Break-even Price Research Articles

Comparative Analysis of Income and Feasibility of Rice Farming Jajar Legowo in Tasuk Village, Sub District Gunung Tabur, Berau Regency

The research aims to determine productivity, income, feasibility, and break-even price for milled dry unhulled rice in lowland rice farming using the jajar legowo 5:1 system and the jajar legowo 6:1 system. The research was carried out from May–August 2022 in Tasuk Village, Gunung Tabur District, Berau Regency, East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. The determination of the research location was carried out purposively based on the consideration that this village is one of the potential agricultural areas in lowland rice farming, namely as one of the lowland rice producing centers in Berau Regency. Data collection was carried out by interviewing farmers using questionnaires. The total population in this study was 28 respondents obtained from the "Slovin" calculation consisting of 14 farmers who carried out lowland rice farming using the jajar legowo 5:1 system and 14 farmers who carried out lowland rice farming using the jajar legowo 6:1 system. Data analysis methods, namely; statistical analysis of the difference between the means of two independent samples (independent t-test), productivity, break-even price (BEP), and analysis of farming feasibility (R/C ratio). The results of the research show that there is no significant difference between rice farming income from the jajar legowo 5:1 system and the jajar legowo 6:1 system, the average productivity of the jajar legowo 5:1 and 6:1 systems is 4,096.94 Kg ha-1 and 2,948.98 Kg.ha-1. The average BEP price for the jajar legowo system 5:1 and 6:1 are IDR Kg-1 5,268 and IDR Kg-1 5,765. The average R/C ratio values for the jajar legowo 5:1 and 6:1 systems are 2.06 and 1.84.

Designing profitable supply chains for lithium-ion battery recycling in the United States

<abstract> <p>Recycling spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has attracted lots of attention recently, due to the increasing demand for critical materials contained in LIBs, putting high pressure on their geological reserves. We evaluated the potential of bioleaching technology as a sustainable solution for recycling spent LIBs to help inform decision-making processes for stakeholders involved in LIB recycling supply chains. A supply chain model was developed to include required upstream processes with the objective of maximizing economic feasibility of LIB recycling through the technology. The model has been applied to the U.S. and an optimal supply chain configuration was identified, considering the major factors affecting the economic viability of the technology. The net present value of the supply chain was estimated to be ＄18.4 billion for operating over 10 years, achieving the maximum processing capacity of 900,000 tons of black mass per year. The economic viability of the technology was identified to be highly sensitive to the cost associated with purchasing black mass, which accounted for more than 60% of the total supply chain cost. The breakeven price of black mass was identified as ＄8.7/kg over which the supply chain was not economically sustainable. Additionally, we examined the non-cooperative scenarios where each tier tries to maximize its own profit to demonstrate how the overall profitability of the supply chain changes with different pricing strategies of sortation facilities and acid producers. We estimated that the maximum prices of non-recyclable paper and acid that the supply chain could tolerate were ＄0.89/kg and ＄8.5/kg, respectively, beyond which the supply chain was no longer sustainable.</p> </abstract>

Co-pyrolysis of sewage sludge and biomass waste into biofuels and biochar: A comprehensive feasibility study using a circular economy approach

Enormous annual sewage sludge (SS) volumes pose global environmental challenges owing to contamination and significant greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we investigated the economic viability of co-pyrolyzing SS and biomass waste to produce biofuels (bio-oil and gas) and biochar. Net present worth (NPW) analysis, the sale product break-even price, and sludge handling price (SHP) were used to determine the profitability of co-pyrolysis compared with SS pyrolysis alone and conventional treatment methods. In this study, the sale prices of biochar based on quality (i.e., stability, carbon sequestration effectiveness, and heavy metal content) were estimated to be 2.24, 1.44, and 0.98 CAD/kg for high-, medium-, and low-grade biochar. The bio-oil prices, estimated based on the higher heating values of bio-oil and diesel, ranged from 0.80 to 1.22 CAD/kg. Sawdust (SD) and wheat straw (WS) were the chosen co-pyrolysis feedstocks, with four mixing ratios (20, 40, 60, and 80 wt%). Economically, SD (40 wt% mixing ratio) co-pyrolysis achieved the best performance, with a maximum NPW of 8.71 million CAD. SD single and co-pyrolysis were the only profitable scenarios. Moreover, SS single pyrolysis and WS co-pyrolysis exhibited higher profitability than conventional SS treatment methods, with SHPs of 65 and 40 CAD/1000 kg dry sludge, respectively. Sensitivity analysis highlighted the dependence of economic performance on biochar and bio-oil market value. This study offers the first economic analysis of this approach and enhances our understanding of the potential of co-pyrolysis for biofuel and biochar production, providing innovative solutions for the environmental challenges of SS disposal.

