Deep Cuts Research Articles

A dual-track transition to global carbon pricing

ABSTRACT Unilateral climate policies have been unable to achieve intended emissions reductions. We argue that international harmonization of climate policy beyond the Paris Agreement is the only way forward and that global carbon pricing, either through a tax or market, is the best available instrument to manage this. A foundation has already been laid, as current carbon pricing initiatives cover about 20% of global CO2 emissions. Since it limits free-riding by countries/jurisdictions, global carbon pricing is, in principle, behaviourally easier to negotiate than other instruments, such as emission targets or technical standards. To overcome political resistance, we propose a dynamic strategy consisting of two parallel tracks and five transition phases. The first track entails assembly of a carbon-pricing coalition that expands over time and exerts moral and economic pressure on non-members to join. The second track involves refocusing UN intergovernmental climate change negotiations on carbon pricing, potentially involving initially heterogeneous prices reflecting distinct income levels of countries, which then gradually converge. The dual tracks are designed to reinforce one another, increasing the likelihood of a successful outcome. The proposal results in a transition trajectory consisting of two interactive tracks and five phases, with specific attention to inequity within and among countries. We illustrate how such an approach could function with either a carbon tax or market. Key policy insights International harmonization of climate policies is required to achieve the deep cuts in emissions needed to meet the Paris Agreement’s 2°C or 1.5°C target. A focus on carbon pricing – either through taxation or emissions trading – has multiple strengths: it can be easily compared and harmonized among countries; it can be gradually strengthened over time; it moderates freeriding and fear of competitiveness losses; and it automatically generates revenues to compensate low-income households and countries. Formation of a carbon-pricing coalition would enable such a group to speak with a single, powerful voice at UN climate change conferences. It would put economic and moral pressure on non-members, stimulating them to join and show a constructive attitude in ongoing UN climate change negotiations.

Georgia advocates campaign to address proposed budget impact

The COVID‐19 impact on Georgia's economy, including plummeting sales and tax revenues, has prompted Gov. Brian Kemp to call for deep budget cuts that would have an impact on mental health services and programs. Advocates, who have embarked on a campaign to restore proposed cuts, say the across‐the‐board 14% cut would be devastating to the state's mental health community at large.

E&P Notes (June 2020)

E&P Notes (June 2020)

Stratigraphic hierarchy and three‐dimensional evolution of an exhumed submarine slope channel system

AbstractSubmarine slope channel systems have complicated three‐dimensional geometries and facies distributions, which are challenging to resolve using subsurface data. Outcrop analogues can provide sub‐seismic‐scale detail, although most exhumed systems only afford two‐dimensional constraints on the depositional architecture. A rare example of an accessible fine‐grained slope channel complex set situated in a tectonically quiescent basin that offers seismic‐scale, down‐dip and across‐strike exposures is the Klein Hangklip area, Tanqua‐Karoo Basin, South Africa. This study investigates the three‐dimensional architecture of this channel complex set to characterise the stratigraphic evolution of a submarine channel‐fill and the implications this has for both sediment transport to the deep‐oceans and reservoir quality distribution. Correlated sedimentary logs and mapping of key surfaces across a 3 km2 area reveal that: (i) the oldest channel elements in channel complexes infill relatively deep channel cuts and have low aspect‐ratios. Later channel elements are bound by comparatively flat erosion surfaces and have high aspect‐ratios; (ii) facies changes across depositional strike are consistent and predictable; conversely, facies change in successive down depositional dip positions indicating longitudinal variability in depositional processes; (iii) stratigraphic architecture is consistent and predictable at seismic‐scale both down‐dip and across‐strike in three‐dimensions; (iv) channel‐base‐deposits exhibit spatial heterogeneity on one to hundreds of metres length‐scales, which can inhibit accurate recognition and interpretations drawn from one‐dimensional or limited two‐dimensional datasets; and (v) channel‐base‐deposit character is linked to sediment bypass magnitude and longevity, which suggests that time‐partitioning is biased towards conduit excavation and maintenance rather than the fill‐phase. The data provide insights into the stratigraphic evolution and architecture of slope channel‐fills on fine‐grained continental margins and can be utilised to improve predictions derived from lower resolution and one‐dimensional well data.

