Antitrust on the ‘G string’: What’s behind the Commission’s investigations of Google and Gazprom? CEPS Commentary, 15 June 2015

The past few weeks have marked a shift of gear in EU antitrust enforcement. First, the new European Commissioner for Competition Margarethe Vestager announced on April 15th that the Commission had sent a Statement of Objections to Google, arguing that the giant IT company abused its dominant position in the “general Internet search” market and also in the market for mobile operating systems, apps and services. Exactly one week later, she also sent a Statement of Objections to Gazprom for having created artificial barriers to trade between certain EU countries, preventing gas flows and competition across national borders and charging unfair prices in five Central and Eastern European countries. It is indeed hard to recall any other time in which two investigations of this size – both potentially leading to billions of euros of fines – have been launched almost simultaneously.

Validation of the Swiss methane emission inventory by atmospheric observations and inverse modelling

Atmospheric inverse modelling has the potential to provide observation-based estimates of greenhouse gas emissions at the country scale, thereby allowing for an independent validation of national emission inventories. Here, we present a regional-scale inverse modelling study to quantify the emissions of methane (CH₄) from Switzerland, making use of the newly established CarboCount-CH measurement network and a high-resolution Lagrangian transport model. In our reference inversion, prior emissions were taken from the "bottom-up" Swiss Greenhouse Gas Inventory (SGHGI) as published by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment in 2014 for the year 2012. Overall we estimate national CH₄ emissions to be 196 ± 18 Gg yr⁻¹ for the year 2013 (1σ uncertainty). This result is in close agreement with the recently revised SGHGI estimate of 206 ± 33 Gg yr⁻¹ as reported in 2015 for the year 2012. Results from sensitivity inversions using alternative prior emissions, uncertainty covariance settings, large-scale background mole fractions, two different inverse algorithms (Bayesian and extended Kalman filter), and two different transport models confirm the robustness and independent character of our estimate. According to the latest SGHGI estimate the main CH₄ source categories in Switzerland are agriculture (78 %), waste handling (15 %) and natural gas distribution and combustion (6 %). The spatial distribution and seasonal variability of our posterior emissions suggest an overestimation of agricultural CH₄ emissions by 10 to 20 % in the most recent SGHGI, which is likely due to an overestimation of emissions from manure handling. Urban areas do not appear as emission hotspots in our posterior results, suggesting that leakages from natural gas distribution are only a minor source of CH₄ in Switzerland. This is consistent with rather low emissions of 8.4 Gg yr⁻¹ reported by the SGHGI but inconsistent with the much higher value of 32 Gg yr⁻¹ implied by the EDGARv4.2 inventory for this sector. Increased CH₄ emissions (up to 30 % compared to the prior) were deduced for the north-eastern parts of Switzerland. This feature was common to most sensitivity inversions, which is a strong indicator that it is a real feature and not an artefact of the transport model and the inversion system. However, it was not possible to assign an unambiguous source process to the region. The observations of the CarboCount-CH network provided invaluable and independent information for the validation of the national bottom-up inventory. Similar systems need to be sustained to provide independent monitoring of future climate agreements.

(Table 1) Carbon and isotopic composition of organic carbon in sediments from DSDP Leg 56 Holes

We have analyzed inorganic and organic carbons and determined the isotopic composition of both sedimentary organic carbon and inorganic carbon in carbonates contained in sediments recovered from Holes 434, 434A, 434B, 435, and 435A in the landward slope of Japan and from Hole 436 in the oceanic slope of the Japan Trench. Both inorganic and organic carbons were assayed at the P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, in the same sample, using the Knopp technique and measuring evolved CO2 gravimetrically. Each sample was analyzed twice in parallel. Measurements were of a ±0.05 per cent accuracy and a probability level of 0.95. Carbon isotopic analysis was carried out on a MI-1305 mass spectrometer at the I. M. Gubkin Institute of Petrochemical and Gas Industry and the results presented as dC13 values related to the PDB standard. The procedure for preparing samples for organic carbon isotopic analysis involved (1) drying damp sediments at 60°C; (2) treating samples, while heating, with 10 N HCl to remove carbonate carbon; and (3) evaporating surplus HCl at 60°C. The organic substance was turned to CO2 by oxidizing it in an oxygen atmosphere. To prepare samples for inorganic carbon isotopic analysis we decomposed the carbonates with orthophosphoric acid and refined the gas evolved. The dC13 measurements, including a full cycle of sample preparation, were of a ±0.5 per cent accuracy and a probability level of 0.95.