Synthetic natural gas (SNG) production with higher carbon recovery from biomass: Techno-economic assessment

Due to the growth in the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in the power generation sector worldwide and their intermittency, storage of surplus electricity is needed. The technology known as Power to X (PtX) facilitates the extended storage of excess electricity by converting it into gaseous or liquid fuels such as hydrogen, methane, ammonia, or methanol. This study examines the potential of synthetic natural gas (SNG) technology as a viable energy storage solution. The paper introduces three distinct SNG production systems, all of which are based onthe processes of biomass gasification and methanation. Case 1 assumes further CO2 capture from generated SNG, and Cases 2 and 3 additionally assume hydrogen production and almost complete CO2 utilization by syngas hydrogenation via the methanation process. The methanation process converts syngas and hydrogen into SNG with a high methane content (>90 vol% dry), that can be injected into the natural gas grid. The thermodynamic and economic potential of SNG production systems is presented in this work. The simulations were conducted using the AspenONE software. The methanation process was analyzed for various design conditions such as methanation temperature and pressure, and different H2:CO, and H2:CO2 ratios. The estimated cold gas efficiency of proposed SNG production systems varies from 63.27% to 77.10% and can be increased up to about 69.10–75.58% when the recovery of heat from methanation is considered. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine the break-even price of SNG, considering different scenarios for the costs of feedstock, specifically biomass and electricity. The results indicate that under the most optimistic conditions, the break-even price of SNG is estimated to be 115 €/MWhSNG, 58€/MWhSNG and 67 €/MWhSNG for Cases 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

Process modelling for industrial scale polyhydroxybutyrate production using fructose, formic acid and CO2: Assessing carbon sources and economic viability

Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a biodegradable polymer that has potential to replace petroleum-derived plastics. However, the commercialisation of PHB is hindered by high production costs. In this study, the material flow and economics of an industrial scale PHB production process using fructose, formic acid and carbon dioxide (CO2) as carbon sources were simulated and analysed. The lowest breakeven price of 3.64 $/kg PHB was obtained when fructose was utilized as carbon source. When formic acid and CO2 were used, the breakeven price was 10.30 and 10.24 $/kg PHB due to raw material cost, respectively. Although using formic acid and CO2 is more expensive, they meet the emerging sustainable needs for plastic production and contribute to the circular economy via CO2 fixation. This study suggests that the use of formic acid and CO2 as feedstock for PHB production has potential to become competitive in the bioplastic market with further research.

Stochastic financial analysis of diesel generation extension vs investment in hybrid photovoltaic-diesel-battery in a microgrid in the Amazon indigenous community

Due to environmental, operational, and regional restrictions, Brazil still has a lot of communities that do not have an integrated electricity supply, however, the government aims to promote universal access to electricity in the country. In this way, diesel oil generators are the main electricity source for these isolated indigenous communities, but in the generation expansion planning, renewable energy sources are an important way to promote a more sustainable generation in these Amazon regions. This article aims to present an economic analysis based on a Cost-Effectiveness Analysis and Cost-Benefit Analysis, using the Monte Carlo Simulation that compares the extension of the diesel capacity versus a PV-diesel-battery (PVDB) system in the Maruwai indigenous community that is located in the state of Roraima (Brazil). The photovoltaic system and the battery storage system are considered an alternative instead of repowering the electricity supply of the increase in on-site diesel generator operation. The results show that the diesel breakeven price is far below the current diesel oil spot price, which indicates that the hybrid system with photovoltaic cells and batteries is more economically feasible. In turn, the stochastic analysis, the results indicate that the hybrid PVDB system is economically attractive, but needs political incentives to mitigate the uncertainties about the average return for the investor.