E&P Notes (May 2020)

E&P Notes Offshore Discoveries Continue Even as Shale Slows Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Editor Four recent offshore discoveries served as a reminder that exploration is migrating offshore in the Western Hemisphere. The discoveries off Brazil, Suriname, and the US, all in deep water, offered a stark contrast to the fast-contracting US shale business. To be fair, all the wells were spudded before the oil price crash which as forced deep cuts in offshore drilling. Apache, which has shut down drilling in the Permian Basin, made a second discovery in its 1.4-million-acre block off-shore Suriname, identifying what it said is a geologically distinct area. Russian Government Buys Venezuelan Assets From Its Own Oil Company Trent Jacobs, Digital Editor Rosneft, Russia’s leading oil producer, said it has transferred all its holdings in Venezuela to entities controlled by the Russian state. The move involves several joint ventures, service companies, producing assets, and key trading units responsible for export operations. Rosneft said in a statement made on 28 March that the nationalization of these assets was warranted to protect its investors. Upon the announcement, various media reports say that three VLCCs, or very large crude carriers, contracted by Rosneft turned around before reaching Venezuelan export facilities. It is estimated that the vessels would have been loaded with nearly 5.7 million bbl of heavy crude. Venezuela is using oil exports to pay down debts with Russia. Chevron Hits the Brakes on Permian, Cuts $8 Billion Across Company As the year began, Chevron said it was on track to produce 1 million BOE/D in the Permian Basin by 2024. Instead, the international major is joining a chorus of other oil producers that are drawing down their growth plans in response to the major market disruptions caused by a Russia-Saudi Arabia price war and an unfolding global pandemic. Chevron announced on 24 March that it reduced its capital outlay from $20 billion to $16 billion. About $2 billion of the cuts will come from the company’s unconventional programs in Argentina and the US. But a company release said the reductions will “primarily” affect the Permian where it holds about 2.2 million acres.

ERODIBILIDADE DE SOLOS DERIVADOS DE ROCHAS DA SUÍTE SERRA DOS ÓRGÃOS: IMPLICAÇÕES PARA A INSTABILIDADE DE TALUDES DE CORTE

Problemas de instabilidade de taludes podem ser deflagrados por processos erosivos nos horizontes de solos saprolítcos. Nesses casos, a identificação das causas e a análise dos processos instabilizadores pode não ser uma tarefa trivial. Embora a associação dos processos de deslizamento e erosão seja relativamente comum, nem sempre as relações entre causa e efeito são bem definidas, podendo impactar significativamente os custos dos projetos e obras de instablização. Portanto, ainda é necessário avançar na identificação prévia das erodibilidades dos solos saprolíticos, os quais em condições críticas podem deflagrar a instabilidade dos horizontes superiores do solo. O principal objetivo desse manuscrito é avaliar índices que auxiliem na previsão da erodibilidade de solos saprolíticos e seu potencial na deflagração de processos de movimentos de massa em encostas ou taludes instáveis. Foram selecionados para análises dois perfis de solo, incluindo o solo saprolítico e os horizontes pedológicos, derivados de rochas da Suíte Serra dos órgãos e com registro de instabilidades e evidencias de feições erosivas observadas em campo, no município de São João de Meriti (RJ). Após a amostragem, os horizontes pedológicos e saprolíticos de cada perfil foram analisados quanto à mineralogia, propriedades físicas e mecânicas. Os resultados obtidos em laboratório confirmam as observações de campo quanto à elevada erodibilidade do solo saprolítico e seu potencial para deflagração de rupturas dos taludes de corte na região. Esse conhecimento fundamental é útil para assistir às autoridades municipais quanto ao uso do solo urbano, em especial, para a necessidade de se evitar cortes profundos e assim manter a preservação dos horizontes saprolíticos e o equilíbrio das encostas.

