Environmental Cost-benefit Analysis Research Articles

An environmental cost-benefit analysis of organic and non-organic sheep farming in Iceland

This paper presents an environmental cost-benefit analysis (CBA) comparing organic and non-organic sheep farming in Iceland over three decades. Environmental life cycle costing (ELCC) is the basis for the aggregate cost framework, encompassing costs for investment, operations, maintenance, and environmental externalities. Greenhouse gas emissions are included as an external cost as they relate to the monetization of damages to society. Net present value (NPV) and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) indicators reveal both systems as unprofitable over thirty years with and without subsidies. Depending on the discount rate, the organic farm's BCR ranges from 0.26 to 0.38, with a NPV between (-2.4) and (-1.1) million euros. The non-organic farm's BCR ranges from 0.12 to 0.19, with NPV between (-8.6) and (-3.7) million euros. Greenhouse gas emission costs constitute 28% and 33% of total life cycle costs for organic and non-organic farms. Across three discount rates, the LCC and ELCC per kilogram of organic lamb ranged between €13.78 – 25.27 and €18.23 – 37.07, respectively. The LCC and ELCC per kilogram of non-organic lamb ranged between €9.75 – 18.05 and €13.80 – 28.82, respectively. Due to a shortened value chain, organic sheep farming demonstrated revenue advantages as compared to non-organic. The external cost of greenhouse gas emissions from sheep farming forms a significant portion of lifetime costs suggesting that policymakers could incentivize organic practices aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, this study provides a deeper understanding of the long-term economic prospectivity of sheep farming under different production approaches.

Multi-scale techno-economic assessment of nitrogen recovery systems for livestock operations

Intensive livestock farming generates vast amounts of organic materials, which are an important source of nitrogen releases. These anthropogenic nitrogen releases contribute to multiple environmental problems, including eutrophication of water systems, contamination of drinking water sources, and greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrogen recovery and recycling are technically feasible, and there exists a number of processes for nitrogen recovery from livestock material in the form of different products. In this work, a multi-scale techno-economic assessment of techniques for nitrogen recovery and recycling is performed. The assessment includes a material flow analysis of each process, from material collection to final treatment, to determine nitrogen recovery efficiency, losses, and recovery cost, as well as an environmental cost-benefit analysis to compare the nitrogen recovery cost versus the economic losses derived from its uncontrolled release into the environment. The results show that transmembrane chemisorption process results in the lowest recovery cost, 3.4-10.4 USD per kilogram of nitrogen recovered in the range of studied processing scales. The recovery of nitrogen from livestock material through three technologies, i.e., transmembrane chemisorption, MAPHEX, and stripping in packed bed, reveales to be cost-effective. Since the economic losses due to the harmful effects of nitrogen into the environment are estimated at 32-35 USD per kilogram of nitrogen released, nitrogen recycling is an environmentally and economically beneficial approach to reduce nutrient pollution caused by livestock operations.

Are Aquavoltaics Investable? A Framework for Economic and Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis

Aquaculture has long been a significant industry in Taiwan, contributing significantly to the country’s GDP through both exports and domestic consumption. However, certain aquaculture practices have faced criticism due to their heavy groundwater usage, resulting in environmental damage such as land subsidence in the southwestern region of Taiwan. In order to change the industry’s negative environmental image and achieve the ambitious targets set by the Taiwanese government, including 20 GW of solar photovoltaic power by 2025 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the utilization of aquaculture lands, particularly aquaculture ponds, has emerged as a promising option for solar power development. As the government promotes the symbiosis of aquaculture and solar PV power to attain its renewable energy goals, various stakeholders have engaged in discussions surrounding this approach. Consequently, it is crucial to assess the costs and benefits of such integrated practices from both economic and environmental perspectives, as it will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the industry. A comparative analysis reveals that an aquaculture–electricity symbiosis with a capacity of 227 MW can further reduce carbon emissions by approximately 150,393.6 tons of CO2e per year, along with reductions of 56.8 tons/year of SOx, 82.3 tons/year of NOx, 3.7 tons/year of PM2.5, and 4.6 tons/year of PM10. These environmental benefits are equivalent to approximately TWD 7626.43 million annually. (Note: CO2e refers to carbon dioxide equivalent, SOx refers to sulfur oxides, NOx refers to nitrogen oxides, PM2.5 refers to fine particulate matter, and PM10 refers to particulate matter with a diameter of 10 μm or less).

