IEA Bioenergy Task 40 “Sustainable International Bioenergy Trade: Securing supply and demand” Country report of Finland 2008

This study considered the current situation of biofuels markets in Finland. The fact that industry consumes more than half of the total primary energy, widely applied combined heat and power production and a high share of solid biomass fuels in the total energy consumption are specific to the Finnish energy system. Wood is the most important source of bioenergy in Finland, representing 21% of the total energy consumption in 2006. Almost 80% of the wood-based energy is recovered from industrial by-products and residues. Finland has commitment itself to maintaining its greenhouse gas emissions at the 1990 level, at the highest, during the period 2008–2012. The energy and climate policy carried out in recent years has been based on the National Energy and Climate introduced in 2005. The Finnish energy policy aims to achieve the target, and a variety of measures are taken to promote the use of renewable energy sources and especially wood fuels. In 2007, the government started to prepare a new long-term (up to the year 2050) climate and energy strategy that will meet EU’s new targets for the reduction of green house gas emissions and the promotion of renewable energy sources. The new strategy will be introduced during 2008. The international biofuels trade has a substantial importance for the utilisation of bioenergy in Finland. In 2006, the total international trading of solid and liquid biofuels was approximately 64 PJ of which import was 61 PJ. Most of the import is indirect and takes place within the forest industry’s raw wood imports. In 2006, as much as 24% of wood energy was based on foreignorigin wood. Wood pellets and tall oil form the majority of export streams of biofuels. The indirect import of wood fuels increased almost 10% in 2004–2006, while the direct trade of solid and liquid biofuels has been almost constant.

Intraregional trade in South America, 1913-50. Economic linkages before institutional agreements

Dejando de lado NAFTA, la integración comercial en América Latina sigue siendo muy moderada hoy en día, representando alrededor del 20% del comercio total. Lo sorprendente es que estos valores eran más altos en 1945. Esto constituye un hecho paradoxal: la integración comercial alcanzó su récord antes de la firma de acuerdos de integración comercial. En el presente trabajo se estudia el comercio intrarregional a lo largo del período de entreguerras (1913-1950) a través del análisis de cinco casos: Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile y Peru. El análisis de la integración comercial en este período representa una novedad en la literatura, ya que los trabajos sobre América Latina, específicos de comercio intraregional, se centran en el período a partir de la década de 1960. El documento destaca dos conclusiones principales: a) con la excepción de los períodos de las guerras mundiales, el comercio intraregional ha sido muy modesto desde 1913 hasta la actualidad, b) en general, el comercio intrarregional repitió la especialización del comercio mundial: una alta concentración en productos de bajo valor añadido.

Intraregional trade in South America, 1913-50. Economic linkages before institutional agreements

Dejando de lado NAFTA, la integración comercial en América Latina sigue siendo muy moderada hoy en día, representando alrededor del 20% del comercio total. Lo sorprendente es que estos valores eran más altos en 1945. Esto constituye un hecho paradoxal: la integración comercial alcanzó su récord antes de la firma de acuerdos de integración comercial. En el presente trabajo se estudia el comercio intrarregional a lo largo del período de entreguerras (1913-1950) a través del análisis de cinco casos: Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile y Peru. El análisis de la integración comercial en este período representa una novedad en la literatura, ya que los trabajos sobre América Latina, específicos de comercio intraregional, se centran en el período a partir de la década de 1960. El documento destaca dos conclusiones principales: a) con la excepción de los períodos de las guerras mundiales, el comercio intraregional ha sido muy modesto desde 1913 hasta la actualidad, b) en general, el comercio intrarregional repitió la especialización del comercio mundial: una alta concentración en productos de bajo valor añadido.

Chemical characterization of tin-lead glazed pottery from the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands: initial steps toward a better understanding of Spanish Colonial pottery in Americas

Majolica pottery was the most characteristic tableware produced in Europe during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Because of the prestige and importance attributed to this ware, Spanish majolica was imported in vast quantities into the Americas during the Spanish Colonial period. A study of Spanish majolica was conducted on a set of 186 samples from the 10 primary majolica production centres on the Iberian Peninsula and 22 sherds from two early colonial archaeological sites on the Canary Islands. The samples were analysed by neutron activation analysis (NAA), and the resulting data were interpreted using an array of multivariate statistical approaches. Our results show a clear discrimination between different production centres, allowing a reliable provenance attribution of the sherds from the Canary Islands.

A produção do salitre no Brasil colonial

This article discusses the processes inherent in the production of salpeter in Colonial Brazil. In the main, the texts seen here present recipes accompanied by chemical explanations of the processes which denote a knowledge of science at the time. Various difficulties confronting the authors, however, prevented an effective contribution to the development of techniques for the production of salpeter. Consequenttly, at the end of the Nineteenth Century, Brazilian rulers are still facing many problems to obtain this precious material.

