Environmental Valuation & Cost-Benefit News

Summary: The world is witnessing a sudden growth in production of biofuels, especially those suited for replacing oil like ethanol and biodiesel. This paper synthesizes what the environmental, economic, and policy literature predicts about the possible effects of these types of biofuels. Another motivation is to identify gaps in understanding and recommend areas for future work. The analysis finds three key conclusions. First, the current generation of biofuels, which is derived from food crops, is intensive in land, water, energy, and chemical inputs. Second, the environmental literature is dominated by a discussion of net carbon offset and net energy gain, while indicators relating to impact on human health, soil quality, biodiversity, water depletion, etc., have received much less attention. Third, there is a fast expanding economic and policy literature that analyzes the various effects of biofuels from both micro and macro perspectives, but there are several gaps. A bewildering array of policies - including energy, transportation, agricultural, trade, and environmental policies - is influencing the evolution of biofuels. But the policies and the level of subsidies do not reflect the marginal impact on welfare or the environment. In summary, all biofuels are not created equal. They exhibit considerable spatial and temporal heterogeneity in production. The impact of biofuels will also be heterogeneous, creating winners and losers. The findings of the paper suggest the importance of the role biomass plays in rural areas of developing countries. Furthermore, the use of biomass for producing fuel for cars can affect access to energy and fodder and not just access to food.

by Deepak Rajagopal and David Zilberman
The World Bank www.WorldBank.org
Policy Research Working Paper No. WPS 4341
Document Date: September 1, 2007
SubTopics: Energy Production and Transportation; Environmental Economics & Policies; Transport Economics Policy & Planning; Energy and Environment; Renewable Energy
http://econ.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64165259&theSitePK=469372&piPK=64165421&menuPK=64166322&entityID=000158349_20070904162607

A better life for two million households in Africa through implementation of domestic biogas plants was the ambitious target set at a May 2007 conference in Nairobi, Kenya, organized by the Biogas Africa Initiative. A national programme has already been started in Rwanda, while 10 other countries have started preparations.

Unlike Asia, experience with domestic biogas in African countries has been ambiguous. An analysis undertaken by Tinashe Nhete and Christopher Kellner1 reveals that the exact number of plants installed in Africa is not known but that most units were installed in Tanzania (more than 4000), Kenya and Ethiopia, with hundreds to only a few in other countries. Unfortunately, an estimated 60% of these plants failed to stay in operation. However, other plants succeeded in providing the users with benefits over a number of years and gave evidence on the reliability of the technology if properly deployed.
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Felix ter Heegde and Kai Sonder made a first assessment on the potential of, and need for, domestic biogas in Africa. The technical potential was defined as the number of households that can meet the two basic requirements - sufficient availability of dung and water to run a biogas installation. Although biogas can be generated from a score of organic materials, in Africa cattle dung from husbandry is best suited to feeding a domestic installation. Biogas can substitute traditional cooking fuels such as wood fuel and charcoal but needs to be produced at a minimum amount of 0.8-1 m3 daily. To generate this amount of biogas, the household should have 20-30 kg of fresh dung available on a daily basis. For large parts of Africa, zero grazing is not common, and cattle are generally small and undernourished. Therefore most African households would need at least three or four night-stabled heads of cattle to collect sufficient dung. Where cattle urine cannot be collected, the dung has to be mixed with equal amounts of water to enable both the installation’s microbiological process as well as the hydraulic functioning.
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Taking certain other assumptions into account, the technical potential market for domestic biogas in Africa is estimated at 18.5 million households.
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Felix ter Heegde and Kai Sonder calculated a biogas feasibility index (BFI). This index assesses values within an aspect area relative to each other, not unlike the calculation method of the human development index (HDI). From these BFIs, it can be concluded that the need for biogas in Africa, in terms of its potential contribution to development, energy, health and sanitation, and environment, is very great.
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Winrock International conducted a financial and economic cost-benefit analysis of an integrated domestic biogas, latrine and hygiene programme in sub-Saharan Africa....

For the sub-Saharan Africa programme, the financial rate of return was estimated at 7.5% and the economic internal rate of return dramatically higher, at 178%. The difference between these returns reflects the nature of the intervention. An integrated biogas and latrine programme involves significant capital investment and generates expenditure savings (rather than income) while yielding a wide range of economic (rather than financial) benefits, such as improved health, increased availability of potent organic fertilisers, time savings through the reduced drudgery associated with fuel collection, and environmental benefits. The multifaceted nature of these economic benefits has the potential to make progress simultaneously on a number of Millennium Development Goals, thereby significantly improving the lives of rural African households. Women and children in particular have the potential to be the greatest beneficiaries. They disproportionately endure the drudgery of fuel collection and the negative health effects associated with spending hours breathing highly polluted air just to prepare food for their families.

The specific targets of the initiative to be achieved by 2020 include:
* two million biogas plants installed (90% operation rate)
* 10 million Africans benefiting in daily life from the plants
* 800 private biogas companies and 200 biogas appliance manufacturing workshops involved or established
* 100,000 new jobs created
* comprehensive quality standards and quality control systems developed and in use
* one million toilets constructed and attached to the biogas plant
* 80% of the bio-slurry used as organic fertilizer
* agricultural production raised by up to 25%
* health and living conditions of women and children improved, and the deaths of women and children reduced by 5000 each year
* drudgery reduced by saving 2-3 hours per household each day in fetching wood, cooking and cleaning the pots
* health costs saved of up to US$80-125 per family, per year
* 3-4 million tonnes of wood saved per year
* greenhouse gas emissions annually reduced by 10 Mtonnes of CO2 equivalent.