Un enfoque de estadística espacial para explorar la geodemografía de los ninis en la Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México

Utilizamos estadística espacial para examinar la geodemografía de los ninis en la Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México. Hasta donde sabemos, la literatura especializada en ninis no reporta estudios con nuestra aproximación estadística. Exploramos cuatro preguntas clave: ¿Cuántos son? ¿Dónde están? ¿Cómo se explica estadísticamente su distribución espacial? ¿Les afecta la accesibilidad a las oportunidades de empleo y educación? Dado el carácter seminal de nuestro enfoque, abordamos las preguntas con visión socioespacial, pero sin hacer, por ahora, cortes profundos de variables como sexo, nivel escolar y características de su hogar de origen. Los resultados abren nuevos caminos de investigación.

A deep recession came with deep wage cuts

While economists historically have considered wages rigid downwards, recent studies have shown that cuts in nominal wages are more common than previously thought. The deep recession experienced in Iceland in 2008, coupled with Iceland’s flexible labor market provided an extreme example of a labor market that experienced widespread and deep cuts in nominal wages. Data covering two-fifths of the labor market showed that 80% of employees experienced a nominal cut in regular hourly wages between 2008 and 2010. The data was collected directly from organizations, and excluded the effects of a change in hours worked. Nominal hourly wages for full time work were cut by 9.3% on average, at the same time inflation measured 18%.

YOUTH WORK

A decade of deep funding cuts has seen a huge reduction in provision for young people. But increasing recognition of the valuable role played by youth workers could signal a change in fortunes for the sector

Mitigation of ozone damage to the world’s land ecosystems by source sector

Surface ozone damages photosynthesis and reduces the ability of land ecosystems to assimilate carbon from the atmosphere thereby further increasing global warming1,2. Ozone is not emitted directly but formed in the atmosphere during complex chemical reactions of precursors, carbon monoxide, methane, non-methane volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, in sunlight. These ozone precursors are emitted from a wide range of anthropogenic activities. Reductions in ozone precursor emissions are needed to mitigate ozone vegetation damage but it is unclear which are the most effective source sectors to target. Here, we apply a global Earth system model to compare the benefits to gross primary productivity of stringent 50% emission reductions in the seven largest anthropogenic ozone source sectors. Deep cuts in air pollutant emissions from road transportation and the energy sector are the most effective mitigation measures for ozone-induced gross primary productivity losses in Eastern China, Eastern United States, Europe and globally. Our results suggest that mitigation of ozone vegetation damage is a unique opportunity to contribute to negative carbon emissions, offering a natural climate solution that links fossil fuel emission abatement, air quality and climate. However, achieving these benefits requires ambitious mitigation pathways that tackle multiple source sectors. Ozone forms in the atmosphere when other anthropogenically emitted gases react with sunlight and negatively impacts terrestrial gross primary productivity (GPP). Reducing emissions of ozone precursors by 50%, particularly in the road transportation and energy sectors, could increase GPP by 750 TgC yr–1.

Technology road map for the low-carbon production of hydrocarbons

The Paris Agreement, signed in 2016, has the objective of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C to substantially reduce the effects of climate change. To achieve this objective, significant and unprecedented deep cuts in carbon emissions are required, as set out in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on Global Warming of 1.5°C released in October 2018. To enable this ambitious target, global reductions in carbon emissions will need to be markedly reduced to an average of net zero by 2050 and, as such, will have profound effects on hydrocarbon (oil and gas) production in the coming decades. This paper presents a road map of opportunities for the reduction of carbon emissions from hydrocarbon production, specifically natural gas. It includes technologies for reducing carbon emissions from process streams and utility streams. A case study is used to illustrate the opportunities, along with a discussion on technology readiness for several options.

