Blue Carbon Cooperation in the Maritime Silk Road with Network Game Model and Simulation

The blue carbon cooperation is a joint effort of the countries along the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) to utilize marine activities and organisms to absorb and store carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, an initiative that has great strategic value for coping with the most important environmental problems in the 21st century and promoting the building of a community with shared aspirations for mankind’s future. This research combines the decision-making structure model with the reality of the blue carbon cooperation game of the MSR to make conditional assumptions and carry out model construction. It uses the simulation method to test the influencing factors such as decision-maker type, initial input cost, continuous input maintenance cost, rate of return, carbon tax rate and others. The results suggest that initial and continuous input costs, returns, and neighbor subsidies have positive impacts on blue carbon cooperation, while carbon tax rates and income discount rates have negative impacts on blue carbon cooperation. To promote blue carbon cooperation along the MSR, emphasis should be placed on the design of incentive and subsidy mechanisms, together with the appropriate punishment mechanisms.

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Spatial pattern of location advantages of ports along the Maritime Silk Road

Journal of Geographical Sciences ◽

10.1007/s11442-021-1837-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 149-176

Author(s):

Naixia Mou ◽

Chunying Wang ◽

Jinhai Chen ◽

Tengfei Yang ◽

Lingxian Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Pattern ◽

Silk Road ◽

Maritime Silk Road

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Availability analysis and maintenance optimization for multiple failure mode systems considering imperfect repair

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part O Journal of Risk and Reliability ◽

10.1177/1748006x211012792 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1748006X2110127

Author(s):

Qingan Qiu ◽

Baoliang Liu ◽

Cong Lin ◽

Jingjing Wang

Keyword(s):

Failure Modes ◽

Maintenance Cost ◽

Imperfect Maintenance ◽

Maintenance Policy ◽

Cost Rate ◽

Availability Analysis ◽

Long Run ◽

Optimal Maintenance ◽

Maintenance Policies ◽

Periodic Inspections

This paper studies the availability and optimal maintenance policies for systems subject to competing failure modes under continuous and periodic inspections. The repair time distribution and maintenance cost are both dependent on the failure modes. We investigate the instantaneous availability and the steady state availability of the system maintained through several imperfect repairs before a replacement is allowed. Analytical expressions for system availability under continuous and periodic inspections are derived respectively. The availability models are then utilized to obtain the optimal inspection and imperfect maintenance policy that minimizes the average long-run cost rate. A numerical example for Remote Power Feeding System is presented to demonstrate the application of the developed approach.

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Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Blues: Powering BRI Research Back on Track to Avoid Choppy Seas

Journal of Chinese Political Science ◽

10.1007/s11366-020-09717-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard

Keyword(s):

Foreign Policy ◽

Soft Power ◽

Chinese Foreign Policy ◽

Silk Road ◽

Belt And Road Initiative ◽

The Road ◽

Political Costs ◽

Maritime Silk Road ◽

Belt And Road ◽

On The Road

AbstractThis piece examines and critiques the massive literature on China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It details how research currently seems stuck on the road to nowhere. In addition, it identifies a number of the potholes that collective research endeavors are hitting such as that they are poorly synchronized. It also stresses that lines of analysis are proliferating rather than optimizing, with studies broadening in thematic coverage, rather than becoming deeper. It points out that BRI participants are regularly related to the role of a bit player in many analyses and research often is disconnected from other literatures. Among other things, this article recommends analysts focus on the Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI) or Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) in specific regions or countries. It also argues for a research core that focuses on the implementation issue (i.e., the issue of MSRI and SREB project implementation), project effects (i.e., the economic and political costs and benefits of projects), and the translation issue (i.e., the domestic and foreign policy effects of projects) and does work that goes beyond the usual suspects. On a related note, research need to identify, more precisely, participants and projects, undertake causal analysis, and take into account countervailing factors. Furthermore, studies need to make more extensive use of the Chinese foreign policy literature. Moreover, works examining subjects like soft power need to improve variable conceptualization and operationalization and deliver more nuanced analyses. Finally, studies, especially by area specialists, should take the area, not the China, perspective.

