowances a domestic emitter has to surrender. Five, this rebate should equal the above-mentioned product-specific benchmarks, not the emissions of the particular exporting plant or firm. Finally, the adjustment does not have to apply to consumer products but mostly to basic products.Carbon Leakage, Border Adjustment, Border Tax Adjustment, EU ETS, Competitiveness

Xanthomonas albilineans is able to move outside of the sugarcane xylem despite its reduced genome and the absence of a Hrp type III secretion system.

Xanthomonas albilineans, the causal agent of leaf scald disease of sugarcane, is a pathogen that experienced genome reduction during its speciation. Additionally, this xanthomonad is notably missing the Hrp type III secretion system and the xanthan gene cluster that are commonly found in pathogenic Xanthomonas species. X. albilineans was up to now considered as limited to the xylem of sugarcane. However, recently published studies suggested that X. albilineans was able to invade tissues other than the xylem of sugarcane leaves but the occurrence of X. albilineans outside the xylem has not been clearly proven. In this study, we used confocal microscopy and transmission electron microscopy to investigate the localization of this pathogen in diseased leaves and stalks of sugarcane. Three sugarcane cultivars with different levels of resistance to leaf scald were inoculated with the green fluorescent protein labelled X. albilineans strains XaFL07-1 (from Florida) and GPE PC73 (from Guadeloupe). Sections of sugarcane leaves and stalks were examined 8-60 days after inoculation in order to localize X. albilineans in the different plant tissues. Confocal microscopy observation of symptomatic leaves confirmed the presence of the pathogen in the protoxylem and the metaxylem, however, X. albilineans was also observed in the phloem, the parenchyma and the bulliform cells of the leaves. Similarly, the protoxylem and the metaxylem of infected sugarcane stalks were invaded by X. albilineans. Surprisingly, the pathogen was also observed in apparently intact storage cells of the stalk and in the intercellular spaces between these cells. Several of these observations made by confocal microscopy have been confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. X. albilineans can therefore no longer be considered as a xylem-limited pathogen. To our knowledge, this is the first description of a plant pathogenic bacterium invading apparently intact non-vascular plant tissue and multiplying in parenchyma cells. The mechanisms and virulence factors used by X. albilineans to enter and invade different tissues of sugarcane remain to be identified. (Résumé d'auteur

Magnetic and semi-conducting nano-composite films of spinel ferrite and cubic zinc oxide

Magnetic and semi-conducting nano-composite films have been prepared under bias polarization, by radio-frequency sputtering of a pure zinc ferrite target. These composite thin films are made of cubic Zn1 − yFeyO monoxide islands inside a spinel ferrite matrix. The relative proportion of each phase depends on the substrate polarization (i.e. bias power). When no bias is applied the films solely display the diffraction pattern of a spinel phase even if some islands inside the film can be observed by electron microscopy. When the bias power is increased, the spinel phase disappears progressively as enhanced formation of islands takes place in such a manner that the cubic Zn1 − yFeyO monoxide is solely revealed by X-ray diffraction for a bias power higher than 5 W. From bibliographical data and calculated phase diagrams, it can be inferred that these phases would require very low oxygen partial pressure, high temperature and mechanical pressure, to be obtained simultaneously by a conventional ceramic process. This underlines the strong potential of radio-frequency sputtering of oxide targets to prepare original oxides or composite materials

Distributed archive and single access system for accelerometric event data : a NERIES initiative

We developed a common access facility to homogeneously formatted accelerometric event data and to the corresponding sheet of ground motion parameters. This paper is focused on the description of the technical development of the accelerometric data server and the link with the accelerometric data explorer. The server is the third node of the 3-tier architecture of the distributed archive system for accelerometric data. The server is the link between the data users and the accelero- metric data portal. The server follows three main steps: (1) Reading and analysis of the end-user request; (2) Processing and converting data; and (3) Archiving and updating the accelerometric data explorer. This paper presents the description of the data server and the data explorer for accessing data

An Innovative Experimental Study of Corner Radius Effect on Cutting Forces

The cutting forces are often modelled using edge discretisation methodology. In finish turning, due to the smaller corner radii, the use of a local cutting force model identified from orthogonal cutting tests poses a significant challenge. In this paper, the local effect of the corner radius on the forces is investigated using a new experimental configuration: corner cutting tests involving the tool nose. The results are compared with inverse identifications based on cylindrical turning tests and elementary cutting tests on tubes. The results obtained from these methods consistently show the significant influence of the corner radius on the cutting forces

Addressing leakage in the EU ETS : Border adjustment or output-based allocation ?

