Search results for "Natural resource economics"
showing 10 items of 189 documents
Supplying small islands with solar, wind and sea wave. An economic approach to find the best energy share
2019
The progressive installation of power plants based on renewable energy sources is improving the sustainability of the energy sector. Despite the availability of commercial solutions, most of the small islands in the world are nowadays affected by a deep dependence on fossil fuels. In this context, the paper investigates the feasibility of an energy mix composed by solar, wind and sea wave, suggesting a sizing approach based on the minimization of the Levelized Cost of Electricity of the entire energy mix. As case study, the Aeolian Islands are presented.
Assessing environmental performance in the European Union: Eco-innovation versus catching-up
2017
Abstract This paper assesses environmental performance in the European Union (EU) using Luenberger productivity indicators, directional distance functions and Data Envelopment Analysis techniques. It considers four indicators of the pressures exerted by economic activity on the environment: global warming, tropospheric ozone formation, acidification and particulate formation. The change in environmental performance from the early 2000s onwards is decomposed at the levels of country and environmental pressure, and as the result of eco-innovations and catching-up with the best available environmental technologies; furthermore, we distinguish between the periods of economic growth (2001–07) an…
Perspectives and challenges of small scale plant microalgae cultivation. Evidences from Southern Italy
2020
Abstract In recent years, the cultivation of algae has achieved attention of scientists and practicioniers due to the great variety of products that can be obtained, among which biofuels. The aim of this work is twofold. The first is to perform a profitability analysis of food and biofuel production from microalgae, in a small-scale setting. The second is to assess the economic impact of algae production systems on the dairy farms potentially interested in Southern Italy. The analysis was performed using financial and economic indicators and considering two system management scenarios, namely single and collective. Our results confirm that current microalgae production technology favors bio…
Bioenergy Production and Social Sustainability on Finnish Farms
2011
Problems related to energy production have become a significant social issue, also regarding rural areas. There is an apparent need to establish a model for sustainable energy production that would encompass economic, environmental and social sustainability (Elliott 2000). One important solution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, as well as addressing the depletion of fossil fuel resources, lies in the renewable natural resources that exist in rural areas. However, sustainable and reasonable utilization of these resources is not simple and requires specific analysis of different production models (Mol 2007). Simultaneously, one must consider how these rural resources can be utilized and …
Green energy products in the United Kingdom, Germany and Finland
2014
In liberalized electricity markets, suppliers are offering several kinds of voluntary green electricity products marketed as environmentally friendly. This paper focuses on the development of these voluntary markets at household level in the UK, Germany and Finland. Since there are already existing renewable energy policies regulating and encouraging the use of renewable energy, it is important to consider whether voluntary products offer real additional benefits above these policies. Problems such as double counting or re-marketing hydropower produced in existing plants are identified. According to our study, the demand varies between countries: in Germany the number of green electricity c…
Les études hédoniques soutiennent-elles une valeur verte élevée dans le bâtiment ? Une réponse par la méta-analyse
2018
International audience; La place majeure occupée par le secteur du bâtiment dans la consommation d'énergie (40%) et les émissions de gaz à effet de serre (1/3 des émissions) explique le développement du débat scientifique axé sur la réduction de l'impact environnemental du bâtit et sur ses leviers. Ces dernières années ont notamment vu croitre une littérature considérable relative à la disposition à payer du public pour les bâtiments « verts » labélisés par des écolabels, cette « valeur verte » étant estimée dans la grande majorité des études via des modèles hédoniques. Dans cet article, nous proposons d'offrir une synthèse de ces résultats dans le cadre d'une méta-analyse portant sur plus …
Climate variability, innovation and firm performance: evidence from the European agricultural sector
2021
Abstract It is generally accepted that adaptation to climate variability requires a technological advancement strategy. However, the innovation process has received little explicit consideration in this framework. We employ a panel endogenous switching regression model to explore whether and to what extent climate variability affects firm performance through the ability to induce the development of adaptation innovations in key resource-based sectors in Europe during the period 2007–2017. Our findings confirm that the knowledge generation process at the heart of climate change adaptation technologies enhances firm performance, especially for firms in the aquaculture and fishing sub-sectors …
A convergent validity test within the payment card format using simulation techniques
2019
International audience; A convergent validity test is performed between two groups of versions of the payment card format. The first group, the classic payment card (CPC), asks respondents to report their willingness to pay (WTP) as a point from a list of amounts, and then treats each WTP response as an interval. The second group generates WTP data that may contain both single point and interval values. It includes the two-way-payment ladder (TWPL) (respondents have to tick amounts they would definitely pay and cross amounts they would definitely not pay), and point-interval payment card (PIPC) (respondents have to tick their WTP as either a point or an interval). The test is conducted usin…
Disease dispersion as a spatial interaction: The case of Flavescence Dorée
2020
International audience; Flavescence dorée is a serious and incurable vine disease transmitted by an insect vector. Focusing on its spatial diffusion and on its control with pesticides, this paper investigates the private strategies of wine producers and their socially optimal counterparts. The socially optimal regulation has to address two externalities regarding private treatment decisions: (a) the insufficient consideration of collective benefits from controlling the vector populations; (b) the failure to take into account environmental damage related to pesticide application. The probability of infection is estimated on French data from a spatial econometric specification. Three alternat…
L'articulation des usages diagnostique et interactif d'un seul et même système de contrôle de gestion : le cas d'un système d'indicateurs environneme…
2013
With the conceptual framework of control levers of Simons (1995), this article shows how to coordinate diagnostic and interactive uses of the same "management control system" (in this case a system of environmental indicators) for the deployment and the emergence of new strategies. In contrast to the literature, we propose an articulation "in parallel" of levers of control as alternative to sliding levers of control. These results are obtained from a case study in a French wine and spirits subject to large strategic environmental uncertainties.