The total financing required is $2 billion, out of which $800 million is to be expected from public funding (national and donors) and the sale of carbon credits. For the latter, the Initiative developed a proposal for a new methodology specifically aiming at the trading of emission reductions from household digesters.

The most appropriate biogas technology for the country may be selected. The use of a single design in suitable sizes and the standardization of all products is required.
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The cost of a biogas plant is relatively high for the majority of households in Africa, even for many of those that have cattle. To be able to develop a sustainable market, the national programmes will use a combination of own contribution of the households in cash and labour, credits to households, and subsidy.
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Useful biogas websites can be found at:
www.biogasafrica.org (Biogas Africa Initiative)
www.bspnepal.org.np (Nepal)
www.biogas.org.vn (Vietnam)
www.idcol.org (Bangladesh)
www.nbp.org.kh (Cambodia)
www.snvworld.org (SNV, click ‘practise areas/biogas’)

by Wim J. van Nes 1 and Tinashe D. Nhete 2
1. Biogas Practice Leader of the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV); e-mail: wvannes@snvworld.org
2. Programme Team Leader for Infrastructure Services of Practical Action Southern Africa; e-mail: tinashen@practicalaction.org.zw

Renewable Energy World Magazine www.renewable-energy-world.com
http://www.renewable-energy-world.com/display_article/305278/121/CRTIS/none/none/Biogas-for-a-better-life:-An-African-initiative/

Received December 2005; Revision received June 2007. We analyse local compensation payments made to farmers for providing landscape amenities in Alpine tourist communities. These payments result from political bargaining at the municipal level. Panel data estimation shows that the probability of introducing compensation payments depends positively on the benefits of landscape amenities. Although no impact of service provision cost is found, transaction costs at different levels of the bargaining process reduce the probability of payments. Compensation payments mainly occur in communities where the provision of agricultural landscape services is perceived as relatively low and the diversity of the countryside seems to be endangered. We argue that municipal compensation payments are an important supplement to national and European Union policy measures in support of less-favoured areas.

Keywords: public externalities, multifunctionality of agriculture, landscape-enhancing agricultural services, local compensation payments, municipal bargaining

by Franz Hack, Martin Halla and Gerald J. Pruckner; Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Altenbergerstrasse 69, A-4040 Linz, Austria. E-mail: gerald.pruckner@jku.at

European Review of Agricultural Economics via Oxford University Press www.oxfordjournals.org
Advance Access published online on August 30, 2007
doi:10.1093/erae/jbm022
http://erae.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/jbm022v1?papetoc

Abstract: In view of the currently observed energy prices, recent price scenarios, which have been very moderate until 2004, also tend to favor high future energy prices. Having a large impact on energy-economic scenarios, we incorporate uncertain energy prices into an energy systems model by including a stochastic risk function. Energy systems models are frequently used to aid scenario analysis in energy-related studies. The impact of uncertain energy prices on the supply structures and the interaction with measures in the demand sectors is the focus of the present paper.

For the illustration of the methodological approach, scenarios for four EU countries are presented. Including the stochastic risk function, elements of high energy price scenarios can be found in scenarios with a moderate future development of energy prices. In contrast to scenarios with stochastic investment costs for a limited number of technologies, the inclusion of stochastic energy prices directly affects all parts of the energy system. Robust elements of hedging strategies include increasing utilization of domestic energy carriers, the use of CHP and district heat and the application of additional energy-saving measures in the end-use sectors. Region-specific technology portfolios, i.e., different hedging options, can cause growing energy exchange between the regions in comparison with the deterministic case.

Keywords: Energy systems model; Scenarios; Stochastic optimization; Energy prices; Risk hedging

by Volker Krey 1, Dag Martinsen 1 and Hermann-Josef Wagner 2
1. Institute of Energy Research - Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (IEF-STE), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Telephone: +49 2461 613588; fax: +49 2461 612540
2. LEE - Energy Systems and Energy Economics, Ruhr University Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany

Energy via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com
Volume 32, Issue 12; December, 2007; Pages 2340-2349
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2007.05.013

Abstract: This thesis addresses the economic trade-offs between hydropower and fish production, based on an empirical assessment of the costs and benefits of changing the water flow of the Ume/Vindel River in northern Sweden at a major hydropower plant in ways that would reduce its production of electricity but increase the number of wild salmon in the river.

A theoretical framework for dynamic cost benefit analysis (CBA) is presented and applied to the salmon passage-hydropower production conflict. The approach has wider applicability than suggested here, and should be useful in other, similar contexts.

To obtain estimates for the benefit of increasing the number of wild salmon the contingent valuation method (CVM) was applied. The CVM is a survey-based method developed for measuring values of non-market goods by using willingness to pay (WTP) questions.

A new open-ended valuation question, the “classic and interval open-ended” (CIOE) question, was introduced to accommodate the fact that many people have an inability to state their preferences accurately. Interpretation of the resulting valuation uncertainty is more straightforward with this type of question than with other types of valuation question. There are other advantages as well. In addition, methods are introduced for: finding a WTP point estimate for the CIOE question; estimating lower and upper boundaries for the WTP; and for estimating confidence intervals for the total present benefit.