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Traffic Inequality and Relations in Maritime Silk Road: A Network Flow Analysis

ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information ◽

10.3390/ijgi10010040 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 40

Author(s):

Naixia Mou ◽

Haonan Ren ◽

Yunhao Zheng ◽

Jinhai Chen ◽

Jiqiang Niu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Traffic Flow ◽

Network Flow ◽

Road Traffic ◽

Flow Analysis ◽

Silk Road ◽

Identification System ◽

Traffic Network ◽

Trajectory Data ◽

Maritime Traffic ◽

Maritime Silk Road

Maritime traffic can reflect the diverse and complex relations between countries and regions, such as economic trade and geopolitics. Based on the AIS (Automatic Identification System) trajectory data of ships, this study constructs the Maritime Silk Road traffic network. In this study, we used a complex network theory along with social network analysis and network flow analysis to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of maritime traffic flow of the Maritime Silk Road; further, we empirically demonstrate the traffic inequality in the route. On this basis, we explore the role of the country in the maritime traffic system and the resulting traffic relations. There are three main results of this study. (1) The inequality in the maritime traffic of the Maritime Silk Road has led to obvious regional differences. Europe, west Asia, northeast Asia, and southeast Asia are the dominant regions of the Maritime Silk Road. (2) Different countries play different maritime traffic roles. Italy, Singapore, and China are the core countries in the maritime traffic network of the Maritime Silk Road; Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, and Israel have built a structure of maritime traffic flow in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and Saudi Arabia serves as a bridge for maritime trade between Asia and Europe. (3) The maritime traffic relations show the characteristics of regionalization; countries in west Asia and the European Mediterranean region are clearly polarized, and competition–synergy relations have become the main form of maritime traffic relations among the countries in the dominant regions. Our results can provide a scientific reference for the coordinated development of regional shipping, improvement of maritime competition, cooperation strategies for countries, and adjustments in the organizational structure of ports along the Maritime Silk Road.

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Effectiveness of a New Drainage System for Decreasing Erosion in Road Hillslopes

Air Soil and Water Research ◽

10.1177/1178622120988722 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

pp. 117862212098872

Author(s):

María Fernández-Raga ◽

Iván García-Díez ◽

Julian Campo ◽

Julio Viejo ◽

Covadonga Palencia

Keyword(s):

Service Life ◽

Drainage System ◽

Economic Feasibility ◽

Scale Model ◽

Maintenance Cost ◽

Road Maintenance ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Traditional System ◽

Strategic Value ◽

On The Road

Water is one of the most important erosive agents in roadside hillslopes. When these are built with ineffective drainage systems, erosion occurs, reducing road’s service life. However, these systems are not receiving the appropriate importance, given their strategic value. Therefore, a new drainage system called ‘branched’ is proposed in this study. Its technical and economic feasibility is compared with those of the traditional system, which consists of drainages with lines that follow maximum hillslope, to assess differences in relation to erosion, construction and maintenance costs, and service life. Different parameters were analysed, such as the average velocity of water (mm−1) running through the channels, its average specific energy (kJ), and its drag force (N). A scale model was constructed and used to test these factors before implementing it in natural terrain for testing it under field conditions. According to the theoretical and measured results, these factors were lower in the branched drainage than in the traditional one (from 24% to 34% in speed, from 37% to 60% in energy, and from 51% to 73% in force). The service life of hillslopes with a branched system of up to 0.5 m high and 1:2 grade is significantly longer than in those with a traditional drainage. Although the initial economic expense for the construction of the branched system is higher (€3534/m3 as opposed to €2930/m3 for the traditional one), its maintenance cost will be lower than the traditional one (€1230/m3 per year for the branched one as opposed to €1332/m3 per year for the traditional one). Consequently, under our experimental conditions, the proposed drainage will be profitable from the eighth year of construction, saving on the road maintenance in the following 15 years of service life.

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