Plant Investment Research Articles

ENHANCING EFFICIENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY: GREEN ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR WATER SUPPLY COMPANIES

Water supply enterprises significantly impact local communities by providing essential services. These companies face high electricity costs for water extraction, purification, and transportation, affecting efficiency and reliability. Therefore, implementing innovative technologies to enhance sustainability in the water supply sector is crucial. This article explores the opportunities and strategies for renewable energy transition at water supply companies. Using investment, sensitivity, and strategic analyses, as well as a case study approach, the research examines technologies, conceptual frameworks, mechanisms, and approaches to integrate green power into water supply operations, addressing high energy costs and promoting sustainability. The article identifies solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, and geothermal energy technologies as the most prominent renewable power solutions for water supply enterprises. The developed conceptual framework for implementing these technologies includes needs assessment and goal setting; resource assessment and technology selection; system design and integration; financing and investment; regulatory compliance and permitting; stakeholder engagement and capacity building; and monitoring, evaluation, and continuous improvement. The mechanisms and approaches to integrate green energy solutions within the developed framework can involve on-site renewable energy generation, power purchase agreements, energy storage and microgrid systems, energy efficiency and demand management, and collaborative and community-based models. As a case study, the article examines a 120-kW solar power plant project for a water supply enterprise, demonstrating profitability with a net present value of 60,370 USD and an internal rate of return exceeding 21%. The project's payback period is estimated at 8.38 years, acceptable within industry standards. Sensitivity analysis indicates the project's financial resilience. Increasing electricity prices will boost profitability, justifying the solar power plant investment amid inflation and economic instability. Additionally, the project ensures reliable water transport and environmental benefits by reducing CO2 emissions through solar energy use. Thus, transitioning to renewable energy at water supply enterprises is feasible and essential for long-term sustainability, transforming operations to be more resilient, efficient, and environmentally friendly.

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation reduces belowground biomass carbon costs of nitrogen acquisition under low, but not high, nitrogen availability.

Many plant species form symbiotic associations with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Through this symbiosis, plants allocate photosynthate belowground to the bacteria in exchange for nitrogen fixed from the atmosphere. This symbiosis forms an important link between carbon and nitrogen cycles in many ecosystems. However, the economics of this relationship under soil nitrogen availability gradients is not well understood, as plant investment toward symbiotic nitrogen fixation tends to decrease with increasing soil nitrogen availability. Here, we used a manipulation experiment to examine how costs of nitrogen acquisition vary under a factorial combination of soil nitrogen availability and inoculation with Bradyrhizobium japonicum in Glycine max L. (Merr.). We found that inoculation decreased belowground biomass carbon costs to acquire nitrogen and increased total leaf area and total biomass, but these patterns were only observed under low fertilization and were the result of increased plant nitrogen uptake and no change in belowground carbon allocation. These results suggest that symbioses with nitrogen-fixing bacteria reduce carbon costs of nitrogen acquisition by increasing plant nitrogen uptake, but only when soil nitrogen is low, allowing individuals to increase nitrogen allocation to structures that support aboveground growth. This pattern may help explain the prevalence of plants capable of forming these associations in less fertile soils and provides useful insight into understanding the role of nutrient acquisition strategy on plant nitrogen uptake across nitrogen availability gradients.

Project finance or corporate finance for renewable energy? an agent-based insight

State-of-the-art macroeconomic agent-based models (ABMs) include an increasing level of detail in the energy sector. However, the possible financing mechanisms of renewable energy are rarely considered. In this study, an investment model for power plants is conceptualized, in which energy investors interact in an imperfect and decentralized market network for credits, deposits and project equity. Agents engage in new power plant investments either through a special purpose vehicle in a project finance (PF) structure or via standard corporate finance (CF). The model portrays the growth of new power generation capacity, taking into account technological differences and investment risks associated with the power market. Different scenarios are contrasted to investigate the influence of PF investments on the transition. Further, the effectiveness of a simple green credit easing (GCE) mechanism is discussed. The results show that varying the composition of the PF and CF strategies significantly influences the transition speed. GCE can recover the pace of the transition, even under drastic reductions in PF. The model serves as a foundational framework for more in-depth policy analysis within larger agent-based integrated assessment models.