An important element of the empirical analysis is that estimated changes in resource conditions are based on detailed river-specific data. The resource dynamic considerations were introduced into both the scenarios and the WTP questions, using an estimated salmon population model for the Vindel River as a base. A model predicting the effects of varying the water flows on the salmon’s migration behaviour was used to estimate the costs of increasing the number of salmon.

A total of 1785 individuals received a questionnaire including the CIOE question; the response rate was 66%. Passive use (non-use) values are the major contributors to the benefit (96-517 MSEK) of increasing the wild salmon stock in the Vindel River. The sensitivity analysis suggests that the opportunity costs in terms of lost electricity are typically higher than the estimated benefits.

Full text available as PDF

Keywords: classic and interval open-ended (CIOE) question, contingent valuation (CV), dynamic cost-benefit analysis (CBA), hydropower, salmon, valuation uncertainty, willingness to pay (WTP)
Agrovoc terms: water power, atlantic salmon, cost benefit analysis, valuation, rivers, Sweden

by Cecilia Håkansson; Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) www.slu.se
Department of Forest Economics, SLU; Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae; Epsilon Dissertations and Graduate Theses Archive
Doctoral dissertation
Volume: 2007:41; Deposited On: April 30, 2007; Publication Date:2007
ISBN: 91-576-7340-4; ISSN: 1652-6880
http://diss-epsilon.slu.se/archive/00001432/

Abstract: Since its conception in early 1990s, cleaner production has helped thousands of businesses around the world in improving environmental performance and reducing risks to their staff. Developing countries, due to their economic, social and cultural limitations are slow to adapt to new ideas. Stresses of WTO and ISO certification are hitting the developing economies hard especially the export businesses. This article re-introduces the concept of cleaner production as a self-help tool as well as an economical pathway towards ISO certification. The objective is to motivate businesses anywhere to join the sustainable development trail. A simple step-by-step procedure to develop a cleaner production program is delineated. Cleaner production opportunities and how their exploration will lead to covering many requirements of the ISO14001:2004 certification is discussed. Cleaner production opportunities in the most common automotive industry are presented along with five case studies from Australia. Special attention is given to energy efficiency. A full section is devoted to equipment-specific cleaner production opportunities.

Keywords: CP opportunities; Just-in-time; Economic edge; Internal audit; Commitment; Ownership; Green materials; CP plans

by Zahiruddin Khan; Institute of Environmental Science & Engineering, National University of Sciences & Technology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan; Teleohone: +92 51 927 1599.

Journal of Cleaner Production via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com
Volume 16, Issue 1; January, 2008; Pages 22-27
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2006.06.007

The conventional wisdom that the current Supreme Court has taken a "conservative" direction does not apply to the Court's position in the environmental law field. Given that the Court issued five written opinions on environmental matters, or almost 10 percent of its entire written opinions, businesses should be warned that judging the new Robert's Court's ideological trend on the basis of a few highly publicized rulings on school desegregation, campaign finance, or partial-birth abortion procedures may result in an entirely wrong conclusion in the field of environmental law.

The Supreme Court issued written opinions in five environmental cases in the 2006 to 2007 term. The "blockbuster" opinion was a solid antibusiness, pro-environment decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, 127 S. Ct. 1438 (2007), in which a 5-4 majority held that EPA was dead wrong in declining to regulate greenhouse gases as a form of air pollution.... The clear losers in this major environmental case are EPA, which tried to assert the Bush administration's "go slow" policy on regulating climate control, and the automobile industry, which advocated a similar position.
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In United Haulers Ass'n, Inc. v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority, 127 S. Ct. 1786 (2007), the Court rejected the free enterprise claims of private waste haulers who sought to introduce lower-priced garbage removal services in two upstate New York counties. Rather, a majority of the new Robert's Court, including the Chief Justice himself, sided with the local counties and found that "public" ownership of waste disposal facilities allowed those counties to regulate and control the flow of municipal wastes without interference from the so-called "dormant" Commerce Clause. (Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution, in part, gives Congress the power to regulate commerce among the states (the interstate commerce clause). ...

In a direct loss for at least a portion of the utility industry, the new "conservative" Supreme Court rejected Duke Energy's efforts to characterize EPA's regulations of a portion of the Clean Air Act as both inconsistent with the statutory scheme and simply inconsistent how EPA applied those regulations over the years. In a 9-0 decision, the Court sided with both EPA and the Environmental Defense Group over Duke Energy (Environmental Defense Fund v. Duke Energy Corp, 127 S. Ct. 1423 (2007)).
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by Norman Dupont, counsel to and assistant department head for environmental law for, the firm of Richards Watson & Gershon, Los Angeles office

FOR FULL ARTICLE GO TO:
http://enviro.blr.com/display.cfm/id/80492
Enviro.BLR.com http://enviro.blr.com
August 27, 2007

1.1 Purpose The purpose of this document is to provide a standard guide for estimating costs and liabilities for environmental matters. Many possible uses for estimates of costs and liabilities for environmental matters exist, including but not limited to business decision making, communications and negotiations involving change of property ownership, regulatory requirements, third-party lawsuits, insurance premium calculation and claim settlement, change of property use, revitalization, compliance planning, construction, analysis of remedial alternatives, budgeting, strategic planning, financing, and investment analysis by shareholders. The use of estimated costs and liabilities developed in accordance with this standard may be subject to other standards applicable to the matter involved. For example, it is not intended to supersede accounting and actuarial standards including those by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission. This standard does not address the establishment of reserves or disclosure requirements.