In-Lake Mechanisms for Manganese Control—A Systematic Literature Review

An elevated concentration of manganese (Mn) in lakes is a common water quality problem faced by many water utilities. Thermal stratification is a natural phenomenon that influences the Mn concentration in lakes and can exacerbate Mn accumulation in surface water without external loading sources. While several treatment methods can be utilized to treat Mn in drinking water treatment plants, in-lake control mechanisms can be a proactive and efficient strategy for Mn control by reducing water treatment complexities and costs. Despite previous research pointing to the benefits of in-lake Mn control, the feasibility and effectiveness of the various in-lake Mn control mechanisms in lakes in different environmental conditions remains unclear. To identify and consolidate the existing research on the topic, a comprehensive, systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted. The SLR identified case studies of in-lake Mn control mechanisms in thermally stratified lakes. The identified case studies were grouped into three categories based on their goals: identification of Mn behaviour in lakes, built engineering implementations and digital solutions for process optimization and anticipation. It is critical that a site-specific understanding of Mn dynamics is obtained before implementing any built or digital solutions, because lake specific dynamics can significantly impact a solution’s performance. While most reviewed mechanisms were successful in decreasing high Mn concentrations, a lack of financial and environmental cost–benefit analyses for most in-lake Mn control mechanisms was observed, which is crucial for their adoption by water authorities. The rationale of this SLR provides a summary of the benefits and limitations of the most common in-lake Mn control mechanisms, the enabling the conditions for their implementation, and the knowledge gaps and future direction for research on the topic, being valuable to support informed decision-making by water authorities managing waterbodies with high Mn concentrations.

Ex ante Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis of an anaerobic digester in Italy

The end-use valorisation of food waste (FW) and biowaste is currently being focused on biofuels and bioproducts production through different technologies. This study evaluated the implementation of a new eco-industrial system in Italy that incorporates a micro-scale anaerobic digestion (mAD) and a Solid-State Fermentation (SSF) unit to produce renewable energy (e.g., electricity and heat) from AD biogas and high-quality bio-based products (e.g., bio-pesticides) from digestate. Three scenarios (S0, S1, S2) were modelled. S0 and S1 included only a solid-liquid separation of digestate through a centrifuge, assuming a different fate for the solid fraction (composting in S0 and application on farmland in S1). S2 integrated SSF and reverse osmosis technologies for the treatment and valorisation of digestate with nutrient recovery. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis (eCBA) methodologies were applied to assess the environmental performances and economic feasibility of the project. The pilot system showed solid environmental performances, especially for S1 and S2, in the five impact categories considered. According to LCA results, the eCBA gives a positive outcome for S2. While the financial and economic analysis showed positive Net Present Values for S2, the project's profitability was not achieved for S0 and S1. If AD plants are implemented at a smaller scale they would represent a favourable investment for the local community; particularly when considering the benefits of nutrient recovery through a complete post-treatment of digestate. The valorisation of organic residues could be better supported through introducing alternative market-based policy tools, as well as removing regulatory barriers and encouraging the implementation of financial schemes to support small-scale renewable production systems and the enhancement of market-based instruments for credits certification from renewable energy production. • Biowaste treatment and valorisation had solid performances in Life Cycle Assessment. • Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis quantified good revenues for bio-based products. • Nutrient recovery by bio-pesticides and organic fertilizers allow economic benefits. • Limited plans, policies and economic instruments characterize the biowaste sector. • Alternative economic tools can promote biowaste reduction & efficient resources use.