(Table 2) Methane to ethane ratio, and d13C-methane at DSDP Hole 76-533

Natural gas hydrates are clathrates in which water molecules form a crystalline framework that includes and is stabilized by natural gas (mainly methane) at appropriate conditions of high pressures and low temperatures. The conditions for the formation of gas hydrates are met within continental margin sediments below water depths greater than about 500 m where the supply of methane is sufficient to stabilize the gas hydrate. Observations on DSDP Leg 11 suggested the presence of gas hydrates in sediments of the Blake Outer Ridge. Leg 76 coring and sampling confirms that, indeed, gas hydrates are present there. Geochemical evidence for gas hydrates in sediment of the Blake Outer Ridge includes (1) high concentrations of methane, (2) a sediment sample with thin, matlike layers of white crystals that released a volume of gas twenty times greater than its volume of pore fluid, (3) a molecular distribution of hydrocarbon gases that excluded hydrocarbons larger than isobutane, (4) results from pressure core barrel experiments, and (5) pore-fluid chemistry. The molecular composition of the hydrocarbons in these gas hydrates and the isotopic composition of the methane indicate that the gas is derived mainly from microbiological processes operating on the organic matter within the sediment. Although gas hydrates apparently are widespread on the Blake Outer Ridge, they probably are not of great economic significance as a potential, unconventional, energy resource or as an impermeable cap for trapping upwardly migrating gas at Site 533.

(Table 3) Noble gas composition of dissociated gas hydrate specimens from ODP Leg 164 sites

Fractionation of the noble gases should occur during formation of a Structure I gas hydrate from water and CH4 such that CH4 hydrate is greatly enriched in Xenon. Noble gas concentrations and fractionation factors (F[4He], F[22Ne], F[86Kr], and F[132Xe] as well as R/Ra) were determined for eight gas hydrate specimens collected on Leg 164 to evaluate this theoretical possibility and to assess whether sufficient quantities of Xe are hosted in oceanic CH4 hydrate to account for Xe "missing" from the atmosphere. The simplest explanation for our results is that samples contain mixtures of air and two end-member gases. One of the end-member gases is depleted in Ne, but significantly enriched in Kr and Xe, as anticipated if the source of this gas involves fractionation during Structure I gas hydrate formation. However, although oceanic CH4 hydrate may be greatly enriched in Xe, simple mass balance calculations indicate that oceanic CH4 hydrate probably represents only a minor reservoir of terrestrial Xe. Noble gas analyses may play an important role in understanding the dynamics of gas hydrate reservoirs, but significantly more work is needed than presented here.

A catalogue, bibliographical and synonymical, of the species of moths of the lepidopterous superfamily Ṉo̲c̲ṯu̲i̲ḏæ̲ found in boreal America.

In a 13 page preface, Smith lays out a lengthy explanation of the origin and purpose of this catalogue of the moth family Noctuidae in the United States. In short, he collected materials over a span of ten years for a monograph on Noctuidae, including material from books from Philadelphia, New York, Washington, as well as purchasing subject papers when available. His efforts included reviewing specimens within the National Museum, as well as trips abroad. Many of the individual species notes contain multiple bibliographic citations that are tersely abbreviated in the extreme. Fortunately, Mr. Smith has also provided an Index to the Authors and Works Cited to help decipher the citations.

The poetical works of Lord Byron.

"Chronology of Lord Byron's life and works": 2 p. following p. v.

A restudy of the Staunton gas pool /

Originally published separately as three extracts from Bulletin no. 44.

Mrs. Caudle's curtain lectures: and other stories and essays /

Added title page, with decorative border.

A general catalogue of valuable and rare old books, in the ancient and modern languages, and various classes of literature; which are now on sale at the prices affixed to each,

Error in paging: 289 numbered 298.

Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute.

Includes section "A survey of literature on the manufacture and properties of iron and steel, and kindred subjects" (title varies)

The works of William Shakespeare: The Garrick Shakespeare,

Vol. 12: The life and works of William Shakespeare / by George Brandes.

The comical romance : and other tales /

Introduction contains account of the life and works of Scarron.

The works of the Reverend William Law, M.A. ...

"Prefatory memoir" signed: G.B.M. [i.e. G. B. Morgan]