1.2 Objectives The objective of this standard is to provide guidance on approaches for estimating costs and liabilities for environmental matters.

2. Referenced Documents

E1527 Practice for Environmental Site Assessments Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process
E1739 Guide for Risk-Based Corrective Action Applied at Petroleum Release Sites
E2081 Guide for Risk-Based Corrective Action
E2091 Guide for Use of Activity and Use Limitations, Including Institutional and Engineering Controls
E2205 Guide for Risk-Based Corrective Action for Protection of Ecological Resources
E2345 Practice for Investigating Electrical Incidents
EPA OSWER Directive 9610.17 Concerning Use of Risk-Based Decision Making, 1995

Index Terms: cost estimation; environmental; costs; liabilities; expected value; minimum value; most likely value; quoted price; range of values; uncertainty; ICS Number Code 13.020.99

ASTM International www.astm.org
Book of Standards Volume: 11.05
http://www.astm.org/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/DATABASE.CART/REDLINE_PAGES/E2137.htm?E+mystore

The cost of the Croton Water Filtration Plant, currently under construction in the Bronx, is close to $2.8 billion -- far higher than what the Bloomberg administration has said the project will cost, a budget analysis by the Independent Budget Office indicates.

The city's Department of Environmental Protection has maintained for several months that construction of the filtration plant would cost about $2.1 billion.
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The plant, first proposed in the 1970s, has been beset by construction delays, lawsuits, fines imposed by the federal government, and opposition from neighbors of the project.
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Mr. Lawitts acknowledged however that several items included in the independent analysis had been left out of his agency's cost for the project.

Among those items was $292 million for the filtration plant's design, and contract and construction management.
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The agency also failed to include in its budget the $137 million cost of inspecting and rehabilitating the Croton Aqueduct, as well as various smaller costs, including paying $15 million to Con Ed to supply power to the new plant.
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By Timothy Williams
The New York Times www.NYTimes.com
FOR FULL STORY GO TO:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07E4DC1331F93BA1575AC0A9619C8B63
Published September 28, 2007
The New

Executive Summary:

Current scientific research shows that the global sea level is expected to rise significantly over the next century. The relatively dense development and abundant economic activity along much of the U.S. coastline is vulnerable to risk of coastal flooding, shoreline erosion and storm damages.

In this study we examine the impacts of climate change on North Carolina coastal resources. We consider three important areas of the coastal economy: the impacts of sea-level rise on the coastal real estate market, the impacts of sea-level rise on coastal recreation and tourism and the impacts of tropical storms and hurricanes on business activity. Our baseline year is 2004. All the impacts in this study are measured in 2004 U.S. dollars.

Methods for Coastal Impacts Analysis

Inundation and storm impacts are assessed for four coastal counties ranging from high development to rural-economies and with shoreline dominated by estuarine to marine environments. We use high-resolution topographic LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data to provide accurate inundation maps in order to identify all property that will be lost under different sea level rise scenarios assuming no adaptation. The sea level rise scenarios are adjusted upward for regional subsidence and range from an 11 centimeters (cm) increase in sea levels by 2030 to an 81 cm increase by 2080. Additional geospatial attributes that described the distance of a property to shoreline and elevation are also generated and entered into a database of corresponding tax values.

To estimate the recreational impacts of sea level rise we calculated current erosion rates for beaches and fishing locations and modeled projected beach widths. Projected increases in erosion are estimated qualitatively for the years 2030 and 2080 by a local expert. These erosion rates are then mapped spatially to describe changes in minimum and maximum beach width assuming no nourishment or barrier island migration.

Storm impacts are assessed by investigating projected climate-related increases in storm intensity along a hurricane track that made landfall in 1996. The percent increase in wind speed due to increased sea surface temperature is estimated using the MAGICC/SCENGEN Global Climate Model. The wind speeds are mapped spatially using a hurricane wind speed model (HURRECON). Maximum wind speeds and wind gusts are averaged by county and used in an economic model to estimate potential business impacts.

Impacts on Real Estate Markets

In the first economic component of this study we estimate the impacts of sea level rise on coastal real estate markets in New Hanover, Dare, Carteret and Bertie County of North Carolina.

The study area represents a cross-section of the North Carolina coastline in geographical distribution and economic development. A simulation approach based on the hedonic property model is developed to estimate the impacts of sea level rise on property values.

Data on property values come from the county tax offices which maintain property parcel records that contain assessed values of property as well as lot size, total square footage, the year the structure was built, and other structural characteristics of the property. Other spatial amenities such as property elevation, ocean and sound/estuarine frontage and distance to shoreline are obtained using Geographic Information System data.

We estimate the loss of property values due to sea level rise using a simulation approach based on hedonic property value models for the four counties. The results indicate that the impacts of sea level rise on coastal property values vary across the North Carolina coastline.

Without discounting, the residential property value loss in Dare County ranges from 2% of the total residential property value to 12%. The loss in Carteret County ranges from less than 1% to almost 3%. New Hanover and Bertie counties show relatively small impacts with less than one percent loss in residential property value.