Risk-Return Trade-Off for European Stock Markets

This paper adopts dynamic factor models with macro-finance predictors to test the intertemporal risk-return relation for 13 European stock markets. We identify country specific, euro area, and global macro-finance factors to determine the conditional risk and return. Empirically, the risk- return trade-off is generally negative. However, a Markov switching model documents that there is time-variation in this trade-off that is linked to the state of the economy. Keywords: Risk-return trade-off; Dynamic factor model; Macro-finance predictors; European stock markets; Markov switching model JEL Classifications: C22; G11; G12; G17

Analyzing Carbon Trade Permits in Optimization Framework

The threats caused by global warming motivate different stake holders to deal with and control them. This Master's thesis focuses on analyzing carbon trade permits in optimization framework. The studied model determines optimal emission and uncertainty levels which minimize the total cost. Research questions are formulated and answered by using different optimization tools. The model is developed and calibrated by using available consistent data in the area of carbon emission technology and control. Data and some basic modeling assumptions were extracted from reports and existing literatures. The data collected from the countries in the Kyoto treaty are used to estimate the cost functions. Theory and methods of constrained optimization are briefly presented. A two-level optimization problem (individual and between the parties) is analyzed by using several optimization methods. The combined cost optimization between the parties leads into multivariate model and calls for advanced techniques. Lagrangian, Sequential Quadratic Programming and Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm are referred to. The role of inherent measurement uncertainty in the monitoring of emissions is discussed. We briefly investigate an approach where emission uncertainty would be described in stochastic framework. MATLAB software has been used to provide visualizations including the relationship between decision variables and objective function values. Interpretations in the context of carbon trading were briefly presented. Suggestions for future work are given in stochastic modeling, emission trading and coupled analysis of energy prices and carbon permits.

Arqueologia biomolecular: passos preliminares para interpretações sobre a origem dos resíduos orgânicos preservados em fragmentos de cerâmica pré-colonial no Brasil

Organic residue analysis of archaeological potsherds is a well-established method for determining the uses of European and North American pottery vessels. In the present work we assess if the organic residues identified in Brazilian potsherd extracts are related to commodity processes (e.g. cooking or surface treatment) or to other non-archaeological sources, using as a model potsherds recovered from the Rio do Meio site (Santa Catarina Island). The potsherd extracts are dominated by saturated fatty acids (Ac16:0, with lower abundances of Ac14:0 and Ac18:0). Our studies provide evidence that the organic residues preserved in the Brazilian archeological potsherds are related to foodstuffs and surface treatment processes of the pottery vessels.

The impact of FTAs on MENA trade in agricultural and industrial products

This paper analyses the impact of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) on Middle East and North African Countries (MENA) trade for the period 1994-2010. The analysis distinguishes between industrial and agricultural trade to take into account the different liberalisation schedules. An augmented gravity model is estimated using up-to-date panel data techniques to control for all time-invariant bilateral factors that influence bilateral trade as well as for the so-called multilateral resistance factors. We also control for the endogeneity of the agreements and test for self-selection bias due to the presence of zero trade in our sample. The main findings indicate that North-South-FTAs and South-South- FTAs have a differential impact in terms of increasing trade in MENA countries, with the former being more beneficial in terms of exports for MENA countries, but both showing greater global market integration. We also find that FTAs that include agricultural products, in which MENA countries have a clear comparative advantage, have more favourable effects for these countries than those only including industrial products. JEL code: F10, F15

Descrições de técnicas da química na produção de bens de acordo com os relatos dos naturalistas viajantes no Brasil colonial e imperial

European naturalists explored Brazil in long scientific expeditions and published accounts that make up a rich and still largely untapped historiographic source for the understanding of the history of chemistry. The production of indigo dye, the manufacture of limestone, extraction and purification of saltpeter and the production of salt are discussed. Lime was used to whitewash walls and, mixed with whale oil, as cement to glue stones in buildings of the colonial period. It was prepared by burning seashells in specifically designed ovens. Saltpeter was produced by reacting naturally occurring calcium and magnesium nitrate with potassium-rich wood ashes to yield KNO3. NaCl was obtained by evaporating seawater under the sun. Indigo, a native plant, was cultivated and processed to produce the renowned dye, which was exported to Europe.

O fabrico e uso da pólvora no Brasil colonial: o papel de alpoim na primeira metade do século XVIII

Gunpowder played a significant role in colonial Brazil. This reached a climax in the eighteenth century, when the country's large gold output enticed the greed of many. The French invasion of Rio de Janeiro in 1711 made the city's defense even more pressing to the metropolis. Brigadier Alpoim symbolized this reaction. He was a leading Luso-Brazilian engineer of that century, whose multiple activities set him apart in colonial life. These activities included a pioneer role in teaching the manufacture and use of gunpowder, about which he wrote extensively during the first half of the eighteenth century. His work is thus among the first to treat chemical technology in the colony at such an early age.

Alographia dos álkalis... de Frei Conceição Veloso: um manual de química industrial para produção da potassa no Brasil colonial

Potassium carbonate, or potash, was the most important industrial chemical of the 18th century. It was essential for producing glass, soap, saltpeter, dyes, several drugs, and also used for bleaching linens, paper, and sugar. We examine here a book in which Brazilian author José Mariano da Conceição Veloso gathered his translations into Portuguese of English and French articles, letters, patents, and pamphlets with instructions on how to prepare potash. We discuss especially his version of Richard Watson's essay entitled 'Of saline substances', and Veloso's own 'Flora Alographica', a description of the Brazilian plants that could be used to prepare potash.

Poluição por mercúrio em aterros urbanos do período colonial no extremo sul do Brasil

Land reclamation fills in the city of Rio Grande (RS) are polluted by mercury with concentrations ranging from 0.3 to 18.7 mg kg-1. The level of Hg pollution decreases from the oldest landfills of 18th century to recent ones. Mercury distribution along vertical profiles resembles the same for copper, lead, and zinc, what allow supposing that mercury distribution has an autochthonous character. It is suggested that the principal source of mercury pollution was the activities related to animal skin and fair hair treatment, using ancient technology known as "carroting". Similar scenario of environmental risk could be met in other Brazilian cities with similar colonization history.

Tríade de Carney

The authors present a case of an incomplete form of Carney's Triad .They emphasize the use of immunohistochemistry to classify gastrointestinal stromal tumors and policy of long term follow-up .