scholarly journals Low-Carbon Research: Building a Greener and More Inclusive Academy

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Anne Pasek

This essay examines how the fossil fuel energy regimes that support contemporary academic norms in turn shape and constrain knowledge production. High-carbon research methods and exchanges, particularly those that depend on aviation, produce distinct exclusions and incentives that could be reformed in the transition to a low-carbon academy. Drawing on feminist STS, alternative modes of collective research creation and collaboration are outlined, along with an assessment of their potential challenges and gains. This commentary concludes with several recommendations for incremental and institutional changes, along with a call for scholars of social and technical systems to uniquely contribute to this transition.

2013 ◽  
Vol 807-809 ◽  
pp. 783-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Zhou ◽  
Cui Ping Liao ◽  
Peng Chun Li ◽  
Ying Huang

CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) is the only technology available to achieve a deep cut in CO2emissions from large-scale fossil fuel usage. Although Guangdong Province has less heavy industries and higher reliance on energy import compared with many other provinces in China, CCS is still essential for the low-carbon development in the province. This is because fossil fuel energy is now and will be in the foreseeable future the major energy in Guangdong. CCS may have other benefits such as helping energy security and bring new business opportunities. The feasibility of CCS development in Guangdong is ensured by the existence of sufficient CO2storage capacity in offshore sedimentary basins in the northern South China Sea. A safe CO2storage is achievable as long as the selection of storage sites and the storage operations are in restrict quality control. The increased cost and energy penalty associated with CCS could be reduced through technical R&D, the utilization of captured CO2, and the utilization of infrastructure of offshore depleted oil fields. Fossil fuel energy plus CCS should be regarded as a new type of clean energy and deserves similar incentive policies that have been applied to other clean energies such as renewables and nuclear.


Author(s):  
F. A. Khalid ◽  
D. V. Edmonds

The austenite/pearlite growth interface in a model alloy steel (Fe-1lMn-0.8C-0.5V nominal wt%) is being studied in an attempt to characterise the morphology and mechanism of VC precipitation at the growth interface. In this alloy pearlite nodules can be grown isothermally in austenite that remains stable at room temperature thus facilitating examination of the transformation interfaces. This study presents preliminary results of thin foil TEM of the precipitation of VC at the austenite/ferrite interface, which reaction, termed interphase precipitation, occurs in a number of low- carbon HSLA and microalloyed medium- and high- carbon steels. Some observations of interphase precipitation in microalloyed low- and medium- carbon commercial steels are also reported for comparison as this reaction can be responsible for a significant increase in strength in a wide range of commercial steels.The experimental alloy was made as 50 g argon arc melts using high purity materials and homogenised. Samples were solution treated at 1300 °C for 1 hr and WQ. Specimens were then solutionised at 1300 °C for 15 min. and isothermally transformed at 620 °C for 10-18hrs. and WQ. Specimens of microalloyed commercial steels were studied in either as-rolled or as- forged conditions. Detailed procedures of thin foil preparation for TEM are given elsewhere.


Author(s):  
E. L. Wolf

The Sun’s spectrum on Earth is modified by the atmosphere, and is harvested either by generating heat for direct use or for running heat engines, or by quantum absorption in solar cells, to be discussed later. Focusing of sunlight requires tracking of the Sun and is defeated on cloudy days. Heat engines have efficiency limits similar to the Carnot cycle limit. The steam turbine follows the Rankine cycle and is well developed in technology, optimally using a re-heat cycle of higher efficiency. Having learned quite a bit about how the Sun’s energy is created, and how that process might be reproduced on Earth, we turn now to methods for harvesting the energy from the Sun as a sustainable replacement for fossil fuel energy.


Author(s):  
Yong Wang ◽  
Andrey Karasev ◽  
Joo Hyun Park ◽  
Wangzhong Mu ◽  
Pär G. Jönsson

AbstractChromium is normally added to liquid alloy in the form of different grades of ferrochromium (FeCr) alloys for the requirement of different alloy grades, such as stainless steels, high Cr cast iron, etc.. In this work, inclusions in two commercially produced alloys, i.e., high-carbon ferrochromium (HCFeCr) and low-carbon ferrochromium (LCFeCr) alloys, were investigated. The FeCr alloy/liquid iron interactions at an early stage were investigated by inserting solid alloy piece into contact with the liquid iron for a predetermined time using the liquid-metal-suction method. After quenching these samples, a diffusion zone between the alloys and the liquid Fe was studied based on the microstructural characterizations. It was observed that Cr-O-(Fe) inclusions were formed in the diffusion zone, FeOx inclusions were formed in the bulk Fe, and an “inclusion-free” zone was detected between them. Moreover, it was found that the HCFeCr was slowly dissolved, but LCFeCr alloy was rapidly melted during the experiment. The dissolution and melting behaviors of these two FeCr alloys were compared and the mechanism of the early-stage dissolution process of FeCr alloys in the liquid Fe was proposed.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 197
Author(s):  
He Zhang ◽  
Jingyi Peng ◽  
Dahlia Yu ◽  
Lie You ◽  
Rui Wang