Considering four coastal counties, including the three most populous on the North Carolina coast, the present value of lost residential property value in 2080 is $3.2 billion discounted at a 2% rate. The present value of lost nonresidential property value in 2080 is $3.7 billion at a 2% rate.

Impacts on Recreation and Tourism

In the second economic component of this study we estimate the impacts of sea level rise on coastal recreation and tourism. We estimate the effects of sea-level rise on beach recreation at the southern North Carolina Beaches and recreational fishing that takes place on the entire coast (whereas the property impacts are assessed for only 4 counties).

We use two sets of recreation data and the travel cost method for recreation demand
estimation. The first data set includes information on beach trips to southern North Carolina beaches. The second includes information on shore-based fishing trips for the entire North Carolina coast.

We estimate that the lost recreation value of climate change-induced sea level rise to beach goers is $93 million in 2030 and $223 million in 2080 for the southern North Carolina beaches. For those households who only take day trips, 4.3% of recreation value is lost in 2030 and 11% is lost in 2080 relative to 2004 baseline values. For those households who take both day and overnight beach trips, 16% and 34% of recreation value is lost in 2030 and 2080, respectively.

Beach trip spending by non-local North Carolina residents would also change significantly with climate change-induced sea level rise. Spending by those who only take day trips would fall by 2% in 2030 and 23% in 2080 compared to 2004. Those who take both day and overnight trips would spend 16% less in 2030 and 48% less in 2080.

Turning to recreational fishing, the aggregate annual lost recreational value of sea level rise to shore anglers in all of North Carolina would be $14 million in 2030 and $17 million in 2080. This is 3% in 2030 and 3.5% in 2080 of the 2004 baseline values. Angler spending would not change significantly as shore anglers move to other beaches or piers and bridges in response to sea level rise.

The coastal recreation and tourism analysis indicates that there are substantial losses from reduced opportunities of beach trips and fishing trips. The present value of the lost recreation benefits due to sea level rise would be $3.5 billion when discounted at a 2% rate for the southern North Carolina beaches. The present value of the lost recreational fishing benefits due to sea level rise would be $430 million using a 2% discount rate.

Impacts on Business and Industry

In the third component of this study we estimate the impacts of increased storm severity on business and industry, including agriculture, forestry, commercial fisheries and general “business interruption.” These are the primary categories of impacts on business and industry for low-intensity hurricane strikes, and changes among low-intensity hurricane categories are identified in this study as the most likely results of climate change. Estimates of business interruption impacts on economic output are presented by county for three climate change scenarios. Although scarce data limit the ability to estimate economic impacts for the vulnerable natural resource sectors, preliminary, order of magnitude assessments are presented.

The impacts of increased storm severity on economic output due to business interruption from 2030-2080 vary across county and climate change scenario, ranging from negligible impacts for Bertie County to $946 million for New Hanover County. These results show the incremental losses due to climate change that could result from a storm strike similar to hurricane Fran, a well-known category 3 storm that struck North Carolina in 1996. County-level estimates vary due to differences in population, industry structure, distance to the coast, and prior hurricane damage history.

The economic impacts of severe storms on the North Carolina agricultural sector are significant. Based on agricultural damage statistics for hurricanes affecting North Carolina between 1996 and 2006, we find that a tropical storm or category 1 hurricane strike causes $30-$50 million in total statewide agricultural damage, a category 2 storm in the ballpark of $200 million, and a category 3 storm on the order of $800 million. Increases in hurricane intensity due to climate change could have substantial impacts on agriculture in North Carolina.

Based on the limited data from hurricane Fran (category 3) and hurricane Isabel (category 2), the incremental forest damage associated with an increase in hurricane severity from category 2 to category 3 is substantial, on the order of 150% per storm event, or about $900 million.

Consistent time series data on the damages to commercial fishing operations caused by tropical storms and hurricanes do not currently exist for North Carolina. However, two recent case studies indicate that commercial fisheries suffer economic losses primarily in the form of damaged fishing gear and reductions in the number of safe fishing days. In addition, there is some evidence that the populations of some target species may fall following hurricanes, further reducing the profitability of fishing.

by Okmyung Bin 1, Chris Dumas 2, Ben Poulter 3 and John Whitehead
1. Department of Economics; East Carolina University; Greenville, NC 27858
2. Department of Economics and Finance; University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Wilmington, NC 28403
3. Duke University; Nicholas School of the Environment and Department of Global Change and Natural Systems Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany
4. Department of Economics; Appalachian State University; Boone, NC 28608

Prepared for: National Commission on Energy Policy; 1250 I Street, NW, Suite 350; Washington, DC 20005-3998
March 15, 2007

Appalachian State University http://econ.appstate.edu
http://econ.appstate.edu/climate/NC-NCEP%20final%20report.031507.pdf

The Hunt Refining Co. and Hunt Southland Refining Co. have agreed to pay a $400,000 civil penalty and spend more than $48.5 million for new and upgraded pollution controls at three refineries, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced. The settlement resolves alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and is expected to reduce more than 1,250 tons of harmful emissions annually from the company's refineries in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Sandersville and Lumberton, Miss.

The states of Alabama and Mississippi have also joined in today's consent decree and will share portions of the civil penalty with EPA.