Impact of different CO2 price paths on the development of the European electricity system

In energy system transformation studies, the assumption of linearly rising CO2 prices is common and based on the decreasing issued European allowances (EUA). The actual auction price for allowances is influenced by market dynamics, resulting in non-linear variations in CO2 prices due to the possibility of banking allowances. This study explores the impact of non-linear CO2 price trajectories on the European electricity market. Various scenarios, such as increasing prices with the market interest rate, early price peaks, collapse, or fluctuations, are examined until 2030. The study quantifies the effects on power plant investments, profitability, consumer costs, and government revenues. The findings reveal that early and high price signals lead to an earlier transition with 7 % more wind power plants but at 4 % higher costs. Conversely, lower initial prices delay power plant investments in wind power plants by 6 % and result in 21 % higher emissions. Compensation for climate impact costs can yield a positive cost-benefit analysis in scenarios with early and high price signals when emissions are avoided through mechanisms like the Market Stability Reserve (MSR).

Global Warming in Interaction with Domestic and Foreign Investment: The Indian Case Study

Human actions have a substantial impact on the global environment. The depletion of the ozone layer due to the use of chlorofluorocarbons and the threat of global warming due to the accumulation of "greenhouse gases," carbon dioxide and methane that is released in agriculture, energy production, and transportation are few prominent illustrations of damages to the environment. The advent of these unprecedented repercussions of human activities on a global scale eventually directs to a complex economic policy in the world. Hence, the policies to promote economic growth, equity, trade, and technological change to have a significant impact on the global environmental scenario. Purpose: In this respect, the current study concentrates on the financial activities by a country, specifically, India, in relation to the global warming. The major financial activities in a country are based on domestic as well as foreign investment. The source of the domestic financial investment activities, known as Domestic Investment (DI), considered here are investment in plant, machinery, and equipment purchase. While the source of foreign investment is specified as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Methodology: The study applies Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model to find the co-integration between the three variables. Further, the long run impact of domestic investment and short run impact of FDI on carbon dioxide emission are found to be present. Finding: The study finds significant environmental impact of domestic and foreign investment in India. Implication: Further, the study provides important policy implication by suggesting reducing the usage of carbon emission through fossil fuel to improve long run sustainable development in India.

Towards a sustainable energy future: Modeling Morocco’s transition to renewable power with enhanced OSeMOSYS model

Developing countries encounter numerous challenges, such as limited access to reliable electricity and a heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels. To satisfy the rising energy demand, which is essential for economic growth, these regions are shifting towards sustainable energy solutions. Solar and wind power have emerged as key and secure energy sources. This research develops an enhanced OSeMOSYS energy system model to examine long-term energy supply strategies, using Morocco as a case study. The proposed model addresses the specific needs of decision-makers in developing countries, enabling the achievement of renewable energy targets and optimal temporal resolution. A baseline and three alternative scenarios were developed, exploring both a restructuring plan to address existing gaps and a forward-looking policy targeting nearly 100 % renewable energy. These scenarios are assessed in terms of installed capacity, generation mix, investment costs, variable and fixed costs, storage capacity utilization, and carbon emissions. The results indicate that a 92 % integration rate for renewables is feasible at an additional cost of $32 billion, thanks to new energy efficiency measures reducing demand by 15 % between 2030 and 2050 compared to baseline forecasts. Furthermore, an ambitious energy strategy by 2050 could achieve the lowest emissions rate of 0.29 Mt, paving the way for complete decarbonization. Technologically, investment in pumped-storage hydroelectric plants is the most viable backup option for a country dependent on natural gas imports. Our findings emphasize that a diversified energy mix and robust energy efficiency plans are essential for a rapid and feasible transition of the country’s energy system. This paper offers an enhanced energy model to help decision-makers in developing countries set targets on the share of renewables in total installed capacity, thereby increasing their integration rate at minimal additional cost.

