304 research outputs found
Russian market power on the EU gas market: can Gazprom do the same as in Urkaine?
In the course of 2006, Gazprom sharply increased gas prices for Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova. This paper assesses (i) to what extent Europe is vulnerable to similar use of market power by Russia, and (ii) to what extent the construction of strategic gas storage could help Europe to reduce its vulnerability. The European market for imported gas is described by differentiated Cournot competition between Russia and other â potentially more reliable â suppliers, in particular LNG imports. The results show that Russian market power is limited, because demand is not completely inelastic even in the short run. Moreover, if Russiaâs unreliability increases (or if European short-run demand elasticity decreases) Russia gives away more and more of its expected profits to the other suppliers. For Europe, buying gas from more reliable suppliers at a price premium turns out to be more attractive than building storage capacity.
Russian gas imports in Europe: how does Gazprom reliability change the game?.
Europeâs dependence on Russian gas imports has been the subject of increasing political concern after gas conflicts between Russia and Ukraine in 2006 and 2009. This paper assesses the potential impact of Russian unreliability on the European gas market, and how it affects European gas import strategy. We also study to what extent Europe should invest in strategic gas storage capacity to mitigate the effects of possible Russian unreliability. The European gas import market is described by differentiated competition between Russia and a â more reliable â competitive fringe of other exporters. The results show that Russian contract volumes and prices decline significantly as a function of unreliability, so that not only Europe but also Russia suffers if Russiaâs unreliability increases. For Europe, buying gas from more reliable suppliers at a price premium turns out to be generally more attractive than building strategic gas storage capacity.
Taxation of nuclear rents: benefits, drawbacks and alternatives.
The taxation of nuclear energy is studied using a stylized model of the electricity sector, with one dominant nuclear producer and a competitive fringe of fossil-fuel plants. We show that an unanticipated tax on nuclear production can generate significant government revenue in the short run without disturbing the market, but will harm investment incentives in the long run, especially if the government cannot credibly commit to a future tax rate. Even if the government is capable of credibly committing to an optimal long-run tax, government revenues from the long-run tax will be very low due to the market power of the incumbent. Lifetime extension agreements negotiated with multiple potential players, and competitive auctioning of new nuclear licenses are shown to be the most attractive policies. The analytical results are illustrated with a numerical simulation for the case of Belgium.
Taxation of nuclear rents: benfits, drawbacks and alternatives
The taxation of nuclear energy is studied using a stylized model of the electricity sector, with one dominant nuclear producer and a competitive fringe of fossil-fuel plants. We show that an unanticipated tax on nuclear production can generate significant government revenue in the short run without disturbing the market, but will harm investment incentives in the long run, especially if the government cannot credibly commit to a future tax rate. Even if the government is capable of credibly committing to an optimal long-run tax, government revenues from the long-run tax will be very low due to the market power of the incumbent. Lifetime extension agreements negotiated with multiple potential players, and competitive auctioning of new nuclear licenses are shown to be the most attractive policies. The analytical results are illustrated with a numerical simulation for the case of Belgium.
The Role of Work-home Interference and Workplace Learning in the Energy-depletion Process
In this study, we tested a work stress model which incorporates both an energydepletion
and a workplace learning process. In the energy-depletion process, workhome
interference was assumed to mediate the relationship between job demands
(workload, emotional demands) and psychological fatigue. In the workplace learning
process it was hypothesized that workplace learning mediated the relationship between
job resources (autonomy, task variety) and psychological fatigue. Results of a
multi-group structural equation modelling (N = 9738) confirmed our hypotheses and
as such contribute to a better understanding of the interplay between job characteristics
and stress-related outcomes
Evolution of water diffusion in a sorption-enhanced methanation catalyst