The agreement requires new pollution controls to be installed that will reduce annual emissions of nitrogen oxide by approximately 150 tons per year and sulfur dioxide by almost 1,100 tons per year when fully implemented. The new controls also will result in additional reductions of volatile organic compounds and particulate matter from each of the refineries. Volatile organic compounds and sulfur dioxide can contribute to respiratory disorders such as asthma and reduced lung capacity. They can also cause damage to ecosystems and reduce visibility. The three refineries covered by today's settlement have the capacity to produce nearly 70,000 barrels of oil per day.

In addition, Hunt will spend $475,000 on projects to benefit the community and environment. Hunt has agreed to upgrade controls to reduce volatile organic compound emissions from the wastewater systems at the Tuscaloosa refinery and will also buy emergency preparedness equipment and train mutual aid responders in Vicksburg, Miss. and Choctaw County, Ala.

In 1996, the EPA turned its focus toward improving compliance among petroleum refiners because of their potential to cause significant amounts of air pollution. At the time, the industry ranked at the top of the list as the biggest emitters of volatile organic compounds and sulfur dioxide emissions. In addition, petroleum refiners emit large amounts of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and carbon monoxide. These pollutants contribute to respiratory illness and heart disease, childhood asthma, acid rain, and reduced visibility.

Earlier this year, similar settlements were reached with Valero Energy and Total Petrochemicals requiring approximately $270 million in new pollution controls at refineries in Texas, Tennessee and Ohio.

The consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. A copy of the consent decree is available on the Department of Justice Web site at: http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html

More information on the Hunt Refining Co. and Hunt Southland Refining Co Clean Air Act settlement: epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/caa/hunt.html

More information on EPA's Petroleum Refining Initiative: epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/caa/oil

Help EPA protect our nation's land, air and water by reporting violation: epa.gov/tips

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency www.EPA.gov
September 28, 2007
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/names/hq_2007-9-28_hunt

Abstract: The potential and the costs of windfarm and small hydro power generation as a means of offsetting CO2 emissions in India is discussed. Both the absolute and the incremental supply cost curves for CO2 offset are constructed. Of the two options, the use of wind electric generators in windfarms offers much higher potential for energy paths to reduce CO2 emissions but the estimated costs are substantially higher than the costs of small hydel. Unlike windfarm power generation, some identified small hydro sites offer possibilities of a net negative incremental cost of offsetting CO2 emissions. The incremental costs range from US$-120 to US$50 per tonne of carbon equivalent for small hydro and US$6 to US$470 per tonne for windfarms.

Author Keywords: Supply cost curve; Windfarms; Small hydroelectricity

by Jami Hossain and Chandra Shekhar Sinha; Tata Energy Research Institute, 9 Jor Bagh, New Delhi 110 003, India

Energy Policy via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com
Volume 21, Issue 10; 2006; Pages 1025-1034
Available online 9 September 2007
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0301-4215(06)80005-4

Part of the mission of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is to promote steps by communities, businesses, and individuals to reduce their vulnerability to natural disasters. In keeping with that objective, FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) program provides grants to help communities plan and carry out projects that are intended to lessen casualties and property damage from earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and other natural hazards. Since 2004, the PDM program has awarded about $310 million for mitigation projects and roughly $50 million for planning activities. The program is predicated on the idea that mitigation can be cost-effective in protecting people and property from natural disasters.

The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, as amended, requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to study the reduction in federal disaster assistance that has resulted and is likely to result from enactment of that law, which created the PDM program.1 CBO’s analysis of the
PDM program points to the following conclusions:

B The total dollar value of the expected reduction in disaster losses from the projects funded so far exceeds the projects’ costs. The best available information suggests that, on average, future losses are reduced by about $3 (measured in discounted present value) for
each $1 spent on those projects, including both federal and nonfederal spending. Significant uncertainty surrounds that estimate, however, and the information available on past projects may not reliably indicate the effectiveness of additional mitigation projects in the future. The benefits of federal spending on such projects could be lower than the benefits of the
projects themselves if some of the projects (or other mitigation efforts) would have been undertaken by state and local governments or the private sector in the absence of federal grants. Conversely, the benefits of federal spending could be higher if such spending helps encourage additional mitigation efforts by other parties.

B If federal funding for postdisaster assistance declines in proportion to the decrease in property damage, the existing PDM-funded projects could lower federal spending by an average of roughly $10 million to $20 million per year over the next 50 years, CBO estimates. Such amounts would be small relative to the size of federal disaster aid—which, in the decade
before Hurricane Katrina, averaged about $5.3 billion a year from FEMA alone. But those savings would be large enough to make the federal investment of $310 million in the projects cost-effective in budgetary terms.

B Any federal savings from PDM-funded mitigation projects would occur largely in FEMA’s disaster relief programs (which are funded from discretionary appropriations) and in its National Flood Insurance Program (which ordinarily is not funded through the appropriation process). The savings to the flood insurance program (net of cuts in insurance premiums)
would depend on the extent to which the mitigation projects focused on properties that were insured at subsidized rates. Because reductions in discretionary spending for disaster relief would depend on future Congressional action, they could not be counted for scorekeeping purposes as an offset to the costs of mitigation; by contrast, estimated net savings in direct (mandatory) spending for the flood insurance program could be counted as an offset under some circumstances.