Socio-economic and environmental cost-benefit analysis of passive houses: A life cycle perspective

Passive houses optimize energy gains and losses to attain higher energy efficiencies, comfort levels, and affordability. This article allows attaining a broader understanding of the risks and opportunities of passive technologies and their impacts through a social cost-benefit analysis framework. Time value of money was incorporated to evaluate the net present values (NPV), cost-benefit ratios, and internal rates of return. Five alternative houses consisting of passive and net-zero technologies were compared against a conventional design (traditional model). The base model with renewable energy integrations indicated higher impacts on the cumulative cost-benefits in economic, social, and environmental perspectives. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis evaluated the effects of independent variables such as the interest rate and energy consumption on the performance metrics. This paper allows users to attain a holistic idea of implementing passive dwellings in a selected region through a social cost-benefit point of view.

Blue growth and bioextraction potentials of Danish Saccharina latissima aquaculture — A model of eco-industrial production systems mitigating marine eutrophication and climate change

The present study explores the prospect of S. latissima cultivation in Denmark and the economic and environmental implications of detailed system designs and management practices. An environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis (eCBA) of nine S. latissima cultivation systems tested in Danish waters throughout the past decade is conducted based on case-specific data. Overall, five systems are economically feasible with a Net Present Value of 68–446 k €/10-year at a scale of 1 ha and the current technology readiness level. A full carbon footprint accounting is conducted for the systems, covering both carbon capture by seaweed biomass and the embodied carbon footprints of system inputs, the latter of which is quantified by performing a Life Cycle Assessment. Four systems are identified as carbon-negative contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions of 174–1160 kg CO2eq./ha/year. These four systems are also economically feasible, thereby representing potentially replicable models of eco-industrial production systems contributing to sustainable blue growth in Denmark. All systems contribute to local marine eutrophication mitigation via the bioextraction of 1.2–81.6 kg N/ha and phosphorous bioextraction of 0.2–5.3 kg P/ha. This work identifies electricity and manpower as primary hotspot system input for carbon footprint and financial cost. Significant reductions in electricity-related carbon footprints can be obtained by applying sharing economy principle for the hatchery and adopting a greener electricity mix. Direct seeding method has proven more advantageous from the lens of energy and carbon footprints compared with the conventional spore seeding method. This study also provides a deeper insight into the impacts of harvest time on the quantity and quality and more importantly, the valorization potentials of the cultivated S. latissima.

Carbon emission and cost analysis of vehicle technologies for urban taxis

Our study compared vehicle technologies to reduce the carbon emissions of the Hong Kong taxi fleet. An environmental cost-benefit analysis was developed to measure the tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq) potentially abated and the incurred cost over the period 2021–2030 by the substitution of the current fleet with electric vehicles (EVs), fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), and more efficient internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). Our result highlights that FCEVs fueled with hydrogen from renewables and EVs with battery swap stations have lower abatement costs (i.e., cost incurred/carbon saved). The selection of a relatively low-cost option between EVs with battery swap stations and FCEVs with hydrogen from renewables depends on the reduction of electricity carbon intensity versus whether an economic and reliable import of hydrogen from renewables can be secured. Taxi miles traveled affect the vehicle technology abatement cost ranking. Overall, our study provides insight into sustainable urban taxi transition.

Measuring Consumer Sustainability Benefits

While consumer sustainability benefits exhibit particular characteristics, e.g., as they are typically based on non-use value, they can be measured by standard instruments as applied in environmental cost-benefit analysis, such as conjoint analysis and contingent valuation. Their measurement may be particularly sensitive to provided context, which makes it necessary to be particularly careful when measuring consumers’ willingness-to-pay. This sensitivity, however, also allows to expand the scope for such benefits and enables an appropriate modelling of the counterfactual. While we advocate for a careful consideration of such more “reflective willingness-to-pay”, we are critical about a blank consideration of externalities and with it consumers’ willingness-to-pay for a change in the behaviour of other consumers.