Sorption-enhanced methanation has consequent advantages compared to conventional methanation approaches; namely, the production of pure methane and enhanced kinetics thanks to the application of Le Châtelierâs principle. In this paper, we address the question of the long-term stability of a sorption-enhanced methanation catalyst-support couple: Ni nanoparticles on zeolite 5A. Compared to most conventional methanation processes the operational conditions of sorption-enhanced methanation are relatively mild, which allow for stable catalyst activity on the long term. Indeed, we show here that neither coking nor thermal degradation come into play under such conditions. However, a degradation mechanism specific to the sorption catalysis was observed under cyclic methanation/drying periods. This severely affects water diffusion kinetics in the zeolite support, as shown here by a decrease of the water-diffusion coefficient during multiple cycling. Water diffusion is a central mechanism in the sorption-enhanced methanation process, since it is rate-limiting for both methanation and drying
Sputter Deposition of Transition Metal Oxides on Silicon: Evidencing the Role of Oxygen Bombardment for FermiâLevel Pinning
Different magnetron sputteringâbased deposition methods of nickel oxide SiOââpassivated Si surfaces are compared. Results highlight that the presence of oxygen in the deposition chamber during reactive sputtering drastically affects the Si/SiOâ interface. An alternative method for the preparation of NiO is the sputtering of metallic nickel in oxygenâfree atmosphere followed by a post oxidation of the deposited layer in an oxygen atmosphere without plasma exposition is proposed. This method is introduced as metal layer oxidation (MLO). Using this technique, the barrier height on nâtype silicon increases from â0.4 eV for reactively sputtered NiO to more than 0.6 eV for the MLO method. In situ photoelectron spectroscopy evidences the formation of an extra electronic state when NiO is reactively sputtered, which is assigned to the intense oxygen ion bombardment of the Si/SiOâ surface during the process. This extraâelectronic state pins the silicon energy bands in an undesirable position. The extraâelectronic state is associated with oxygen interstitial in the SiOâ implanted during reactive sputtering
Robert J. Baczuk v. Salt Lake Regional Medical Center and Dr. Brian Moench : Reply Brief
APPEAL FROM A FINAL JUDGMENT OF THE THIRD DISTRICT COURT THE HONORABLE HOMER F. WILKINSO
Effect of hydriding on nanoscale plasticity mechanisms in nanocrystalline palladium thin films
Thin palladium (Pd) membranes constitute an enabling material in hydrogen permeation and sensing applications. During hydriding of Pd, as long as the H/Pd (atomic ratio) stays below ÎąSSmaxâ0.02, the Îą-Pd with face centered cubic (fcc) lattice will expand from 3.889 Ă
to 3.895 Ă
. When the ratio reaches 0.02 a β-phase, again fcc based, having a lattice constant near 4.025 Ă
appears which induces a 10% volume change. In the present work, nanoscale plasticity mechanisms activated in sputtered nanocrystalline (nc) Pd thin films subjected to hydriding at different hydrogen pressures have been investigated for the first time using advanced TEM. The in-situ measurement of the evolution of the internal stress during hydriding shows that the internal stress increases rapidly and reaches a constant value of 120 MPa tensile stress for Îą phase and 920 MPa compressive stress for β phase transformation. The automated crystallographic orientation mapping in TEM (ACOM-TEM) before and after hydriding to Îą and β phase did not reveal significant changes of the grain size and the crystallographic texture, excluding grain boundary mediated processes as dominant hydrogen induced plasticity mechanisms. High resolution TEM (HRTEM) investigation of â3 {111} coherent twin boundaries (TBs) in Pd films shows clear loss of the coherency of these boundaries after hydriding to β phase. However, significant changes of microstructure have not been observed in Pd films hydrated to Îą phase. These results confirm that hydrogen induced plasticity is mainly controlled by dislocation activity at higher hydrogen pressures. Surprisingly, an fccâ9R phase transformation at ÎŁ3 {112} incoherent TBs as well as a high density of stacking faults (SFs) (Fig. 1a) have been observed after hydriding to β phase indicating a clear effect of hydrogen on the stacking fault energy of Pd. Shear type faulted loops rarely reported in nc materials were also observed within the Pd grains after hydriding to β-phase (Fig. 1b). In order to investigate the stability of this shear type loops, different internal stress fields originating from the neighboring dislocation (dislocation d3 ) and surface effects (image forces) have been computed using a Finite Element method (Fig. 1c). Such calculations confirm that high attractive forces exist between the dislocation âd2â and âd3â forming the dipole. On the other hand, although the Peach Koehler force on the dislocation âd1â tends to extend the SF, the force magnitude is much smaller than the force induced by the fault on the partial segments. Therefore, an extra shear stress of +385MPa (Ďdis.) acting on the glide plane of the dislocation âd1â is required in order to counter balance the attractive force of the SF which thus explains the stability of this dislocation in the TEM thin foil after dehydriding. This shear stress can not be compensated by the negligible image force in such thin foil. Moreover, no residual hydrides were detected using high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy. Therefore, the stability of glissile intrinsic SF loops in nc Pd films after dehydriding can thus be attributed to the presence of large internal stress heterogeneities typical of nc materials
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