Perry Beider of CBO’s Microeconomic Studies Division wrote this report under the supervision
of Joseph Kile and David Moore. Tony Hake, Karen Magnino, Kim Rogers, Cecelia
Rosenberg, Shabbar Saifee, and Jody Springer of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
provided and helped to interpret the data on PDM projects. Keith Porter of the California
Institute of Technology and Adam Z. Rose of the University of Southern California provided
information on the methodology and results of the MMC study. Robert Dennis, Peter
Fontaine, Arlene Holen, Daniel Hoople, Nathan Musick, Robert Sunshine, David Torregrosa,
and G. Thomas Woodward of CBO offered helpful comments on various drafts of this report.
Christian Howlett edited the report, and Kate Kelly proofread it. Maureen Costantino
designed the cover. Lenny Skutnik prepared the printed copies, Linda Schimmel coordinated
the print distribution, and Simone Thomas prepared the electronic version for CBO’s Web
site (www.cbo.gov).

Peter R. Orszag, Director
United States Congressional Budget Office (CBO) www.cbo.gov
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/86xx/doc8653/09-28-Disaster.pdf
September 2007

"Energy-Smart Buildings" - buildings which are designed and operated to minimise energy consumption, embedded energy and carbon emissions - are emerging as a prominent trend in real estate investment activity, and are providing new opportunities for investors in energy technologies.

This report contains both an up-to-date review of the factors that will drive new technology production and uptake, as well as a thorough investigation into the technologies, companies and organisations involved in this investment activity. New Energy Finance is pleased to present an in-depth research report that analyses this complex and quickly developing global market.

81 Pages, July 2007, £1195.00
http://subscriptions.newenergyfinance.com/index.php3?formaction=itemdisplay&prod_code=49
New Energy Finance www.newenergyfinance.com

The NOx Budget Trading Program (NBP) is a market-based cap and trade program created to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from power plants and other large combustion sources in the eastern United States. NOx is a prime ingredient in the formation of ground-level ozone, a pervasive air pollution problem in many areas in the East. The NBP was designed to reduce NOx emissions during the warm summer months, referred to as the ozone season, when ground-level ozone concentrations are highest. This report provides background on ozone formation and effects and evaluates progress under the NBP in 2006. The report examines reductions, reviews compliance results and market activity, and compares changes in emissions to changes in ozone concentrations.

The NBP, a Cap and Trade Program, Is Effectively Reducing Emissions across a Broad Region

* The emission budget for each state, set by EPA, creates a cap on emissions at a level chosen to help states meet their air quality goals.
* In 2006, emissions were again below the region-wide cap.
* With high compliance, reduced emissions, and an active trading market, the NBP is delivering important public health and environmental results.

There Have Been Improvements in Nonattainment Areas in the East since Implementation of the NBP

* In 2004, EPA designated 104 areas in the East as 8-hour ozone standard nonattainment areas. In 2006, four out of five of the original nonattainment areas now meet the ozone standard. The vast majority of the remaining areas also came closer to attainment.
* The NBP is the most significant contributor among several EPA programs leading to improvements in ozone.

Ozone Season NOx Emissions Have Declined across the Region

* Total NOx Budget Trading Program (NBP) NOx Emissions in 2006 were 491 thousand tons.
* Affected electric generators and large stationary sources in NBP states have reduced ozone season (May 1 - September 30) NOx emissions:
o 74% from 1990 (before implementation of the Clean Air Act Amendments),
o 60% from 2000 (before implementation of the NBP), and
o 7% from 2005.
* The main reason for this has been the NBP, but reductions also occurred due to the Acid Rain NOx Program, CAA Title I RACT, and other state controls.

Sources Achieved a High Level of Compliance

* Compliance in 2006 with the NBP was 99.7%.
* Out of a total of 2,579 units affected by the NBP in 2006, only 4 sources (total of 7 units) were out of compliance:
o 2 sources (with 2 units) from the power sector and
o 2 sources (with 5 units) from the industrial sector.

Decreases in Ozone Have Occurred since Implementation of the NBP

* Ozone concentrations decreased by 5-8% in the NBP region since implementation of the NBP.
* There is a strong association between areas with the greatest reductions in NOx emissions and nearby downwind sites exhibiting the greatest improvements in ozone.
* Areas with the largest NOx emissions reductions include: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency www.epa.gov
Published September 2007
http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/progress/nbp06.html

Looking to save energy, Stanford University is in the process of distributing 7,000 compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) to students returning to campus for the beginning of the fall academic quarter this week.

University officials say it is the largest energy conservation of its kind at an American university.

"If every Stanford student were to replace a 60-watt incandescent bulb with a 13-watt CFL, annual savings would amount to 450,000 kilowatts of electricity, 220,000 pounds of carbon emissions and $50,000 in utility costs," according to Nik Kaestner, sustainability and utilities coordinator for student housing.

