Expansion Of Infrastructure Research Articles

Planned expansion of transportation infrastructure in Brazil has implications for the pattern of agricultural production and carbon emissions

High transportation costs have been a barrier to the expansion of agriculture in the interior of Brazil. To reduce transportation costs, Brazil launched the National Logistics Plan, aiming to expand its railway network by up to 91 % by 2035. Such a large-scale infrastructure investment raises concerns about its economic and environmental consequences. By combining geospatial estimation of transportation cost with a grid-resolving, multi-scale economic model that bridges fine-scale crop production with its trade and demand from national and global perspectives, we explore impacts of transportation infrastructure expansion on agricultural production, land use changes, and carbon emissions both locally and nationally in Brazil. We find that globally, the impacts on output and land use changes are small. However, within Brazil, the plan's primary impacts are impressive. PNL2035 results in the reduction of transportation costs by 8–23 % across states (depending on expansion's extent) in the interior Cerrado biome. This results in cropland expansion and increases in terrestrial carbon emissions in the Cerrado region. However, the increase in terrestrial carbon emissions in the Cerrado is offset by spillover effects elsewhere in Brazil, as crop production shifts away from the Southeast-South regions and accompanying change in the mix of transportation mode for farm products from roadway to more emission-efficient railway. Furthermore, we argue that the transportation infrastructure's impact on the enhanced mobility of labor and other agricultural inputs would further accentuate the regional shift in agricultural production and contribute to carbon emission mitigation. Upon its completion, PNL2035 is expected to result in the reduction of net national emissions by 1.8–30.7 million metric ton of CO2-equivalent, depending on the impacts on labor and purchased input mobility. We conclude that the omission of spillover effects due to infrastructure expansion can lead to misleading assessments of transport policies.

Improvement of Smart Grid Stability Based on Artificial Intelligence with Fusion Methods

It is crucial to evaluate and anticipate stability under various conditions, as the ability to stabilize a smart grid (SG) is one of its key features for assessing the effectiveness of its design. Intelligent approaches to stability forecasting are necessary to mitigate inadvertent instability in SG design. This is particularly crucial with the expansion of residential and commercial infrastructures, along with the growing integration of renewable energies into these grids. Predicting the stability of SGs is currently a major challenge. The concept of an SG encompasses a broad range of emerging technologies in which artificial intelligence (AI) plays a crucial role and is increasingly being utilized in light of the limitations of conventional methods. It empowers informed decision-making and adaptable responses to fluctuations in customer energy needs, unexpected power outages, rapid changes in renewable energy generation, or any unforeseen crises within an SG system. In this paper, we propose a symmetric approach to enhance SG stability by integrating various machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) algorithms, where symmetry is observed in the balanced application of these diverse computational techniques to predict and ensure the grid’s stability. These algorithms utilized a dataset containing the simulation results of the SG stability. The learning phase of these algorithms is based on imprecise and unreliable data. To overcome this limitation, the fusion of classifiers can be a powerful approach to modeling inaccurate and uncertain data, providing more robust and reliable predictions than individual classifiers. Voting and Dempster–Shafer (DS) methods, two commonly used techniques in ensemble learning, were employed and compared. The results show that the use of the fusion of distinct classifiers with voting theory achieves an accuracy of 99.8% and outperforms several other methods including the DS method.

Spatial effects of green innovation and carbon emission reduction in China: Mediating role of infrastructure and informatization

Green innovation (GI) plays a vital role in mitigating urban carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fostering sustainable development in China. This study examines the impact of GI on CO2 emissions, underscoring its significance for environmental sustainability. The analysis of data from 253 Chinese cities from 2010 to 2020 shows a transition in GI from a “multipoint” sporadic pattern to a “clustered” aggregation, indicative of significant polarization. Concurrently, a converging trend in the CO2 emissions kernel density curve reflects the initial success of carbon reduction initiatives, demonstrating a notable “high in the north and low in the south” spatial disparity. Critically, the findings reveal that GI induces significant spatial spillover effects, reducing CO2 emissions not only locally but also in adjacent areas. The mediation analysis reveals that the level of infrastructure development acts as a masking factor, suggesting that despite infrastructure expansion potentially escalating CO2 emissions, alignment with GI principles steers its environmental impact towards a positive direction. Additionally, informatization's modest mediating role suggests that its enhancement, driven by GI, further mitigates CO2 emissions through improved resource efficiency. These insights highlight the importance of integrating GI into urban policy frameworks, emphasizing its role in environmental management and CO2 emission reduction.