Environmental External Production Costs of Extracts Derived from Poplar-Containing Bioactive Substances

The bioeconomy needs new, economically feasible products obtained from biological raw materials via sustainable processes having the smallest possible impact on the environment. The objectives of our study have been: (i) to make an evaluation of the external costs of the production of a poplar extract containing bioactive substances by supercritical extraction; (ii) to make a comparison of the internal and external costs of extract production; (iii) to determine the total life cycle costs (LCCs) of the extract and the break-even prices (BEPs) in two business models. In the first business model (BM I), the only commercial product was the extract, while pellets were used for their own energy purposes. In the second business model (BM II), both the extract and pellets were marketable products. Out of the two analyzed business models, lower external costs and, consequently, lower total costs were achieved in BM I (LCC €259 kg−1) than in BM II (LCC €267 kg−1). However, the profitability analysis showed that BM II was more profitable (BEP €313 kg−1) than BM I (BEP €359 kg−1). The inclusion of the external costs of poplar extract production by supercritical extraction has a significant impact on increasing the production profitability threshold. An analysis of a situation where electricity was replaced with the EU mix (the European Union mix) generated with a higher share of RES (renewable energy sources) showed that the externalities were lowered. A substantial decrease in the external costs at the supercritical extraction stage was reflected in the lower values of the total cost of extract production, LCC, and BEP, hence, attesting to less damage to the natural environment.

Accounting for forest fire risks: global insights for climate change mitigation

Fire is an important risk in global forest loss and contributed 20% to 25% of the global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions between 1997 and 2016. Forest fire risks will increase with climate change in some locations, but existing estimates of the costs of using forests for climate mitigation do not yet fully account for these risks or how these risks change inter-temporally. To quantify the importance of forest fire risks, we undertook a global study of individual country fire risks, combining economic datasets and global remote sensing data from 2001 to 2020. Our estimates of forest fire risk premia better account for the risk of forest burning that would be additional to the risk-free and break-even price of credits or offsets to promote carbon sequestration and storage in forests. Our results show the following: (1) forest fire risk premia can be much larger than the historical forest area burned; (2) for some countries, forest fire risk premia have a large impact on the relative country-level break-even price of carbon credits or offsets; (3) a large spatial and inter-temporal heterogeneity of forest fires across countries between 2001 and 2020; and (4) the importance of properly incorporating forest fire risk premia into carbon credits/offset programs. As part of our analysis, and to emphasise the possible sub-national scale differences, our results highlight the heterogeneity in fire risk premia across 10 Canadian provinces.

Strategic, Economic, and Potency Assessment of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) Development in the Tidal Swamplands of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

The potency and challenges of sorghum development in tidal swamplands in Indonesia have yet to be well studied. Thus, our study is the first to evaluate the land suitability, economic performance, and strategies for developing sorghum in the tidal swamplands in Central Kalimantan. We use the land suitability evaluation method, a gross margin and profit analysis, a break-even analysis, and a competitive analysis as the methods for assessing the potency and utilization of sorghum in this study. As a tool for decision-making, SWOT was also used, followed by a quantitative strategic planning matrix (QSPM) analysis. The results show that 578,511 ha of arable land is suitable for sorghum development. Economically, sorghum farming can generate IDR 12,894,000 per ha with a revenue-cost ratio of 1.72; the break-even price would be IDR 2447 per kg, around 42% lower than the current market price. Sorghum is also more competitive than cassava (Q = 0.76), sweet potato (Q = 0.58), and soybeans (Q = 0.61) and less competitive than maize (Q = 1.33). Based on the QSPM analysis, five alternative strategies were obtained for developing sorghum in tidal swamplands: (1) optimization of productivity; (2) improvement in the quality of human resources for farmers; (3) facilitation of partnership cooperation; (4) application of site-specific technology; and (5) optimization of waste utilization. These strategies show that the expansion of sorghum planting has potential in the tidal swamplands and economic value for the community.