Optimization and Demonstration of PV Power Plant Investment Evaluation and Decision Model under the Background of Marketization

Based on the real option analysis method, this paper makes an empirical analysis of the evaluation and optimization of the model, and analyzes the main factors of the investment value of photovoltaic power plants in combination with the investment decision-making characteristics of photovoltaic power plant projects under the background of marketization. The electricity price and generation income, transaction price and income are all processed by geometric Brownian motion, and the random process is obtained by Monte Carlo simulation method. Based on the sensitivity analysis of the uncertain factors of the model, the investment risk of photovoltaic power station is evaluated and the suggestions are put forward. The results show that when the on-grid electricity price increases by 10%, the net present value is about 6 million yuan in the 26th year. Therefore, how to evaluate the uncertainty factors of photovoltaic power plant investment and make scientific and reasonable investment decisions is of great significance for the development of photovoltaic power generation.

The Economic Efficiencies of Investment in Biogas Plants—A Case Study of a Biogas Plant Using Waste from a Dairy Farm in Poland

High investments and low economic efficiency of agricultural biogas plants operating on farms are two of the main barriers to the development of the biogas plant sector. Identification of economic and financial problems related to the operation of such facilities allows for the reduction of entry barriers for private investors, especially farmers. The aim of this research was to analyze the economic efficiency of investing in an agricultural biogas plant operating at a dairy farm. For the analysis, the case study method was applied. The economic efficiency of investment in a biogas plant was assessed using six different cash flow options. The NPV (net present value) and IRR (internal rate of return) methods were applied to assess the economic efficiency of the investment. It was found that the investment project for an agricultural biogas plant with a capacity of 0.499 MW located at a dairy farm required a subsidy of approximately 40–60% of the value of to ensure satisfactory economic efficiency. It has been shown that a particularly important aspect in assessing the economic efficiency of an investment in an agricultural biogas plant is the use of an economic calculation that takes into account the valuation and quantification of all positive external effects of such projects.

Digital disruption: unveiling antecedents propelling the revolution in contemporary accounting practices

Purpose This study aims to analyse the relative prominence of antecedents of digital accounting practices in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) industry. The Ministry of MSME defines the sector as comprising manufacturing enterprises and enterprises rendering services in terms of investment in plant and machinery and the annual turnover. The study is motivated by the rapid usage of digitalisation that has become the driving force guiding organisational development. Design/methodology/approach This study builds on technological–organisational–environmental framework to analyse the objective. It identifies five technological sub-antecedents, six organisational sub-antecedents and five environmental sub-antecedents. Data were gathered from 202 accounting professionals from MSMEs and academicians. Semi-structured interviews with experts were also conducted to corroborate the analysis of results. Then, the study applied fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to analyse the prominence. Findings This study finds that the technological antecedent captures the topmost position among all three antecedents, followed by organisational antecedent. They play a critical role in driving digitalisation in accounting practices. Among sub-antecedents, the highest priority is provided to technological accounting infrastructure, followed by cybersecurity precautions, training and allied services for accounting software, support from management and availability of accounting resources. Originality/value The study contributes to the scant literature by establishing hierarchy of relevance of different antecedents of digital accounting practices in MSMEs. It offers valuable insights to accounting practitioners and MSME owners/managers. They can pay attention to the prominent antecedents identified in this study to build a robust innovation structure for implementing digitalised accounting practices. The study also has significance to policymakers, specifically when they are more focused on the growth and development of MSMEs.

Chemical recycling of complex reject streams from the paper industry via thermal and catalytic pyrolysis

Paper-based packaging is a complex multi-material composed of paper (fibers), plastics, and metals, making efficient material recycling complicated. Currently, most of the fibers are recycled into new paper products while the residual material is commonly incinerated. Therefore, to improve the circularity and reduce the fossil dependency chemical recycling is needed. In this study, recycling of the residual materials was evaluated by thermal and catalytic pyrolysis. First, screening tests were performed using five reject materials and four catalysts in an analytical scale and then, a selection of catalyst and reject materials were evaluated in lab-scale followed by a techno-economic assessment. Experimental results indicated that the conversion was more efficient if the reject had high content of plastics compared to fibers, leading to products with increased heating value, higher hydrocarbon yield and less reactive oxygenates compared to the rejects with low plastic ratio. In the thermal pyrolysis 54 % of the weight of the feedstock and 70 wt% of the carbon in the feedstock ended up in a solid organic product (wax) which contained hydrocarbons and alcohols. In the analytical catalytic pyrolysis, HZSM-5 gave the best result in terms of cracking, deoxygenation, and aromatization. Ex-situ catalytic pyrolysis using HZSM-5 resulted in an improved quality of organic liquid with reduced hydrocarbon length as well as deoxygenated and aromatic compounds. The yield of the organic liquid was up to 19 wt% and contained mainly monoaromatics. The techno-economic evaluation showed, for processing 100,000 tons year−1 residual material, the total plant investment and the annual profit are about 29 and 12 million Euros, respectively, if no incentive for treating the residual material.