Analyzing the Evolution of Nepal's Tourism in 2022: Insights and Future Perspectives

This paper focuses into Nepal's internal aviation and tourism industries, underlining the essentiality of strategic planning. It investigates how Nepal's tourism sector has adapted to the global repercussions of COVID-19 and identifies successful strategies to increase tourism revenue following the pandemic. Through the application of both descriptive and inferential statistics, this research analyses data and visually conveys its conclusions. It emphasizes the importance of tailor-made marketing and promotional approaches designed for particular market segments and to exploit local strengths. The document evaluates recovery tactics post-COVID-19, the role of domestic tourism, and the need for upgrades in infrastructure and policies to foster the sustainable development of tourism in Nepal. The necessity for a cohesive approach among federal, provincial, and local governments to facilitate the proper allocation of resources and the execution of tourism initiatives is strongly advocated. The expansion of tourism-related infrastructure, including hotels with high star ratings and improved transport systems, is highlighted as a fundamental factor in supporting the surge of tourists to Nepal. The paper postulates that reinforcing economic development through policies favorable to the tourism industry will have a beneficial impact on international tourism. It urges a policy shift towards the improvement of tourism infrastructure and the adoption of technological innovations in its management.

Robust expansion of networks against cascading failures with reinforcement learning

The network infrastructures, such as the power grids and Internet, are expanding in size due to the increasing needs of our society. This brings about the problem of expanding networks with a guarantee of robustness against network disturbances that may cause catastrophic consequences. In this paper, we study the optimal network expansion in terms of network robustness against cascading failures. Specifically, we consider the network expansion as a Markovian decision process and further propose a reinforcement learning based network expansion method. Simulation results in model networks and real-world networks demonstrate that our expansion method can greatly improve network robustness. Our work provides some insights for the optimal expansion of network infrastructures.

Struggles over solar in the United States: Oppositional coalitions and the limits of territorial resentment

With the expansion of renewable infrastructure, struggles over land use have raised concerns about the uneven impacts of utility solar on rural, energy producing communities. Engaging the framework of colonial racial capitalism, we contribute to energy scholarship focused on the social and cultural impacts of decarbonization through an ethnographic and archival study of organized opposition emerging in Central Washington. In 2020, residents of Goldendale, WA mobilized to create CEASE–Citizens Educated Against Solar Energy–working strategically with members of the Yakama Nation, to challenge the siting process. We ask the following questions: What motivates organized opposition to the solar siting process? What are the opportunities and constraints to building coalitions across settler and Indigenous rural geographies? What can these coalitions tell us about the future of energy justice? In our case study, we found CEASE, a rural populist leaning grassroots organization, to briefly join efforts with the Yakama Nation, viewing the state in misalignment with rural identities and livelihoods. Yet, opposition forming through a focus on historically and geographically specific understandings of private property and the wage relation complicate shared visions for energy justice. Here, ideas and feelings around property, work, and futures remain contradictory, incomplete, and dynamic, meaning a singular settler vision does not need to be the only one charting energy futures.