Socio- and techno-economic analyses of biodiesel production from sewage sludge in Tokyo, Japan

Biodiesel, a promising eco-friendly alternative to diesel, faces a major obstacle in the form of high feedstock costs (50%–70%) for production. Sewage sludge (SS) as a viable feedstock for biodiesel production was recognized due to its abundance, consistent availability, and low cost. However, certain limitations, such as pretreatment and drying, are challenging. This study assessed biodiesel production costs from dewatered and wet SS in Japan, utilizing Aspen Plus for simulations. Estimated costs are 0.09 USD/kg and 0.084 USD/kg for dewatered and wet SS, respectively. Biodiesel prices and cost-influencing factors are analyzed, revealing a potential break-even price as low as 540 USD/t (70% below market price) with a positive net value of 8331 USD. Remarkably, producing biodiesel from SS is found to be nine times cheaper than Japan's current biodiesel production cost. The proposed SS biorefinery strategy, integrated within Japanese WWTPs, is a notable outcome. But the limitations and uncertainties that may affect these results are also highlighted for the reader's consideration.

Production of volatile fatty acids by anaerobic digestion of biowastes: Techno-economic and life cycle assessments

Production of volatile fatty acids from food waste and lignocellulosic materials has potential to avoid emissions from their production from petrochemicals and provide valuable feedstocks. Techno-economic and life cycle assessments of using food waste and grass to produce volatile fatty acids through anaerobic digestion have been conducted. Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis for both assessments were done to enable a robust forecast of key-aspects of the technology deployment at industrial scale. Results show low environmental impact of volatile fatty acid with food wastes being the most beneficial feedstock with global warming potential varying from −0.21 to 0.01 CO2 eq./kg of product. Food wastes had the greatest economic benefit with a breakeven selling price of 1.11–1.94 GBP/kg (1.22–2.33 USD) of volatile fatty acids in the product solution determined through sensitivity analysis. Anaerobic digestion of wastes is therefore a promising alternative to traditional volatile fatty acid production routes, providing economic and environmental benefits.

Techno-economic assessment of an autothermal poly-generation process involving pyrolysis, gasification and SOFC for olive kernel valorization

The present work elaborates on the simulation and techno-economic analysis of a proposed MW-scale hybrid scheme that enables the production of different marketable products (i.e., electric energy and bio-oil) from the thermochemical exploitation of olive kernel residual biomass. In this regard, detailed calculations for mass and energy balances, process simulation in Aspen Plus and economic analysis with complementary sensitivity scenarios were conducted, with the aim to model and assses the feasibility of an integrated process for electricity and crude bio-oil co-generation via subsequent stages of biomass pyrolysis, bio-char gasification, syngas-fed SOFC and steam turbine. Notably, it was demonstrated that the provision of 20 tn/day of raw olive kernel resulted in a net electricity generation of 1685 kWel as well as production of 3.4 tn/day of bio-oil, without the need for external heating. Equally importantly, the overall electric efficiency and the combined bio-oil/power co-generation efficiency of the integrated process were equal to 46.8% and 77.0%, respectively, being amongst the highest values reported in relevant works. Moreover, economic analysis revealed that syngas clean-up and SOFC units account for 75% of the total fixed capital investment as well as for 62% of the annual operation costs. Nonetheless, increased unit cost is largely counterbalanced by the fact that electricity generation accounts for ∼85% of total profits. Also, it was found that the proposed venture is not profitable considering current market values for electricity and bio-oil. However, sensitivity analysis revealed that a main equipment cost reduction of 70% is a prerequisite for the break-even electricity price to attain the current market values. Moreover, profitability can be marginally improved further by accounting for a state subsidization of more than half of the initial investment and by the increase of the crude bio-oil price at 700 €/tn.

Comparing Life-Cycle Emissions of Biofuels for Marine Applications: Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Wet Wastes, Pyrolysis of Wood, Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis of Landfill Gas, and Solvolysis of Wood.