The EU ETS has been criticised for threatening the competitiveness of European industry and generating carbon leakage, i.e. increasing foreign greenhouse gas emissions. Two main options have been put forward to tackle these concerns : border adjustments and output-based allocation, i.e. allocation of free allowances in proportion to current production. We compare various configurations of these two options, as well as a scenario with full auctioning and no border adjustment. Against this background, we develop a model of the main sectors covered by the EU ETS : electricity, steel, cement and aluminium. We conclude that the most efficient way to tackle leakage is auctioning with border adjustment, which generally induces a negative leakage (a spillover). Another relatively efficient policy is to combine auctioning in the electricity sector and output-based allocation in exposed industries, especially if free allowances are given both for direct and indirect emissions, i.e. those generated by the generation of the electricity consumed. Although output-based allocation is generally less effective than border adjustment to tackle leakage, it is more effective to mitigate production losses in the sectors affected by the ETS.Le système européen d'échange de quotas d'émission de gaz à effet de serre (GES) a été critiqué comme menaçant la compétitivité de l'industrie européenne et comme générant des fuites de carbone, c'est-à-dire une augmentation des émissions de GES à l'étranger. Principalement, deux options ont été avancées pour traiter ces problèmes : l'ajustement aux frontières et l'allocation basée sur la production, c'est-à-dire une allocation gratuite de permis proportionnelle à la production courante. Nous développons un modèle représentant les principaux secteurs inclus dans le système européen de quotas (électricité, acier, ciment et aluminium) et analysons plusieurs configurations de chacune de ces options, ainsi qu'un scénario avec enchères et sans ajustement aux frontières. Nous trouvons qu'une allocation par l'intermédiaire d'enchères, complétée par un ajustement aux frontières, permet de limiter le plus les fuites de carbone, voire de diminuer les émissions dans les pays hors UE27 (fuites négatives). Une autre politique relativement efficace est de combiner des enchères pour le secteur de l'électricité et une allocation basée sur la production pour les secteurs exposés aux fuites de carbone, en particulier si la quantité de permis distribuée tient compte des émissions directes et indirectes (liées à la génération de l'électricité consommée). Bien que cette dernière option soit généralement moins efficace qu'un ajustement aux frontières pour limiter les fuites de carbone, elle permet néanmoins de réduire les pertes de production dans les secteurs exposés à la concurrence internationale

JUMPSAT: Qualifying three equipments in one Cubesat mission

We work on a student 3U Cubesat mission, called JUMPSAT, expected for 2017. This is a collaborative project involving both institutions (CNES, ONERA) and schools (ISAE, TELECOM Bretagne). The different equipments to qualify are the Supaero Star Tracker, which measures stars’ luminosity to infer the satellite’s attitude, a detector for particles trapped in the Earth magnetic field designed by the ONERA, and the AOCS. Uplink and Downlink communications will be provided during the mission by the HETE Primary Ground Stations. JUMPSAT is the first Cubesat which needs a three axis attitude control, which involves an innovative mission analysis, to overcome all these constraints. The mission analysis deals with the orbit’s determination, the Cubesat’s structure, the power strategy, and the visibility balance. The particles detector is the only constraint for the altitude of the satellite: we can get meaningful data only at altitudes higher than 700 km. Moreover, the most interesting zones are South Atlantic and poles. But a circular orbit with this altitude does not respect the LOS (French space act).The structure of the Cubesat is also hard to define. To get information from the satellite, we need an antenna, and an attitude and orbital control system to point the antenna at the ground station and the Star Tracker at the stars. Solar Panels cannot be opened out because of the micro elements that could be settled on the particles detector. However, fixed solar panels are not very efficient to recharge batteries. The power balance shows critical problems: both attitude control system and the Star Tracker consume a lot, and cannot work at the same time during the whole orbit. However, all the components are linked: the Star Tracker is not efficient if the satellite attitude is not stabilized; the antenna functioning must be synchronized with visibilities by the ground station. Anyway, the visibility balance stresses the point that a ground station at Toulouse would be particularly welcome. We need also to take into account phenomena of eclipse and satellite drift. To conclude, our mission analysis is deeply constrained by the equipments we want to qualify. Our task is to find the optimal orbit, suggest a power strategy considering the orbital constraints and components’ physical parameters, and to study the visibility balance. It is a real challenge in terms of power consumption, architecture, orbital strategy for such a small satellite