Dos Hemisferios: putting high-quality Ecuadorian wines on the map

Learning outcomes The learning objectives include understanding the unique environment and challenges that business leaders face when developing new businesses in emerging markets, evaluating the firm’s internal and external environments, analyzing sales data and distribution channels and formulating new strategies. Case overview/synopsis Dos Hemisferios Winery, founded in 1999 as a hobby, grew into a family business. The Ecuadorian winery expanded production after winning an international award for its Paradoja blend in 2009. With a $10m investment in a new plant in 2017, the winery capacity increased to 500,000 bottles. President Robert Wright recognized the need to increase sales, aiming to sell at least 425,000 bottles annually at an average price of $8 per bottle to break even and become profitable in 2024. To tap into Ecuador’s top market in Quito, representing 46% of sales, Dos Hemisferios aimed to boost monthly revenues to $50,000 by addressing challenges such as low awareness and consumer reluctance. Initiatives under consideration included partnerships and events, winery tours, enhanced social media, new products and improved sales channel distribution. Complexity academic level The Dos Hemisferios case is appropriate for upper-division undergraduate and graduate students in global business and strategy courses. The learning objectives for the case study include: understanding the unique environment and challenges business leaders face when developing new businesses in emerging markets; evaluating the firm’s internal and external environments to determine its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; analyzing sales data and distribution channels for the business; and providing students with the opportunity to formulate strategies to gain more share of the Ecuadorian wine market. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

An enhanced refresher on discounted net present value computations with an additional focus on risk and uncertainty

AbstractDiscounted present value (DPV) calculations have appeared in textbooks as well as numerous peer‐reviewed journal articles. Such articles address a wide variety of topics/issues, ranging from migration to educational pursuit to investment in new plant and equipment to the NFL draft. Recognizing the remarkably versatile and useful tools that the DPV concepts are to valuation and intelligent decision‐making, some years ago, the Harvard Business Review published a discussion by Gallo of the derivation and uses of DPVs (and NPVs). This note extends and corrects the analysis in Gallo so as to make it more accurate and useful to the reader.

Enhanced rock weathering increased soil phosphorus availability and altered root phosphorus-acquisition strategies.

Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) has been proposed as a measure to enhance the carbon (C)-sequestration potential and fertility of soils. The effects of this practice on the soil phosphorus (P) pools and the general mechanisms affecting microbial P cycling, as well as plant P uptake are not well understood. Here, the impact of ERW on soil P availability and microbial P cycling functional groups and root P-acquisition traits were explored through a 2-year wollastonite field addition experiment in a tropical rubber plantation. The results show that ERW significantly increased soil microbial carbon-use efficiency and total P concentrations and indirectly increased soil P availability by enhancing organic P mobilization and mineralization of rhizosheath carboxylates and phosphatase, respectively. Also, ERW stimulated the activities of P-solubilizing (gcd, ppa and ppx) and mineralizing enzymes (phoADN and phnAPHLFXIM), thus contributing to the inorganic P solubilization and organic P mineralization. Accompanying the increase in soil P availability, the P-acquisition strategy of the rubber fine roots changed from do-it-yourself acquisition by roots to dependence on mycorrhizal collaboration and the release of root exudates. In addition, the direct effects of ERW on root P-acquisition traits (such as root diameter, specific root length, and mycorrhizal colonization rate) may also be related to changes in the pattern of belowground carbon investments in plants. Our study provides a new insight that ERW increases carbon-sequestration potential and P availability in tropical forests and profoundly affects belowground plant resource-use strategies.