Recent restrictions on marine fuel sulfur content and a heightened regulatory focus on maritime decarbonization are driving the deployment of low-carbon and low-sulfur alternative fuels for maritime transport. In this study, we quantified the life-cycle greenhouse gas and sulfur oxide emissions of several novel marine biofuel candidates and benchmarked the results against the emissions reduction targets set by the International Maritime Organization. A total of 11 biofuel pathways via four conversion processes are considered, including (1) biocrudes derived from hydrothermal liquefaction of wastewater sludge and manure, (2) bio-oils from catalytic fast pyrolysis of woody biomass, (3) diesel via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis of landfill gas, and (4) lignin ethanol oil from reductive catalytic fractionation of poplar. Our analysis reveals that marine biofuels' life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions range from -60 to 56 gCO2e MJ-1, representing a 41-163% reduction compared with conventional low-sulfur fuel oil, thus demonstrating a considerable potential for decarbonizing the maritime sector. Due to the net-negative carbon emissions from their life cycles, all waste-based pathways showed over 100% greenhouse gas reduction potential with respect to low-sulfur fuel oil. However, while most biofuel feedstocks have a naturally occurring low-sulfur content, the waste feedstocks considered here have higher sulfur content, requiring hydrotreating prior to use as a marine fuel. Combining the break-even price estimates from a published techno-economic analysis, which was performed concurrently with this study, the marginal greenhouse gas abatement cost was estimated to range from -$120 to $370 tCO2e-1 across the pathways considered. Lower marginal greenhouse gas abatement costs were associated with waste-based pathways, while higher marginal greenhouse gas abatement costs were associated with the other biomass-based pathways. Except for lignin ethanol oil, all candidates show the potential to be competitive with a carbon credit of $200 tCO2e-1 in 2016 dollars, which is within the range of prices recently received in connection with California's low-carbon fuel standard.

Economic analysis of enzyme recycling during enzymatic hydrolysis of sugar beets for soluble sugars production

AbstractEnzymatic hydrolysis of sugar beets is an efficient alternative to conventional hot water extraction where overall soluble extraction is valued. The economic analysis of a sugar beet soluble sugar production plant was designed and developed using SuperPro Designer software. The commercial scale operation was sized to process 100 million metric ton (MT)/day of sugar beets. The base case process includes transportation, grinding, thermal pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, solid–liquid separation, and evaporation. The final product from the model was assumed to be a sugar syrup stream at 65% total solids content. Since the breakeven selling price was sensitive to the cost of enzymes, alternative scenario A added an ultrafiltration unit operation to separate the enzymes and reuse them in subsequent batches of hydrolysis. Steam was another major contributor to the operating cost. Alternative scenario B included a natural gas boiler to generate steam from biogas produced from a co‐located dairy manure digester. The breakeven selling price of the sugar syrup from the base case, alternative scenario A, and alternative scenario B were $965, $911, and $955 per metric ton, respectively. Sensitivity analysis showed that the breakeven selling price is sensitive to the raw material cost, especially for the pectic enzymes.

Have Offshore Operators Cracked the Code on How To Successfully Run a Megaproject?