A Non-Market Valuation Approach to Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis for Sanitary Landfill Project Appraisal

Extensive non-engineered landfilling practice in developing countries has raised environmental concerns, but operating a sanitary landfill appears infeasible due to financial incapability. This study aims to determine the feasibility of a sanitary landfill project by including its environmental values into the project appraisal while simultaneously applying three policy-relevant methods—non-market valuation, benefits transfer, and cost-benefit analysis—in two study areas in Peninsular Malaysia. The non-market valuation study used choice modeling, a questionnaire-based technique, to elicit willingness to pay among 624 households toward the environmental attributes of the sanitary landfill. Their responses resulted in the monetary values of the environmental attributes by referring to implicit prices of leachate discharge, bad odor, disease vector and view. The implicit prices of bad odor (RM2.29 per month) and view (RM3.59 per month) in the two study areas were transferable and used as a proxy of additional solid waste disposal payment in environmental cost-benefit analysis. Positive net present value offers empirical evidence of the feasibility of the sanitary landfill project. The findings show that the inclusion of environmental values in project appraisals increases the chances of implementing sanitary landfills, providing a new approach to address the environmental concerns in developing countries. Future research should consider the external costs along with the external benefits to allow for a comprehensive comparison between environmental values in environmental cost-benefit analysis.

Financial and Environmental Cost-Benefit Analyses Support the Continuation of Government Incentives for Solar Power

Solar power is a source of clean, renewable energy that can help consumers reduce their carbon footprints and curb climate change. In recent years, government incentives, along with improvements in efficiency and reduced costs, have made solar power financially beneficial for consumers as well. In order to accurately analyze the costs and benefits of a potential solar project, many factors must be considered. These include the size of the solar array, the amount of sun exposure, the lifespan of the panels and inverters, the lifespan of the roof or other foundation, the current and future price of utility-provided electricity, and the amount of government incentives offered. These factors are described in detail throughout this article, and the analysis reveals that government incentives for solar power projects make a substantial positive impact on the financial feasibility. We find that the US federal and state governments should continue their incentive programs in order to prompt more organizations to transition to solar power and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Resource assessment and energy yield estimation for 160 MW solar-wind hybrid project using system advisory model

A techno-economic and environmental cost benefit analysis and assessment for the proposed 160 MW (Solar-120 MW and Wind-40 MW) hybrid renewable energy project with grid integration is carried out for electricity generation at Ramagiri & Muthavakuntla village locations of Anathapuram district in Andhra Pradesh state of India. Manual estimations are carried out based on recent research publications in similar line of studies and simulation studies are carried out using System Advisory Model (SAM) software under individual and hybrid operating modes with authenticated data resources to determine annual energy yield as well as sizing along with their economic and environmental concerns for solar and wind energy resources. Finally, comprehensive annual energy benefits are presented that shows techno-economic-environmental viability of this proposed project at the aforementioned location.

Has Cost Benefit Analysis Improved Decisions in Colombia? Evidence from the Environmental Licensing Process

Environmental cost benefit analysis, CBA, is often the preferred method for economists to assess policy changes which have environmental consequences. It is argued that CBA can help governments focus their resources to maximize the social returns of investments or projects. CBA is also viewed as a useful framework for organizing disparate information and subsequently improve the decision process. Despite the enthusiasm for the method, there have been few attempts outside developed countries to assess CBA's influence on decisions. In this article we used content analysis of official documents to analyse the role played by CBA in the Colombian environmental licensing process. Our results show that CBA's influence on the final decisions has been limited. The problem, we conclude, does not reside in CBA but in the process. Although there is a procedural requirement to do CBA, there is no requirement that the results must be considered in the decision-making. Since the problem lies in the process, not the instrument, we think that merely using a non-monetary assessment method instead of CBA, such as multicriteria analysis, will not lead to better decisions. This latter point is a discussion missing from the ecological economics literature that deserves more attention.

Maize production and environmental costs: Resource evaluation and strategic land use planning for food security in northern Ghana by means of coupled emergy and data envelopment analysis