The university already has CFLs in ceiling lights in student rooms and hallways. The new program encourages students to use the bulbs in their desk lamps, too.

by Don Kazak
Uploaded: Monday, September 24, 2007, 9:36 AM
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=5893
Palo Alto Online www.paloaltoonline.com

Abstract: Since 1995, the Dutch potato production chain has been hit by several outbreaks of brown rot, a quarantine disease caused by Ralstonia solanacearum race 3, biovar 2. To avoid establishment of brown rot in the potato production chain and avert the consequences on potato export, the Dutch government has implemented an intensive and costly control policy. It is unknown whether this policy is cost-effective. A bio-economic model was developed that can be used to simulate the effect of a control policy on the epidemiology and economic consequences of brown rot in the Dutch potato production chain. Two applications of this model are presented, based on which the potential contribution of the model to cost-effective control of brown rot is discussed.

by A. Breukers 1, W. van der Werf 2, M. Mourits 1 and A. O. Lansink 1
1. Department of Social Sciences, Business Economics Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 8130, 6700 EW Wageningen (Netherlands); e-mail: Annemarie.Breukers@wur.nl,
2. Department of Plant Sciences, Group Crop & Weed Ecology, Wageningen University, PO Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen (Netherlands),
Paper presented at the EPPO Conference on ‘Computer Aids for Plant Protection’ in Wageningen, the Netherlands, 2006-10-17/19

EPPO Bulletin via Blackwell Publishing www.Blackwell-Synergy.com
Volume 37 Issue 2; August, 2007; Pages 391-394
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2338.2007.01142.x

Abstract: This paper provides applications of the integrated assessment (IA) approach in a case study in the Heihe River Basin of Northwest China. Some socio-economic and ecological impact results of forestry land use scenarios are presented in the paper. While seven types of land use scenarios for carbon sequestration purposes were considered for the IA applications, this paper mainly presents impacts of land use scenarios within the Grain for Green (GFG) category [see Yin et al., this volume]. China's national Grain for Green Project was implemented in order to protect and improve ecosystems, while allowing an evolution of agricultural management practices compatible with raising peasants’ incomes.

Zhangye Prefecture, located in the Heihe River Basin of an arid area in Northwest China, was chosen as the investigation site of the IA case study. Based on fundamental orientation theory, the social sustainability impacts of GFG land use options were assessed. Between 2002 and 2004, the GFG project brought US$23.56 million yuan in net income to the prefecture's peasants. Project implementation resulted in a 1.71 Gg increase in net primary productivity (NPP), as well as a 44.36 Gg rise in net ecosystem productivity (NEP). This suggested that, in Zhangye Prefecture, the Grain for Green Project could enhance the sustainability and stability of the local society, increase peasants’ net income, as well as protect and remediate local ecosystems.

Keywords: “Grain for Green” project; Impact assessment; The Heihe River Basin

by H. Peng 1, G. Chenga, Z. Xu 1, Y. Yin 2 and W. Xu 3
1. State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Regions Environment and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou 730000, China; Telephone: +86 931 4967286; fax: +86 931 8273894.
2. AIRD, Environment Canada and Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, Canada
3. Department of Geography, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1K 3M4

Journal of Environmental Management via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com
Volume 85, Issue 3; November, 2007; Pages 774-784
Special Issue: Carbon Sequestration In China's Forest Ecosystems
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2006.09.015

Abstract: This article makes an attempt to answer the three questions of why China is devoting its full effort to promoting a circular economy, what a circular economy is, and how to implement a circular economy in China. The evolutionary process of a circular economy in China, from introduction of the concept and the relevant actions of national decision making to demonstration of the system nationwide, has taken only around 6 years, with strong encouragement from politicians and the urgent need to cope with environmental pollution and a severe shortage of natural resources. The circular economy in China is now being actively implemented at three levels: enterprises, eco-industrial parks, and regions. The consolidated theoretical bases of ecology and economics have helped the circular economy to define its position as a new economic model to effectively resolve the problems of resources and the environment. In this regard, material flow management is naturally a unique planning and management method for implementation of a circular economy, and eco-efficiency is a good indicator to measure circular economic activities. Of particular significance has been initiation of the legislative process for the Circular Economy Law, which is among a number of initiatives developing core policies for a circular economy in China. Stringent enforcement of a set of policies for energy saving and pollution abatement nowadays in China will certainly create an enabling environment for the development of a circular economy.

keywords: circular economy, China, development process and models

by Ren Yong; Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy (PRCEE), State Environmental Protection Administration of China (SEPA), No.1 Yuhui Nanlu Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100029, China; Email: Ren.yong@prcee.org

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management via Springer Japan www.SpringerLink.com
Volume 9, Number 2; September, 2007; Pages 121-129
DOI: 10.1007/s10163-007-0183-z
http://www.springerlink.com/content/91557ugl912721gj/

Abstract: We can find numerous case studies showing eco-efficiency being used as an analytical tool in ecodesign. But, all of these studies show that eco-efficiency being used only as an evaluation tool for design alternatives, not as a tool for the identification of key ecodesign issues. Here, we propose that producer-based eco-efficiency and consumer-based eco-efficiency can be used in identifying key ecodesign issues, which encompass not only the environmental aspects of a product, but also other aspects such as product quality and consumer satisfaction. The applicability of the proposed method was evaluated using 19 digital cameras. The results show that it is possible to identify weak points of a product in relation to the environment, product quality, and consumer satisfaction. Furthermore, it is possible to design a product that is environmentally friendly, while still maintaining a high level of quality and consumer satisfaction.

Keywords: Eco-efficiency; Key ecodesign issues; Quality; Consumer satisfaction; Digital camera

by Pil-Ju Park 1 and Kiyotaka Tahara; Research Center for Life Cycle Assessment, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan; Telephone: +81 29 861 8789; fax: +81 29 861 8118.
1 Present address: Korea Eco-Products Institute, 613-2 Bulgwang-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul 122-706, Korea.

Journal of Cleaner Production via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com
Volume 16, Issue 1; January, 2008; Pages 95-104
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2006.11.003