_ Offshore oil and gas companies have been told for years that when it comes to delivering on megaprojects, they’re not doing that great of a job. The experts have pilloried piecemeal approaches to contracting and scheduling, blaming them for cost inefficiencies and delays. Analysts have raised concerns that the various teams involved are too siloed, or not brought into the fold at the right time. And lamented on from many a conference podium are the rarely realized benefits of standardization. However, two recent case studies from different sides of the Atlantic suggest that large offshore producers have paid heed to these issues. At this year’s Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Equinor and Murphy Oil Corp. shared details about their latest multibillion‑dollar projects. In separate conference papers the companies said they avoided overengineering new production systems by trying to borrow the blueprints from existing facilities. They also claim to have fully embraced the idea of integrated teamwork and proactive project execution. For Equinor, the result is known as the Johan Sverdrup field which stands in roughly 375 ft of water on the Norwegian continental shelf. Output from the project’s phase one and two facilities topped out in May at 755,000 B/D with one of the industry’s lowest breakeven prices of less than $20/bbl. Meanwhile, Murphy is celebrating the new King’s Quay floating production system (FPS) which delivered first oil less than 3 years after sanctioning. The three‑reservoir deepwater Gulf of Mexico project also bested expectations as it ramped up to 100,000 B/D within its first year of operation. Highlights from these case studies and the strategies that led to successful outcomes are below. Johan Sverdrup: A European Giant In May, Equinor’s Johan Sverdrup field soared past its originally planned nameplate capacity of 720,000 B/D as it hit a plateau rate of 755,000 B/D. The peak figure represents about 7% of European crude demand. The milestone for the majority‑state‑owned oil company came a little over 6 months after it completed a $4.4‑billion phase two expansion project. In OTC 32552, authors from Equinor outline the key strategic decisions that enabled the company to deliver the 29‑well phase two project on time and under budget despite pandemic‑related barriers, equipment failures, and employee strikes. Keep Contractors Close. Equinor emphasized the role of its newest iteration of integrated teamwork—or what it calls the “one team” approach. Vibeke Lossius, a coauthor and project manager for Equinor, described the idea as the glue that held together the operator with its global network of contractors and suppliers. “Our philosophy was that if one fails, we all fail,” she said. “So, it was important to us that the contractors succeeded.” The one team approach grew out of phase one but only involved Equinor’s team leaders. Then as the operator began phase two, it pushed harder to align its goals more closely with those of its contracting partners, which meant bringing them into the tent.

Correlations between component size green hydrogen demand and breakeven price for energy islands

The topic of energy islands is currently a focal point in the push for the energy transition. An ambitious project in the North Sea aims to build an offshore wind-powered electrolyser for green hydrogen production. Power-to-X (PtX) is a process of converting renewable electricity into hydrogen-based energy carriers, such as natural gas, liquid fuels and chemicals. PtH2 represents a subset of PtX, wherein hydrogen is the resultant green energy from the conversion process. Many uncertainties surround PtH2 plants, affecting the economic success of the investment and making the price of hydrogen and the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) of this technology uncompetitive. Several studies have analysed PtH2 layouts to identify the hydrogen price without considering how component capacities and external inputs affect the breakeven price. Unlike previous works, this paper investigates component capacity dependencies under variables such as wind and hydrogen demand shape for dedicated/non-dedicated system layouts. To this end, the techno-economic analysis finds the breakeven price, optimising the components to reach the lowest selling price. Results show that the hydrogen price can reach 2.2 €/kg for a non-dedicated system for certain combinations of maximum demand and electrolyser capacity. Furthermore, the LCOH analysis revealed that the offshore wind electrolyser system is currently uncompetitive with hydrogen production from carbon-based technologies but is competitive with renewable technologies.The sensitivity analysis reveals the green electricity price in the non-dedicated case for which a dedicated system has a lower optimum hydrogen price. The price limit for the dedicated case is 116 €/MWh.

Cost Analysis of Using Cover Crops in Citrus Production

Florida has a long association with citrus (Citrus sp.) production. However, the citrus industry in Florida has been devastated by Huanglongbing (HLB) or citrus greening disease (Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus). HLB affects the citrus tree phloem and eventually causes tree death. Cover crops, or noncash crops, have traditionally been used in row crop production to improve soil organic matter, for nitrogen fixing, and for weed control. Citrus growers may benefit from adopting cover crops because healthier soils could improve yields and fruit quality of citrus trees. However, growers are uncertain about the costs and benefits associated with cover crop investments. The objective of our study was to analyze whether cover crops represent an economically feasible option for Florida citrus growers. We calculated the break-even prices for ‘Valencia’ and non-‘Valencia’ oranges (Citrus sinensis) in terms of price per box (equivalent to 90 lb of oranges in Florida) and price per pound solids per box (amount of soluble solids per box of oranges) by considering additional costs and short-term savings from using cover crops across various yield and quality scenarios based on the past 10 years of data. Considering the short-term savings from adopting cover crops, the per-acre cost of production increased by $107.3/acre or by 5.73% and constituted 5.42% of the total production cost during the first year of adoption. After the 2018–19 peak, the yield and quality for both ‘Valencia’ and non-‘Valencia’ oranges have decreased steadily. Adopting cover crops in the current yield–quality scenario will not be profitable for either ‘Valencia’ or non-‘Valencia’ oranges. However, for ‘Valencia’ oranges, at the median yield and quality levels of 193.5 boxes/acre and 6.08 lb solids/box, respectively, cover crop adoption would be profitable because the break-even price of $2.25/lb solids would be comparable to the market prices of the past 5 years.

