Natural Gas Pricing Mechanism Reform and its Impacts on Future Energy Options in China
Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel. In recent years, its demand in China has been increasing at a rapid pace, but its pricing mechanism is still based on the planned economy system and is not keeping up pace with that of its consumption. Therefore, reforming the existing pricing system is of great significance. This paper first reviews the evolution of the pricing mechanism of natural gas in China, and then examines with model predictions the feasibility of a nationwide implementation of the reform programs currently carried out in Guangdong and Guangxi and its possible impacts. The results show that the reform can: (a) benefit Chinese natural gas producers and importers by increasing their profits, (b) increase the production of natural gas and accelerate the development of the industry, (c) reduce the use of natural gas in the chemical industry and optimize the energy consumption structure in China, (d) change the current energy portfolio in China and achieve the goal of sustainable development, and (e) help Chinese companies enhance their ability of adapting to high prices and promote their international competitiveness.
How Might North American Oil and Gas Markets Have Performed with a Free Trade Agreement in 1970
Deregulation on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border has made certain aspects of trade agreements largely superfluous in the near term. It is over the longer term that the impact of the NAFTA will become apparent. To grapple with this issue, simulations are attempted of oil and gas trade between the United States and Canada as if the NAFTA had been in place before the first oil price shock of 1973. The simulations suggest substantial additional exports of Canadian oil and gas would have enabled the United States to back out volumes of OPEC oil during the critical years of the late 1970s and early 1980s. This would have served to dampen world oil markets during the years of OPEC ascendency--not dramatically, but not negligibly either. By promoting closer integration of energy markets, the NAFTA should lead to more cohesive North American responses to any future world oil shocks.
Centrifuge modelling of effects of shield tunnels on existing tunnels in soft clay
With the rapid development of the subway network,the phenomena of shield tunnels going across the adjacent tunnels are becoming more and more common.The interaction between shield tunneling and nearby tunnels is more complicated than the ordinary shield tunneling in intact soil strata.Based on the project of Shanghai Bund Passage crossing Metro Line 2,the method of centrifuge modeling together with the field measurement is employed to study the effects shield tunneling on nearby strata and existing tunnels.In centrifugal model tests,the effects simulation techniques considering the unloading of excavation,ground loss and grouting are developed to analyze the longitudinal settlement of the shield tunnel and the existing tunnel induced by the shield tunneling.Besides,the deformation distribution and settlement curves of the existing tunnels during shield construction are studied by using the monitoring data.