УСАДЕБНЫЙ ТУРИЗМ КАК ИНДИКАТОР ПРОДВИЖЕНИЯ КУЛЬТУРНОГО-ИСТОРИЧЕСКОГО НАСЛЕДИЯ МАЛЫХ ГОРОДОВ И СЕЛЬСКИХ ПОСЕЛЕНИЙ

The scientific article is devoted to the analysis of the role of manor tourism in the preservation and promotion of noble culture in the regions. In the context of modern tourism development, the article explores the importance of estates as objects of cultural heritage, their tourist potential and influence on the formation of the appearance of regions. The authors highlight the historical aspects of noble culture and consider estates as a key component of this cultural tradition. They reveal the features of estate tourism, such as the possibility of recreating the atmosphere of past eras, enriching the cultural experience of tourists and drawing attention to unique architectural and historical attractions. The scientific article is devoted to the analysis of the role of manor tourism in the preservation and promotion of noble culture in the regions. In the context of modern tourism development, the article explores the importance of estates as objects of cultural heritage, their tourist potential and influence on the formation of the appearance of regions. The authors highlight the historical aspects of noble culture and consider estates as a key component of this cultural tradition. They reveal the features of estate tourism, such as the possibility of recreating the atmosphere of past eras, enriching the cultural experience of tourists and drawing attention to unique architectural and historical attractions. The article analyzes the current state of estate tourism in the regions, identifies problems and prospects for the development of this industry. Special attention is paid to the organization of tourist routes, events and programs that promote noble culture as an integral part of cultural heritage. The results of the study make it possible to identify strategic directions for the development of manor tourism, justify the need for investments in the restoration and preservation of manor complexes, as well as to form sustainable models of partnership between tourist structures, authorities and public organizations. The article is an important contribution to the study of the potential of manor tourism as an indicator of the promotion and preservation of noble culture in the regions, contributes to the formation of a sustainable tourism cluster and the development of a territorial brand. The study of the prospects for the development of estate tourism in the regions is of great importance for the preservation and promotion of the cultural heritage of the nobility. The unique estates, surrounded by picturesque parks and manor ensembles, are historical monuments that contribute to the preservation and transmission of the traditions of the last generation. It is especially important to pay attention to the development of competent strategies for the development of estate tourism, which, taking into account the specifics of each region, will make it possible to effectively use the potential of estate complexes. It is also important to promote the expansion of infrastructure and services related to estate tourism in order to attract more visitors and contribute to the economic development of regional communities. In addition, it is important not to forget about the importance of educational programs and cultural events aimed at raising awareness of noble culture and the history of estates. This will help not only to draw attention to this topic, but also to form a deep respect for the cultural heritage of the region among visitors. Thus, the article on the prospects of estate tourism in the regions is an important scientific study that contributes to the integration of cultural heritage into the modern tourism industry, as well as the maintenance and promotion of noble culture as an important part of the history and culture of the regions.

Social Reproduction Under Lockdown: Capital, Labor, and Gender

This article argues that the pandemic-related growth of the gendered burden of care work in the Global North ought to be understood as symptomatic of the entangled contradictions between capitalist accumulation and social reproduction, on the one hand, and between value-production and wealth-creation, on the other. The article addresses whether social reproductive labor produces value. The article, moreover, shows that pandemic-induced lockdowns have extended crises of social reproduction to relatively privileged middle-class households in OECD countries and particularly the US. The article argues that efforts to improve the conditions of reproductive work must move beyond proposals for a more equitable distribution of care work and the expansion of care infrastructure. HIGHLIGHTS Social reproduction is integral to capitalism but also points beyond capitalism. Marxian value-critique helps us better understand social reproduction. The COVID-19 pandemic extended crises of social reproduction to more households. The pandemic showed the need for radical solutions to crises of social reproduction. Redistributing reproductive labor and/or expanding public services is not enough. Wealth-production must be liberated from the capitalist value-form.

Integrating Model Predictive Control With Stormwater System Design: A Cost‐Effective Method of Urban Flood Risk Mitigation During Heavy Rainfall

AbstractThe integration of green‐gray infrastructures with advanced control approaches is revolutionizing the stormwater system retrofitting, emerging as an innovative strategy to mitigate urban flood risks. However, a major challenge lies in balancing the substantial investments of these infrastructure projects with their environmental benefits, such as reduced flooding volume and lower peak flow. Model predictive control (MPC), a dynamic and intelligent control approach, optimizes these environmental benefits but is underutilized in the system design phase for cost‐effectiveness analysis. This study introduces a multi‐scenario model framework that incorporates MPC and other control approaches into stormwater system designs, including the implementation of controlled storage tanks and green infrastructures. This framework provides comprehensive modeling tools for practitioners to evaluate the flood control benefits and costs across various infrastructure designs and control scenarios, ultimately identifying solutions that are both environmentally and economically viable. A case study conducted in a small urban catchment area in Shenzhen City, China, demonstrates the effectiveness of this framework. The results indicate that MPC outperforms other control scenarios, particularly under heavy or extreme rainfall conditions. Notably, MPC not only provides superior environmental benefits but also yields considerable cost savings, ranging from 1,787 to 9,371 USD per hectare compared to static control, equating to a 5% reduction in cost relative to rule‐based control. Such findings suggest that integrating MPC is a cost‐effective alternative to extensive infrastructure expansion for flood management, which significantly enhances the benefit contribution of controlled infrastructures without substantial additional expenses.