This paper applies an integrated methodology which is constituted of the following: (i) the Emergy-Data Envelopment Analysis (EM-DEA), (ii) environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA), (iii) Value Chain Analysis (VCA), and (iv) Sustainability Balanced Scorecard (SBSC) approaches, -to support multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) for strategic agricultural land use planning, which could contribute to improve food security in northern Ghana. Five scenarios of land use and resource management practices for maize production were modelled. The business-as-usual scenario was based on primary data, which were collected using semi-structured questionnaires administered to 56 small-scale maize farmers through personal interviews. The dominant land use was characterised by an external input ≤12 kg/ha/yr inorganic fertilizer with/without the addition of manure in rainfed maize systems. The project scenarios were based on APSIM simulations of maize yield response to 0, 20, 50 and 100 kg/ha/yr urea dosages, with/without supplemental irrigation. The scenarios were dubbed as follows: (1) no/low input systems were denoted by Extensive0, Extensive12, and Intercrop20, and (2) moderate/high input systems were denoted by Intensive50, and Intensive100. The EM-DEA approach was used to assess the resource use efficiency (RUE) and sustainability in maize production systems, Ghana. The measured RUE and sustainability were used as a proxy for further analyses by applying the environmental CBA and VCA approaches to calculate: (a) the environmental costs of producing maize, i.e. resource use measured as total emergy (U), and (b) benefits from the yielded maize, i.e. (b i) food provision from grain measured in kcal/yr, and (b ii) potential electricity (bioenergy) which could be generated from residue measured in MWh/yr. The information which was derived from the applications of the EM-DEA, CBA and VCA approaches was aggregated by applying the SBSC approach to do a sustainability appraisal of the scenarios. The results show that, when labour and services are included in the assessment of RUE and sustainability, Intercrop20 and Intensive50 achieved greater marginal yield, better RUE, sustainability and appraisal score. The same scenarios caused lesser impacts in terms of expansion of area cultivated compared to Extensive0 and Extensive12. Meanwhile the impacts of Intercrop20 and Intensive50 in terms of ecotoxicity, emissions, and demand for resources (energy, materials, labour and services) were lesser compared to Intensive100. The implications of the various scenarios are discussed. The environmental performance of the scenarios are compared to maize production systems in other developing regions in order to put this study within a broader context. We conclude that, the EM-DEA approach is useful for assessing RUE and sustainability of agricultural production systems at farm and regional scales, as well as in connecting the management planning level and regional development considerations.

DESCARBONIZACIÓN DE LAS ADMINISTRACIONES PÚBLICAS MEDIANTE LA ELECTRIFICACIÓN DE LOS AUTOBUSES URBANOS. CASO DE ESTUDIO LA CIUDAD DE VITORIA

The fight against climate change requires an urgent decarbonisation of the global economy. In the Basque Country, different economic sectors have jointly reduced their emissions in the last years. However, transport has increased their emissions, making it clear that current policies are not allowing to reach the targets set for this sector. Public sector plays a key role in the fight against climate change and must lead in the decarbonisation task. In this work, electrification is considered as the most efficient tool to decarbonize the vehicle fleets of public Administrations and thus contributing to the decarbonisation of the public sector. To this end, an economic, energy and environmental cost-benefit analysis has been carried out for the electrification of the urban bus fleet in Vitoria of the company Tuvisa. The main result of the study, is that electrical technology is more competitive than conventional technology, provided that the partial refund of the hydrocarbon tax for public Administrations is abolished and the environmental costs due to fossil fuels are internalised. Three main measures are identified to advance in vehicle electrification: promoting the joint purchase of electric vehicles in order to reduce initial costs; internalising external costs due to transport activities; and promoting green public purchasing. The implications and recommendations resulting from this particular case can also be extrapolated to other cities seeking to promote electrification of public transport.

The Social Cost of Sub-Soil Resource Use

This paper presents a market-price-based method to value sub-soil resources in environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment. The market price incorporates the privileged information of the market agents, explicitly or implicitly anticipating future applications of the resource, future backstop technologies, recycling potentials, the evolution of reserves and extraction costs. The market price is therefore considered as the best available integrated information reflecting the actual values of these parameters. Our method is based on the Hotelling rule and the fact that private agents discount future costs and benefits at a higher rate than society as a whole. In practice, the price of the last resource unit sold is calculated with the Hotelling rule using a market discount rate. Then, the price at depletion is retropolated with a social discount rate smaller than the market discount rate. The resulting corrected “socially optimal” price is higher than the market price. The method allows to calculate the social cost of resource exhaustion, which is applicable in Cost-Benefit Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment. The method is applied to mineral and fossil resources and the results are compared with other recent methods that seek to place a monetary value on resource depletion.

Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis of Prefabricated Public Housing in Beijing

In recent years, prefabricated housing has become increasingly popular and widely promoted due to its potential to improve the construction environment, quality and productivity. To develop prefabricated housing and address housing challenges, the Chinese government is encouraging prefabricated public housing. Consequently, evaluating the environmental performance of prefabricated public housing to identify whether it is environmentally friendly and worthy of investment is urgently needed. This paper compares the costs and benefits of prefabricated public projects and traditional projects based on a questionnaire and field investigation. The paper introduces information from the collected questionnaires on the respondents and projects in Beijing; this information includes the prefabrication rate, technology application, barriers, and industrial performance. The paper also reports a cost-benefit analysis of the changing rates of construction costs and environmental benefits (energy consumption, water usage, construction waste, steel and concrete usage, dust and noise pollution) by using the ∆B/∆C ratio to show the efficiency of prefabricated housing. The results indicate that the ratio is 1.81, which exceeds 1; therefore, investment in prefabricated public housing is environmentally acceptable and efficient. This paper also discusses the efficiencies in different categories and structures with and without incentives. The results show that the costs are higher and the environmental benefits are efficient but not significant; thus, promoting prefabricated public housing is necessary.

A Bottom-up Approach to Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis

Cost-Benefit Analysis is a method to assess the effects of policies and projects on social welfare. CBAs are usually applied in a top-down approach, in the sense that a decision-making body first decides on which policies or projects are to be considered, and then applies a set of uniform criteria to identifying and valuing relevant cost and benefit flows. This paper investigates the possible advantages, prerequisites and limitations of applying CBA in what may be considered an alternative, “bottom-up” manner. Instead of starting out with a pre-defined policy option, the suggested approach begins with the underlying environmental problem, and then assesses costs and benefits of strategies and solutions as identified by local and directly affected stakeholders. For empirical case studies concerning two river catchments in Sweden and Latvia, the bottom-up CBA approach utilises local knowledge, assesses plans which are not only developed for local conditions but are also likely to be more acceptable to local society, and sheds additional light on possible distributional effects. By not only benefitting from, but also supporting participatory environmental planning, bottom-up CBA is in line with the growing trend of embedding stakeholder participation within environmental policy and decision-making.

Distributional Weights in Environmental Valuation and Cost-benefit Analysis: Theory and Practice

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is built on the Kaldor-Hicks efficiency criterion whereby projects that have aggregate positive net benefits are recommended even if those who lose are not compensated for their losses. Two kinds of problems can be identified with the use of the criterion. First, as income tends to affect monetary welfare changes positively, the preferences of those with higher wealth have a larger weight in societal decision-making. Second, monetary welfare changes can be thought of as changes in real income, which matter more for those with a lower initial wealth level. Both problems can be mitigated with distributional weighting. Despite their strong theoretical pedigree, distributional weights have been largely neglected in practical CBAs, one exception being analyses in climate change economics. We present the theory of distributional weighting and illustrate how weights can be applied empirically in an international environmental CBA that deals with marine water quality improvements. We show that different weighting schemes can result in different policy recommendations. We also show that taking the income distribution within countries into account can change a country's willingness to participate in the water quality improvement program and that the income elasticity of willingness to pay (WTP) is an important indication of the direction of change.

Valuing a Statistical Life Year in Relation to Clean Air

Environmental cost–benefit analysis is increasingly used to support the formulation of European air quality policies. In these analyses, typically around three-quarters of the societal benefits of cleaner air are related to monetised increases in statistical life expectancy. However, the literature presents widely diverging estimates for the value of a statistical life year (a ‘VOLY’). This paper presents a review of studies aimed at establishing a VOLY as used in European air quality policies and it examines the factors that cause the variations in VOLY estimates. We discuss the implications of our findings for European air quality policies and also present a novel approach to analyse the VOLY. We have labelled our approach the ‘maximum societal revenue VOLY’ (MSR-VOLY), and postulate that this approach may be particularly useful in the context of natural capital accounting.