Diverse energy transition patterns in Central and Southern Europe: a comparative study of institutional landscapes in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, and Spain

Growing awareness of anthropogenic climate change, deep cuts in CO2 emissions, and the exhaustion of easy-to-extract fossil fuels have led to a growing interest in developing renewable energy sources as a part of the (desired) transition to a low-carbon society. The target of the European Union for 2020 is to cover 20% of final energy consumption by renewable energy sources, and for 2030 it should reach at least 32%. While there are ambitious goals to boost the energy transition, it is becoming increasingly evident that the processes run differently in different countries, some of which still prefer path-dependent options and resist major changes. This comparative study applies a historical institutionalist approach to examine the institutional factors influencing the development of renewable energies in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and Spain, countries with different geographies, political and socio-cultural traditions, belonging respectively to Central and Southern Europe, whose comparison has so far been largely neglected in the literature. The general objective of this paper is to investigate and exemplify how diverse energy traditions, institutional frameworks, policies, and practices shape the processes and outcomes of the renewable energy transition.

FEMTOSECOND LASER SCRIBING OF SAPPHIRE AT WAVELENGTH 1040 AND 520 NM

Sapphire cutting is one of the largest markets in laser materials processing. Since sapphire is one of the hardest transparent materials its mechanical and optical properties made it the ideal choice for use in the production of various devices, such as LEDs and transistors, cover glasses of watches and mobile devices. Among existing laser- or diamond-based tools solutions, femtosecond laser scribing appear as a promising technology since this technology has the unique capacity to produce highly localized bulk modification owing to non-linear absorption. Sapphire cutting with solid-state lasers is well known for many years and has become a modern industrial process. However, achievable process speed and cut quality are still limited. The femtosecond laser scribing of sapphire was studied at wavelengths of 1040 and 520 nm, followed by wet etching in HNO3/HF solution to identify emerging defects. The morphology of the laser ablated sapphire surface was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. It was shown that at the wavelength of 1040nm, the material was effectively removed from the surface; however, cracks on the surface were formed. The use of the second harmonic gave more accurate and deep cuts compared with the main frequency at the same conditions. At the wavelength of 520 nm, the cracks were formed anisotropically inside the volume of the material. Therefore, there is a potential application of the femtosecond laser scribing for the fabrication of sapphire-based devices.

Water-saving agriculture can deliver deep water cuts for China

China is working hard to reconcile growing demands for freshwater with already oversubscribed renewable water resources. However, the knowledge essential for setting and achieving the intended water consumption cuts remains limited. Here we show that on-farm water management interventions such as improved irrigation and soil management practices for maize cultivation can lead to substantial water consumption reductions, by a simulated total of 28–46 % (7–14 billion m3/year) nationally, with or without the impacts of climate change. The water consumption cut is equivalent to 16–31 % of the ultimate capacity of the South-North Water Transfer Project. Much of the reduction is achievable at the populous and water-stressed North China Plain and Northeast China. Meanwhile, the interventions can increase maize production by an estimated 7–15 %, meeting 22–28 % of demand increase projected for 2050. The water management and food production improvements obtained are crucial for achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to water, land, and food in China and far beyond.

OPEC looks for deeper cuts

OPEC looks for deeper cuts

Mitigating climate change: using the physician's tool of the trade.

Climate change is happening now and is an omnipresent topic in the media. The debate is dominated by discussion about climate objectives and deep emission cuts on an international level. But what about individual steps and personal actions to mitigate climate change? What tools of the trade do physicians possess? Wynes and Nicholas identified four key actions that most substantially decrease an individual’s carbon footprint1 including eating a plant-based diet, avoiding air travel, living car-free, and having one fewer child. How expedient are these actions in daily care and what potential barriers exist? A physician without a car is hard to imagine when it comes to home visits in remote and rural areas. Older people are often immobile and dependent upon the doctor visiting them at home. In many countries home visits are an integral aspect of primary care.2 Imagine the 84-year-old woman living several miles down the road and phoning …

Structure, Culture, and Agency: Examining Succession Planning in California State University (CSU) Libraries