Reforming the common security and defense policy in the long term, considering the threat from Russia

This article analyzes the need to reform the Common Security and Defense Policy of the European Union in the long term, with a particular focus on the threat, posed by the russian federation. The growth of russia's aggressiveness and foreign policy ambitions creates the need to strengthen and adapt the security and defense policy of the European Union. A number of decisions, adopted by the European Union as a countermeasure to russian aggression against Ukraine, are analyzed. The article also examines the reasons that led to the need for institutional reform and key aspects of it, including the strengthening of the Union's military capabilities, the development of the cyber security sector and the expansion of cyber defense infrastructure, ensuring an increase in joint financing of the defense sector and cooperation with strategic partners. The importance and necessity of political unity and joint action among the member states of the European Union, strengthening of defense capabilities, defense cooperation, improvement of crisis management mechanisms and provision of mutual assistance between member states for effective response to threats from russia were emphasized. The article calls for intensive cooperation and coordination between the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as well as for strengthening external partnerships with countries that share common values and have common security interests in the implementation of joint projects and programs in the field of security and defense to ensure stability and security in the region. Reforming the Common Security and Defense Policy is a key factor in ensuring Europe's collective security in the medium and long term, taking into account the needs and challenges of the modern geopolitical environment, and through joint action, the European Union can act as a united front in security solutions and international cooperation

Renewable energy expansion under taxes and subsidies: A transmission operator’s perspective

This paper investigates the role of a transmission system operator within a carbon footprint reduction strategy incorporating carbon taxes and renewable energy generation subsidies in the decentralised energy market. This is achieved via an optimisation bi-level model in which a welfare-maximising transmission system operator makes investments in transmission lines at the upper level while considering power market dynamics at the lower level. To account for the deregulated energy market structure, this paper assumes that the generation companies at the lower level make capacity investments as price-takers in perfect competition. Considering alternative transmission infrastructure expansion budgets, carbon emission taxes and monetary incentives for renewable energy generation capacity expansion, the impact of alternative compositions of these factors is analysed against three output factors: the share of renewable energy in the generation mix, total generation amount, and social welfare. The proposed modelling assessment is applied to an illustrative three-node instance and a case study considering a simplified representation of the energy system of the Nordic and Baltic countries. The results highlight that, under certain circumstances, renewable energy generation subsidies may lead to an increase of renewable energy in the generation mix followed by a simultaneous fall in the total generation amount. Nevertheless, when applied together, these three measures demonstrated a positive impact on all output factors within Nordics’ and Baltics’ energy systems. The experiments additionally suggest that considering the high value of the carbon tax does not have an impact on the output factors while the composition of high values of renewable energy generation subsidies and budget for transmission infrastructure expansion has the strongest effect.

Виктимологическая типологизация пассажиров на общественном транспорте Москвы: социологический подход

Public transport in Moscow is becoming more and more accessible for passengers, and the volume of its us-age is steadily increasing. At the same time, the expansion of urban and transport infrastructure, an increase in traffic flow create conditions for the victimization of passengers on public transport in Moscow, where they be-come victims, among other things, because of their victim properties and concomitant factors of a victim nature. The article examines and analyzes various typologies and classifications of crime victims given by various au-thors. The point of view is expressed that typology and classification are related concepts, and the existing ty-pologies and classifications do not fully reflect the features of victimization on public transport in Moscow. As a solution to this problem, the author's typology of passengers who may be subject to victimization is proposed. As a result of the expert assessment, the types of passengers most susceptible to victimization have been iden-tified. The obtained research results made it possible to attribute representatives of certain social groups to the types indicated by the author.

Robust capital cost optimization of generation and multitimescale storage requirements for a 100% renewable Australian electricity grid.

