F. Mohammadi; M.A. Abdoli; M. Amidpour; H. Vahidi; S. Gitipour
Abstract
Approximately 2.4 million tons of bagasse are produced each year in Iran, most of which are currently treated as waste adding to serious environmental concerns. Application of bagasse for energy production is a sustainable solution to supply the required energy within the sugar refineries and export ...
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Approximately 2.4 million tons of bagasse are produced each year in Iran, most of which are currently treated as waste adding to serious environmental concerns. Application of bagasse for energy production is a sustainable solution to supply the required energy within the sugar refineries and export the surplus electricity to the grid. Currently, the energy demand in Iranian sugar mills is mainly supplied by fossil fuels (natural gas or mazut). Bagasse fluidized bed and fixed bed gasification plants would respectively lead to save 59,250 and 21,750 tons of CO2 annually, compared to gas power plants of the same scale. The present study aims to compare the environmental economic analysis of electricity generation in 10-MW gas-fired power plants with that electricity generation in bagasse gasification plants (with fluidized bed and fixed bed reactors) exemplarily in Iran. The bagasse fluidized bed gasification option (with IRR of 28.6%) showed the most promising economic viability compared to bagasse fixed bed gasification and gas power plant cases with IRR values of 25.09 and 21.94%, respectively. Furthermore, bagasse gasification options were potentially characterized by a better environmental performance compared to fossil-fuelled options. On the other hand, the obtained levelised cost of electricity at gas power plants (2 cents/kWh) was lower than the global range and lower than bagasse gasification cases (7-9 cents/kWh). The results revealed the vital need of biomass power plants to governmental support in order to compete with fossil power plants by participation of private sector.
Environmental Management
P. Hrytsiuk; T. Babych; O. Mandziuk
Abstract
Grain production is one of the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex main branches. An indicator of the grain production efficiency is its profitability. It is characterized by significant annual fluctuations that induce risk. Redistribution of existing grain crops areas taking into consideration their profitability ...
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Grain production is one of the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex main branches. An indicator of the grain production efficiency is its profitability. It is characterized by significant annual fluctuations that induce risk. Redistribution of existing grain crops areas taking into consideration their profitability can bring to increase of production efficiency. The paper observes Markowitz’s optimal portfolio theory appliance to grain branch. The central aim of this work is the development and justification of a new technique of sown areas portfolio risk evaluating. In this study, the annual profitability of four cereal crops cultivated in the Rivne region: wheat, barley, corn, and oats, have been analyzed. It is shown that the profitability of the cereals is not normally distributed. Under these conditions, the portfolio variance loses part of its informativity and can not serve as a good risk measure. It has been determined that the profitability of crops with good precision follows Laplace distribution (double exponential distribution). The analytical expression for Value-at-Risk measures has been obtained using the Laplace distribution function. Numerical risk assessments performed. Using a modified Markowitz model and obtained risk estimates the efficient frontiers of cereal sown areas portfolios in the Rivne region were constructed. Obtained results allow indicating ways for optimization the region grain industry structure.
S. Akhtar; W. Saleem; V.M. Nadeem; I. Shahid; A. Ikram
Abstract
Rapid urbanization and severe air quality deterioration in Pakistan have increased citizens’s concern towards air pollution. This study, conducted in November, 2016, aimed to develop relationship between degraded air quality and resident’s willingness to pay for improved air quality in city ...
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Rapid urbanization and severe air quality deterioration in Pakistan have increased citizens’s concern towards air pollution. This study, conducted in November, 2016, aimed to develop relationship between degraded air quality and resident’s willingness to pay for improved air quality in city of Lahore, Pakistan through contingent valuation method to quantify an individual’s willingness to pay for improved air quality. Hypothetical market was created and 250 respondents, selected through random sampling, were asked to respond to pre tested questionnaire. Results revealed that 92.5% of respondents showed positive willingness to pay and average predicted willingness to pay by each person was $9.86 per month. Respondents were willing to pay $118 per year which was 1.27% of their mean monthly income. Stepwise regression model was used to develop relationship between independent variables and willingness to pay. Most parameters accompanied by econometric analysis elaborated expected results. Results disclosed that annual household income, symptoms of respiratory diseases and self observed air pollution pointedly impact willingness to pay. It is concluded that despite of the fact that Pakistan is among the lower income countries with no rigid budget allocation for improvement in air quality, people of Pakistan are willing to pay to reduce air pollution load. One of the factor which effected the positivity of willingness to pay is that, a quite large number of people were suffering from pollution related respiratory disorders like asthma, chronic bronchitis, wheezing, cough, and chest congestion. Only 7.5% of respondents were not interested to pay for improved air quality which reported unconcerned attitude and lack of environmental awareness.
S. Solaymani
Abstract
Malaysia, as a small and developing country, must reduce carbon emissions because the country is one of the top CO2-emitting countries in the ASEAN region. Therefore, the current study implements two environmental tax policies; carbon and energy taxes, in order to examine the impacts of these policies ...
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Malaysia, as a small and developing country, must reduce carbon emissions because the country is one of the top CO2-emitting countries in the ASEAN region. Therefore, the current study implements two environmental tax policies; carbon and energy taxes, in order to examine the impacts of these policies on the reduction of carbon emission in the whole of the economy by applying a computable general equilibrium model. Since the whole of the government revenue from these tax policies is transferred to all household and labor types through two schemes, a lump sum tax, and a labor tax, respectively, it is assumed that there is revenue neutrality in the model for the government. The findings from simulated scenarios indicate that the carbon tax policy is the more efficient policy for reducing CO2 emission, in both transferring schemes, while its impact on macroeconomic variables is almost lower than the equivalent energy tax. The carbon tax is more effective than the energy tax for Malaysia to achieve 40% carbon reduction target in comparison with its 2005 level. The carbon tax, compared to the energy tax, also leads to more decrease in consumption of fossil fuels. The carbon tax policy, in comparison with the energy tax, due to revenue recycling causes much more increase in the welfare of rural and urban households in Malaysia, especially the welfare of rural (lower income) households.