Reducing Deforestation and Trading Emissions: Economic Implications for the post-Kyoto Carbon Market

This paper quantitatively assesses the economic implications of crediting carbon abatement from reduced deforestation for the emissions market in 2020 by linking a numerical equilibrium model of the global carbon market with a dynamic partial equilibrium model of the forestry sector. We find that integrating avoided deforestation in international emissions trading considerably decreases the costs of post-Kyoto climate policy – even when accounting for conventional abatement options of developing countries under the CDM. At the same time, tropical rainforest regions receive substantial net revenues from exporting carbon-offset credits to the industrialized world. Moreover, reduced deforestation can increase environmental effectiveness by enabling industrialized countries to tighten their carbon constraints without increasing mitigation costs. Regarding uncertainties of this future carbon abatement option, we find both forestry transaction costs and deforestation baselines to play an important role for the post-Kyoto carbon market. --Climate Change,Kyoto Protocol,Emissions Trading,Deforestation

Censorship and Censureship: Insiders, Outsiders, and the Attack on Bhandarkar Institute

On January 5, 2004, the Bhandarkar Institute, a large Sanskrit manuscript library in Pune, was vandalized because of its involvement in James Laine\u27s controversial study of the Maharashtrian king Shivaji. While most of the manuscripts escaped damage, less fortunate was the academic project of South Asian studies, which now faces some serious questions. if our intellectual pursuits should result in the destruction of the very materials we study, or injury to those who help us to study them, are they worth conducting at all? Or might they be conducted in such a way as to avoid violent reaction? As groundwork for possible answers to these questions, this essay examines the intellectual history behind the violence as revealed through Marathi-language reviews of Laine\u27s book published in the months prior to the attack. if we can understand how and why Laine\u27s book came to be portrayed as censorable and the Bhandarkar Institute as censurable, then we may begin to see this event as more than just \u27insider\u27 hooligans protesting against an \u27outsider\u27 scholar

Lift Distributions On Low Aspect Ratio Wings At Low Reynolds Numbers

The aerodynamic performance of low aspect ratio wings at low Reynolds numbers applicable to micro air vehicle design was studied in this thesis. There is an overall lack of data for this low Reynolds number range, particularly concerning details of local flow behavior along the span. Experiments were conducted to measure the local pressure distributions on a wing at various spanwise locations in a Reynolds number range 30000 \u3c Re \u3c 90000. The model wing consisted of numerous wing sections and had a rectangular planform with NACA0012 airfoil shape with aspect ratio of one. One wing section, with pressure ports at various chordwise locations, was placed at different spanwise locations on a wing to effectively obtain the local pressure information. Integration of the pressure distributions yielded the local lift coefficients. Comparison of the local lift distributions to optimal elliptic lift distribution was conducted. This comparison showed a sharply peaked lift distribution near the wing tip resulting in a drastic deviation from the equivalent elliptic lift distributions predicted by the finite wing theory. The local lift distributions were further analyzed to determine the total lift coefficients vs angle of attack curves, span efficiency factors and the induced drag coefficients. Measured span efficiency factors, which were lower than predictions of the elliptic wing theory, can be understood by studying deviations of measured lift from the elliptic lift distribution. We conclude that elliptic wing theory is not sufficient to predict these aerodynamic performance parameters. Overall, these local measurements provided a better understanding of the low Reynolds number aerodynamics of the low aspect ratio wings

The Requirement for Hydrographic Surveys in Ports and Anchorages

The advent of larger, special-purpose ships in the last two decades has made big demands on a number of ports in the world since such vessels require deeper and wider channels than heretofore, as well as modern facilities to ensure their quick turn-around. Port Authorities have therefore had to undertake major projects requiring heavy investment for fear that shipowners would “by-pass” their port. This paper points out that accurate and comprehensive hydrographic data is a pre-requisite for any marine development scheme in a port. It cautions those unaware of this need by providing examples of cases where industry has incurred heavy losses and where there have been delays in commissioning new facilities precisely on account of this lack, or this insufficiency, of reliable hydrographic data. To avoid such pitfalls the paper recommends that Port Authorities should create their own hydrographic services to meet their conservancy requirements and also to undertake improvement of their existing facilities. Two existing port hydrographic services are briefly described to provide an idea of the diversity of requirements, their resources and manpower, and also how these ports in widely differing environments have dealt with their problems. Finally a suggestion is made as to how a modest organization can be set up to meet a port’s hydrographic requirements, and the sources for obtaining expert advice in this sphere are indicated

Reducing Deforestation and Trading Emissions: Economic Implications for the post-Kyoto Carbon Market

This paper quantitatively assesses the economic implications of crediting carbon abatement from reduced deforestation for the emissions market in 2020 by linking a numerical equilibrium model of the global carbon market with a dynamic partial equilibrium model of the forestry sector. We find that integrating avoided deforestation in international emissions trading considerably decreases the costs of post-Kyoto climate policy – even when accounting for conventional abatement options of developing countries under the CDM. At the same time, tropical rainforest regions receive substantial net revenues from exporting carbon-offset credits to the industrialized world. Moreover, reduced deforestation can increase environmental effectiveness by enabling industrialized countries to tighten their carbon constraints without increasing mitigation costs. Regarding uncertainties of this future carbon abatement option, we find both forestry transaction costs and deforestation baselines to play an important role for the post-Kyoto carbon market

New York High Line as Urban Catalyst: Impact to Neighbourhood

[EN] The High Line, an abandoned elevated railway structure on Lower Manhattan's West-side, converted into the public park is among the most innovative urban renovation projects. The meatpacking district with industrial taste, transformed to one of the most fashionable areas in New York would not be realized without the impact of this unique Urban Park, the high Line. The story of how it came to be is a remarkable one: two young citizens with no prior experience in planning and development collaborated with their neighbors, elected officials, artists, local business owners, and leaders of burgeoning movements in horticulture and landscape architecture to create a park celebrated worldwide as a model for creatively designed, socially vibrant, ecologically sound public space. 5 millions of visitors are counted annually. The research will clarify the process of the High Line’s execution, its mechanism of urban transform, and impact to the neighborhood chronologically, and will discuss and theorize this urban regeneration as an outcome of catalytic effect of Urban Green Space.Aitani, K.; Sathaye, V. (2018). New York High Line as Urban Catalyst: Impact to Neighbourhood. En 24th ISUF International Conference. Book of Papers. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1665-1672. https://doi.org/10.4995/ISUF2017.2017.5882OCS1665167