Transitioning from a fossil-fuel-dependent economy to one based on renewable energy requires significant investment and technological advancement. While wind and solar technologies provide lower cost electricity, enhanced energy storage and transmission infrastructure come at a cost for managing renewable intermittency. Energy storage systems vary in characteristics and costs, and future grids will incorporate multiple technologies, yet the optimal combination of storage technologies and the role of interconnectors in alleviating storage needs are not widely explored. This study focuses on optimal generation-storage capacity requirements to elucidate associated investments. We propose a multitimescale storage solution consisting of three storage categories and an interconnector between Australia's eastern and western grids. Subsequently, through an extensive sensitivity analysis, we investigate the impact of specific storage technologies and cost variations. Our findings demonstrate that the proposed interconnector offers a cost-effective solution, reducing generation and storage power capacity needs by 6 and 14%, respectively, resulting in 4% savings on overall investment costs. Moreover, the study's sensitivity analysis reveals that wind generation provides 50-70% of the energy demand for the least-cost solution. Despite storage inefficiencies, long-duration storage would need to be deployed to support power capacity for 2-4 days, representing 15-40% of peak demand, depending on future technology costs. Subsequently, achieving a fully renewable electricity sector in Australia requires a significant expansion of generation and storage infrastructure, with a 13-fold increase in storage power capacity and a 40-fold increase in storage energy capacity compared to existing levels.

Labour misallocation and digital infrastructure: evidence from a quasi-natural experiment of ‘broadband China strategy’

ABSTRACT We use the expansion of broadband infrastructure in China as a quasi-natural experiment to examine the causal effect of digital infrastructure constructions on the reduction in labour misallocation. Combining the information of ‘Broadband China Strategy’ with Chinese city-level data in 2010–2020, we demonstrate that the expansion of digital infrastructure significantly reduces regional labour misallocation, particularly within non-provincial level cities. The effect is lagged and growing over time. Additionally, it is found that digital infrastructure primarily improves the allocation of labour by facilitating labour mobility. The above findings are robust, providing new insights into the construction of information infrastructure to improve resource allocation and increase productivity.

Decoupling climate change: winter tourism and the maintenance of regional growth

ABSTRACT Climate change poses a severe risk for economic growth. The negative effects of climate change are, however, variegated depending on the region and the type of dominant industries fuelling their economies. Winter tourism in the Alps presents a case of a regionally specific and climate-vulnerable growth driver. Despite increasing climate-related physical risks to winter tourism such as snow scarcity, investments into infrastructure expansion continue. This raises the question of why a potentially unviable growth strategy is actively maintained considering the inevitable climate change scenario. Through semi-structured interviews, field work and archival research, this paper explores how the winter-touristic growth coalition responds to climate change. The findings show that key actors discursively decouple climate change from their growth strategies, which allows them to maintain the winter-touristic growth driver. ‘There is no alternative’ narratives and sustainability frameworks characterise the growth coalition´s response to the challenge of climate change. This paper makes an important contribution by exploring winter tourism as regional growth driver that contributes to a national export-oriented growth model. It thereby provides a unique perspective on regional underpinnings of growth models and the politics perpetuating growth model stasis under vulnerable climate conditions.

Dual-drive coordinated operation strategy for internet data centers by exploiting spatiotemporal flexibility

With the rapid expansion of computational infrastructure, the electricity consumption of geographically dispersed Internet Data Centers (IDCs) has imposed a substantial influence on the power grid. Geographically distributed IDCs, which present a versatile electricity demand with significant operational flexibility, hold potential for mitigating cost issues and balancing regional supply and load demand. To exploit this flexibility, this paper has developed a dual-drive coordinated operational strategy, which integrates locational electricity prices and unit carbon emission costs based on the dynamic carbon emission intensity (DCEI) of various regions as interaction signals to improve coordination effectiveness. The upper-level determines the consumption behaviour of IDCs, the lower-level provides feedback on dual-drive signals factoring in IDCs' involvement in grid operation, whilst an iterative algorithm is suggested to solve the bi-level model. Case studies based on real-world datasets demonstrate that the proposed operation strategy can achieve arbitrage through multi-regional carbon-electricity markets, significantly reduce operating costs, and support the rapid development of IDCs. Additionally, this strategy facilitates optimal matching of power load in IDCs with renewable energy sources, thereby mitigating imbalances in regional renewable energy supply and demand.