Pilot-tests of the coal-fired power plant indirect coupling with multi-source organic solid waste incineration technology

The production of organic solid waste is increasing as the development of society. However, the investment of waste incineration power plant is very high and the thermal efficiency is very low. At the same time, the load of coal-fired power plant is suppressed due to the carbon neutralization policy. Therefore, using the existed coal-fired power plant to co-process the organic solid waste is a feasible method. In this paper, a coal-fired power plant indirect coupling with waste incineration technology based on flue gas circulation was proposed and studied on a 100 kW pilot-test bench. In this technology, the polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) was reduced by a three stages controlling method, which adopts the blending of multi-source organic wastes, high-temperature decomposition and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst decomposition, simultaneously. The effects of waste incineration coupling, replacement ratio of coal, and flue gas circulation on the combustion and pollutant emission characteristics of the system were studied. The experimental results indicate that the waste incineration coupling has minor influence on the temperature distribution and the toxicity of fly ash of the coal-fired furnace. The NO, HCl, and PCDD/Fs concentrations of flue gas of coal-fired furnace generally decrease as the replacement ratio of coal increases, while the SO2 concentration increases. With the help of three stages controlling method or the flue gas circulation, the PCDDFs concentration of the flue gas of coal-fired furnace can be much lower than 0.1 TEQ ng/Nm3.

Towards CSP technology modeling in power system expansion planning

Power systems with a high level of renewable energy penetration face challenges due to the inherent properties of some renewable energy sources, such as their variability and uncertainty. These systems require reliable technologies capable of handling large ramps and flexibility needs. Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) has been identified as one solution, which has been researched and implemented in several countries. This paper presents a novel analysis and evaluation of the impacts of choosing an inadequate representation of CSP technology in power system planning tools. The current state of CSP in power system expansion planning in the literature is examined, providing a classification for the modeling of investment and operation of CSP plants. Based on a proposed analysis framework, different models and configurations for CSP plants are evaluated and applied to a 5-bus test system. One of the key findings is that the selected model highly impacts the computational effort (150% more processing time), the quality of the planning decision (14% more overall costs), and the total emissions (up to 52% more emissions). A storage-based model proves to be the most suitable option, considering the operation and investment costs, as well as computational burden. The selected model achieves a 1% error compared to the results obtained with a reference model, while also requiring 40% less computation effort. The proposed framework can be applied to other power system structures by choosing the best suited CSP modeling.

Linking fine root lifespan to root chemical and morphological traits—A global analysis

Fine root lifespan is a critical trait associated with contrasting root strategies of resource acquisition and protection. Yet, its position within the multidimensional "root economics space" synthesizing global root economics strategies is largely uncertain, and it is rarely represented in frameworks integrating plant trait variations. Here, we compiled the most comprehensive dataset of absorptive median root lifespan (MRL) data including 98 observations from 79 woody species using (mini-)rhizotrons across 40 sites and linked MRL to other plant traits to address questions of the regulators of MRL at large spatial scales. We demonstrate that MRL not only decreases with plant investment in root nitrogen (associated with more metabolically active tissues) but also increases with construction of larger diameter roots which is often associated with greater plant reliance on mycorrhizal symbionts. Although theories linking organ structure and function suggest that root traits should play a role in modulating MRL, we found no correlation between root traits associated with structural defense (root tissue density and specific root length) and MRL. Moreover, fine root and leaf lifespan were globally unrelated, except among evergreen species, suggesting contrasting evolutionary selection between leaves and roots facing contrasting environmental influences above vs. belowground. At large geographic scales, MRL was typically longer at sites with lower mean annual temperature and higher mean annual precipitation. Overall, this synthesis uncovered several key ecophysiological covariates and environmental drivers of MRL, highlighting broad avenues for accurate parametrization of global biogeochemical models and the understanding of ecosystem response to global climate change.