The Library and Information Science (LIS) literature in the last few decades has made clear that academic libraries have experienced deep budget cuts, hiring freezes, and an aging workforce. In response to this situation, many libraries have reorganized and flattened the hierarchy in their organizational structures, leaving far fewer middle management positions. An unfortunate consequence of this situation is that, as Baby Boomer library administrators/deans retire, there are few qualified applicants to succeed them. Thus, many in the LIS field have called for better succession planning by current library deans, while others have pointed out the difficulty of succession planning in libraries with flat organizational structures. Few studies, however, have directly addressed this issue by examining deans’ perceptions or behavior in regard to succession planning. This study attempts to begin filling this gap in the literature by conducting a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with library deans in academic libraries with flat organizational structures. Findings include an examination of the structure, culture, and agency of the individuals involved, which impact how and why the participant-deans engage or do not engage in succession planning.

A Regional Economy-Energy-Transport Model of the EU for Assessing Decarbonization in Transport

The EU decarbonization strategy foresees deep cuts in CO2 in the transport sector. Investment in infrastructure, manufacturing of new technology vehicles and production of alternative fuels induce macroeconomic changes in activity and employment for both national and regional economies. The objective of the paper is to present a newly built macroeconomic-regional model (GEM-E3-R general equilibrium model for economy, energy and environment for regions) for assessing impacts of transport sector restructuring on regional economies of the entire EU, segmented following NUTS-3 (nomenclature of territorial units of statistics). The model combines general economic equilibrium theory with location choice and New Economic Geography and implements a dynamic, fully endogenous agglomeration-dispersion mechanism for people and industries coupled with a gravity model for bilateral interregional flows. A novelty of the model is a two-layers structure: (i) the country-wide layer formulated as a global multi-sector, multi-country and multi-period computable general equilibrium (CGE) model; and (ii) the regional economy layer, which simulates impacts on regional economies, while considering country-wide economic trends as boundary conditions. The paper presents a use of the model in the assessment of regional economic effects of electrification of car mobility in Europe and wide use of domestically produced advanced biofuels.

Morphological features of livers of sexual mature dogs

The article describes the features of the macroscopic and microscopic structure of the liver of mature clinically healthy dogs for the use of anatomical, histological and morphometric methods of research. According to the results of organometallic and cytometric studies, the absolute and relative body mass, the volume of hepatocytes, their nuclei and the nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio were determined. Thus, the absolute weight of the liver in the mature dogs is variable and to a certain extent depends on the blood flow to the organ and is 427.4 ± 21.92 g, the relative weight – 2.69 ± 0.1%. Liver of mature dogs is a compact body of flattened form with sharp lower and lateral edges, with deep cuts, dark red color. The histoarhitectonics of the liver of dogs are constructed with connective tissue and parenchyma. The stroma of the organ is formed by a capsule, on top of which is serous membrane. In the area of the gates of the liver, the connective tissue of the capsule penetrates into the middle of the organ, branching and dividing it into lobules. Then it is formed by the hepatic plates by the intraosseous sinusoid capillaries. Liver plates are specific endpoint of the secretory unit of the liver. It has been found that in the microscopic structure of the liver of the dogs, the interstitial connective tissue is poorly developed, therefore the boundaries between the liver lobules are not sufficient. The liver plates behind the microscopic structure have a radial direction from the center to the periphery. The direction closer to the periphery of the particles is less noticeable, since hepatocytes are located in two rows, between which the sinusoidal space clearly appears. Hepatocytes had an irregular, multifaceted form. Their nuclei, which were mainly in the center of the cell, had little clarity of contours of carriel and well perceived color. During microscopic examination of the liver, it is swollen that hepatocytes of the central and intermediate zones are better perceived by color than the cytoplasm of the cells of the peripheral zone of the liver. According to the analysis of our cytomorphometric studies, hepatocytes of dogs have different sizes, which vary in wide range: from small to large. Whereas the average volume of hepatocytes in mature dogs is 964.72 ± 56.003 μm³; the average volume of their nuclei is 105.13 ± 2.02 microns. The nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio of hepatocytes in dogs of this group is 0.128 ± 0.122.

Merits of Labour youth plans

Youth work academic assesses if Labour's Youth Strategy could regenerate the sector following deep cuts