Low-carbon governance at the county level has been an important issue for sustainable development due to the large contributions to carbon emission. However, the experiences of carbon emission governance at the county level are lacking. This paper discusses 5 carbon emission governance zones for 1753 counties. The zoning is formed according to a differentiated zoning method based on a multi-indicator evaluation to judge if the governance had better focus and had formulated a differentiated carbon emission governance system. According to zoning results, there is 1 high-carbon governance zone, 2 medium-carbon governance zones, and 2 low-carbon zones. The extensive high-carbon governance zone and medium-carbon zones are key governance areas, in which the counties are mainly located in the northern plain areas and southeast coastal areas and have contributed 51.88% of total carbon emissions. This paper proposes differentiated governance standards for each indicator of the 5 zones. The differentiated zoning method mentioned in this paper can be applied to other governance issues of small-scale regions.


Coatings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Fuyao Yan ◽  
Jiawei Yao ◽  
Baofeng Chen ◽  
Ying Yang ◽  
Yueming Xu ◽  
...  

Decarburization is generally avoided as it is reckoned to be a process detrimental to material surface properties. Based on the idea of duplex surface engineering, i.e., nitriding the case-hardened or through-hardened bearing steels for enhanced surface performance, this work deliberately applied decarburization prior to plasma nitriding to cancel the softening effect of decarburizing with nitriding and at the same time to significantly promote the nitriding kinetics. To manifest the applicability of this innovative duplex process, low-carbon M50NiL and high-carbon M50 bearing steels were adopted in this work. The influence of decarburization on microstructures and growth kinetics of the nitrided layer over the decarburized layer is investigated. The metallographic analysis of the nitrided layer thickness indicates that high carbon content can hinder the growth of the nitrided layer, but if a short decarburization is applied prior to nitriding, the thickness of the nitrided layer can be significantly promoted. The analysis of nitriding kinetics shows that decarburization reduces the activation energy for nitrogen diffusion and enhances nitrogen diffusivity. Moreover, the effect of decarburization in air can promote surface microstructure refinement via spinodal decomposition during plasma nitriding.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6259
Author(s):  
Jizhong Shao ◽  
Minge Yang ◽  
Guan Liu ◽  
Ye Li ◽  
Dan Luo ◽  
...  

As current society’s reflection on the rapid development of motorization and increasing emphasis on the ecological environment, the study of walkable cities has become one of the key points of urban sustainable design. Creating a walkable city is an effective way to build a low-carbon and healthy city. With the development of cities, walkability concepts and theories are constantly being given new life, and research methods and design strategies continue to be updated. A city’s walkability and walkability index have become current research hotspots. Based on prior research on walkability and related urban policies, this study selects Coomera Town on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia, as the research area because of Coomera Town policy regulations and environmental requirements. This study utilizes traditional qualitative and quantitative research methods, machine mining technology, and the deep learning big data analysis technology to conduct thematic design research in a real place. Its combines walkability evaluation with walkability design to construct a walkable city in a targeted manner. This provides a reference for related city design in the future.


Metals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panos Efthymiadis ◽  
Khalid Nor

Laser welding of dissimilar high-strength steels was performed in this study for two different geometries, flat and circular samples with material thicknesses of 5 and 8 mm. The material combinations were a low carbon to a medium or high carbon steel. Three different welding systems were employed: a Nd:YAG, a CO2 and a fiber laser. The process stability was evaluated for all the experiments. The resulting full penetration welds were inspected for their surface quality at the top and bottom of the specimens. Cross sections were taken to investigate the resulting microstructures and the metallurgical defects of the welds, such as cracks and pores. Significant hardening occurred in the weld region and the highest hardness values occurred in the Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) of the high carbon steel. The occurrence of weld defects depends strongly on the component geometry. The resulting microstructures within the weld were also predicted using neural network-simulated Continuous Cooling Transformation (CCT) diagrams and predicted the occurrence of a mixture of microstructures, such as bainite, martensite and pearlite, depending on the material chemistry. The thermal fields were measured with thermocouples and revealed the strong influence of component geometry on the cooling rate which in term defines the microstructures forming in the weld and the occurring hardness.


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