Numerical Analysis of the Co-firing Combustion of Coal and Palm Shell Kernel In Stoker Boiler

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) states that Indonesia is committed to contributing to global climate change solutions. The government will also continue to encourage the development of a number of renewable energy (EBT)-based power generation projects. This is based on the use of renewable energy which is still low, namely around (1.9%) 8215.5 MW. Meanwhile, the potential for EBT to become energy can be around 443,208 MW. One source of EBT in Indonesia that can be utilized is Biomass. Co-firing of biomass is a relatively cheaper option and does not require investment in new power plants. However, Co-firing combustion has several aspects that need to be studied, such as temperature combustion and the generation of gas emissions. Therefore, this study aims to determine the temperature and the emissions resulting from co-firing of palm kernel shell biomass. This research was conducted using the Computational Fluid Dynamics method on stoker boiler model. The test parameters of the research was the maximum and average temperatures in the furnace, and the average and maximum fractions of CO2, SO2 in the stoker boiler furnace. From the research conducted, it was found that the resulting combustion temperature decreased as the co-firing fraction of the biomass increased. However, CO2 gas emissions increased and SO2 decreased with increasing fraction of co-firing biomass which showed a decrease in harmful gas emissions and complete combustion that occurred in the furnace.

Techno-economic analysis case study of energy production utilizing cashew shell agro-waste in Vietnam

In this paper, a system for energy production from biomass combustion to provide electricity to the national grid of Vietnam was evaluated based on different thermodynamics systems and the cultivation capacity of the local area. A 20:80 mixture of cashew shell and cashew wood chip is considered as fuel source to be combusted utilizing a fixed bed technology with high energy efficiency. Considering a 10 MW production capacity to the national grid, a 20-year Net Present Value analysis and payback time evaluation was considered based on the economic factors in Vietnam. The study demonstrates how the current feed-in tariff in Vietnam is too low to encourage investment in biomass power plant. Following a suggested electricity selling price that is close to the household electric cost, the power plant shows high potential with a short payback period of 9.22 years and a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of only 6.4 cents/kWh. Sensitivity analyses were performed for different scenarios of material cost, electricity selling price and initial investment to show that within a 10 % variation in process factors, such project would still be able to reach payback within 20 years, with an overall LCOE of around 5–7 cents/kWh, proving the high potential of biomass-based energy production projects.

The evolutionary analysis of investment in CCS-EOR under dual carbon target—From the perspective of multi-agent involvement

Carbon capture and storage with enhanced oil recovery (CCS-EOR) technology plays a crucial role in achieving dual carbon targets in China. And the rapid diffusion of technology requires collaboration among various stakeholders involved in industrial chain of CCS-EOR project and then it will cause conflict of interest among the participants. In order to solve the problem existing in CCS-EOR promotion and propel the rapid deployment of low-carbon technology in China, the paper constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model by incorporating the strategic choices of coal-fired power plants, oilfield enterprises and governments into the framework, explores the respective dynamic evolutionary path of three parties and analyzes the impact of each parameter change on the system evolution results Through the numerical simulation, the paper identifies the optimal evolutionary path to spur the application of CCS-EOR and determine their strategy choices of three involved subjects in the game framework. Based on the sensitivity analysis, results are given as follows: (1) The government's clean electricity subsidy and carbon utilization subsidy have pushed the timing of CCS retrofitting significantly forward, but the initial investment subsidy has little impact on it; (2) Under the cooperation mode of coal-fired power plants and oilfield enterprises, the optimal cost-sharing ratio of the initial investment for coal-fired power plants is about 0.4 to promote both sides to reach cooperation faster. Once it exceeds 0.4, the probability of cooperation between them will be significantly reduced; (3) The carbon tax policy effectively propels the development of CCS-EOR technology. When the carbon tax rises from 30 CNY/t to 120CNY/t, power plants will conduct CCS retrofitting investment two years in advance.

Prosumers as drivers of SDG7 in Palestine: Net-benefit analysis of grid-connected photovoltaic systems

The present study assessed the prosumer benefits of a residential photovoltaic system based on a net-benefit analysis. Net present value ranged from 187 to 2811 $/kW in the low-market scenario and 1226–5642 $/kW in the high-market scenario. Net benefits were verified in net metering contexts, while contexts without net metering had break-even points of 31% and 48% self-consumption for the two scenarios, respectively. Policy recommendations are proposed to encourage investment in renewable energy plants in the Palestinian territory to increase energy security while contributing to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 7.