PIN RISK IN OPTION SPREAD STRATEGIES

ABSTRACT Of the two ways to form the bull spread and of the two ways to form the bear spread, two of these four ways will result in non-trivial pin risk, which forcibly assigns investors the underlying shares they originally do not intend to buy or sell. Incidentally, both ways that give rise to the pin risk are credit spreads when initiated. Major investment textbooks, that ignore the existence of the pin risk, mislead their readers into believing the deterministic values of the maximum gain, maximum loss, and the breakeven stock price at maturity. The DNE (do not exercise) option available to debit spread investors offers only limited optimal exit strategy. This note attempts to highlight pin risk in option spread strategies and hopes to narrow the gap between theory and practice. Keywords Pin risk, investors, strategy

Comparative techno-economic analysis of the integration of MEA-based scrubbing and silica PEI adsorbent-based CO2 capture processes into cement plants

The objective of this work was to perform the techno-economic analysis for the integration of two post-combustion carbon capture technologies into cement plants, namely monoethanolamine (MEA) scrubbing-based and silica-alkoxylated polyethyleneimine (SPEI) adsorbent-based processes. The key performance indicators were investigated, including emission abatement, energy performance, break-even selling price, CO2 capture and avoidance cost. The technical evaluation showed that the conventional MEA and SPEI-based processes required 3.53 GJ/tonne CO2 and 2.36 GJ/tonne CO2 of regeneration energy when achieving 90% of CO2 capture rate, respectively. In addition, the specific primary energy consumption for CO2 avoided was estimated at 6.5 GJ/tonne CO2 for the MEA-based and 4.3 GJ/tonne CO2 for the SPEI-based process. The CO2 capture costs of MEA and SPEI-based processes were estimated at 61.4 and 49.8 €/tonne CO2, respectively. Meanwhile, the CO2 avoidance cost of MEA and SPEI processes were estimated at 84.7 and 62.2 €/tonne CO2 respectively. The economic evaluation indicated that the cost of clinker production was increased by 108% with the integration of the solvent-based MEA-based and 84% for the SPEI-based processes. However, in the case, the maximum heat of 53.9 MWth is recovered from the reference cement plant, the costs of CO2 capture and CO2 avoidance for both the MEA and SPEI-based processes would be reduced. The CO2 capture costs of MEA and SPEI-based processes would decrease to 48.0 and 35.6 €/tonne CO2, respectively. Additionally, the CO2 avoidance costs for the MEA and SPEI-based processes would be reduced to 57.5 and 44.5 €/tonne CO2, respectively.

ANALISIS KELAYAKAN USAHA PEMBENIHAN IKAN KOI (CYPRINUS CARPIO) DI BALAI BENIH IKAN (BBI) BATU KUMBUNG, KECAMATAN LINGSAR

Koi fish (Cyprinus carpio) is one of the potential freshwater ornamental fish commodities that can be cultivated. This freshwater ornamental fish has several advantages, including easy maintenance, ability to survive in low oxygen water, and ability to produce high-quality eggs. The purpose of this research is to assess the feasibility of the breeding activities conducted at BBI Batu Kumbung through economic analysis. The research method used in this study is "Descriptive Comparative Method". Based on the research findings the economic analysis conducted includes assumptions, Total Costs Rp. 39.304.000, Sales Revenue Per Cycle Rp. 64.200.000, Income Per Cycle Rp. 24.896.000, R/C Ratio 1.63, Break-Even Point Price Rp. 1.224 per fish, Break-Even Point Production 19.652 and Payback Period 6.3 months. Based on the business analysis, the production of koi fish seeds at BBI Batu Kumbung can be considered feasible and has the potential for development, as it can provide good profits with a good Return on Investment (ROI).