Infrastructural lock-ins in the temporal and spatial development of a long-distance water transfer in Germany

Germany plans to expand water transfers over long distances in the light of numerous and pressing challenges for drinking water supply. Research on inter- and intrabasin water transfers warns, however, that major investments in large-scale infrastructure systems accompanied by institutional logics and political interests often lead to a so-called lock-in. As a consequence, long-distance water transfers can limit the potential for adaptive water governance in the involved supply areas over decades with negative impacts for people and the environment. By using a case study in Germany as an example, we researched when, where and how such lock-ins around long-distance water transfers emerge. In the infrastructural development of the Elbaue-Ostharz transfer system we found various lock-ins that overlap in space and time. Some are located at the centre others at the margins of the infrastructure and commercialization of the water sector as well as hydraulic and hygienic concerns interlocked with local protests in a way that the expansion of the long-distance water transfer infrastructure was continuously presented as imperative. Our findings contribute to a relational understanding of lock-ins of long-distance water transfers as contingent and diverse processes. Given the widespread occurrence of lock-ins, we argue for a context-specific assessment of potentials and risks of long-distance water transfers in times of multiple crises.

Identifying the health benefits of city bike infrastructure expansion policy

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to understand how policy actions implemented by city governments to improve infrastructure within the built environment can in turn influence healthy behaviors and population health. The authors investigated the associations between policy actions implemented by city governments to improve biking infrastructure and multiple health outcomes including leisure-time physical inactivity, obesity and coronary heart disease (CHD). In addition, this study tested if bike use for commuting and leisure-time physical activity were mediators between policy actions to improve biking infrastructure and health outcomes, and whether the health effects of bike infrastructure were different in cities of different population density. We merged local sustainability survey data with city-level chronic disease measures for the largest cities in the U.S. (n = 457). Results from regressions using Ordinary Least Squares estimation and mediation tests showed policies implemented to improve biking infrastructure were associated with lower prevalence of leisure-time physical inactivity, obesity and CHD. These relationships were most notable in medium-density cities (1,500–3,000/sq. mi). Moreover, leisure-time physical activity and active commuting mediated the relationship between bike infrastructure improvement policies and health outcomes. This study demonstrated the value of a policy-based intervention in enhancing population health.

Global reduction of snow cover in ski areas under climate change.

Ongoing climate change substantially alters snowfall patterns with severe but diverging consequences for global ski areas. A global assessment as well as the investigation of potential implications for mountain ecosystems is currently lacking. We quantify future trends in natural snow cover days under different climate change scenarios until 2100 in seven major global skiing regions and discuss implications for mountainous biodiversity by analysing how natural snow cover days relate to regional human population density. Within all major skiing regions, snow cover days are projected to decrease substantially under every assessed climate change scenario. Thirteen percent of all current ski areas are projected to completely lose natural annual snow cover and one fifth will experience a reduction of more than 50% by 2071-2100 relative to historic baselines. Future skiable areas will concentrate in less populated areas, towards continental regions and inner parts of the mountain ranges. As skiable areas will be located at greater distances to highly populated areas in the future, we expect an expansion of infrastructure and increasing intervening actions (i.e., artificial snowmaking, slope grooming) to prolong snow duration. Our results are concerning for both the recreational and economic value of skiing as well as for mountain biodiversity since vulnerable high-altitude species might be threatened by space reductions with ski area expansion.

Preserving enough? A randomised controlled trial approach to determine relevant urban planning regulations for small touristic towns – A case of Chiloé, Chile

Rapid tourism growth in small towns of unique cultural heritage often leads to sudden building renovation and infrastructure expansion, which can compromise their attractiveness. The typically under-resourced urban planning departments of the Global South face a complicated task in establishing planning regulations that can preserve a town's identity while accommodating these rapid transformations. This requires a delicate regulatory equilibrium – too restrictive an urban plan could hinder investment and local growth, while a less restricted approach risks destroying a town's heritage, identity, and touristic appeal. This study presents a randomised controlled trial in which residents and tourists rate a town's visual identity using photo simulations of 27 different planning regulation scenarios, drawing from a real-life conservation plan on the island of Chiloé (Chile). We test the effectiveness of this method for identifying which building regulations are relevant for preserving a town's identity. This low-cost and rapidly implemented method may complement the work of urban planners in setting the regulatory framework for conservation.