Pollution Control Instruments Research Articles

What is the future of water quality trading?

AbstractA comprehensive review of experiences with water quality trading (WQT) programs worldwide is presented, spanning altogether more than 4 decades. A new WQT database is built, extracting data and information from existing review papers, complemented with gray and published literature about individual trading programs. Key aspects that affect trading volumes and program continuation are identified and categorized. No single success or fail factor emerges from this review, typically a mix of factors play a role. There is potential for WQT to evolve further and serve as a cost‐effective pollution control instrument, but this requires nudging political will to regulate nonpoint source.

Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Gaseous Mercury Emission Control: A Review

Mercury emissions from combustion of coal, biomass, and solid waste threaten human life and the environment. As the principal mercury species in flue gas, elemental mercury (Hg0) can easily escape from available air pollution control instruments because of its chemical inertness, high volatility, and aqueous insolubility. Recently, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) seems to be an intriguing candidate for Hg0 emission control. This review highlights the latest advances in adsorptive and photocatalytic removal of Hg0 by g-C3N4-based composites. Metal oxide (MeOx)- and halide-modified g-C3N4 can effectively capture Hg0 from simulated flue gas. Nonetheless, acidic flue gas components can degrade the performances of MeOx/g-C3N4 adsorbents, while halide-modified g-C3N4 suffers from release of halogen and potential leaching risk of mercury. Metal sulfide (MeSx)-modified g-C3N4 appears to be the best candidate for Hg0 capture owing to its superior tolerance to sulfur dioxide, fast adsorption rate, and high mercury capacity. Combining bismuth oxyhalides (BiOX) with g-C3N4 can promote photocatalytic oxidation of elemental mercury under visible light irradiation; nonetheless, the Hg0 removal efficiency is still unsatisfactory, and the underlying photocatalysis mechanism is not yet clear.

Assessment of the trophic status in a tropical estuarine system

Estuaries are extremely valuable ecosystems and have been affected by several anthropogenic activities from urban growth and industrial development, such as the release of untreated efuents which decrease water quality. This study aimed to evaluate the seasonal and temporal trophic status variation in the Formoso River Estuarine System (FRES), a tropical estuary. Three campaigns were carried out in each season (rainy and dry), during which surface water was sampled for abiotic parameter analyses. The TRIX index was used for trophic status assessment. For the temporal evaluation, a review of literature addressing the matter in the study area was conducted. Between 2017 and 2018, the TRIX index varied from a mean of 6 ± 0.2 upstream to 5 ± 0.4 downstream during the rainy season, indicating eutrophic conditions throughout most of the FRES extension, especially near the Formoso River, and from 6 ± 1 to 3 ± 0.8 during the dry season. Temporal analyses showed that in 2002 the overall mean TRIX index was 5.72 ± 0.4, decreasing in 2005 and 2014, and followed by an upwards trend. We conclude that the FRES is impacted by the release of untreated efuents such as sewage and fertilizers from the city of Rio Formoso and from various agricultural activities, which are more intense during the rainy season. Nevertheless, over time there were more critical scenarios pertaining to the trophic status. The present diagnosis reinforces the importance of public sanitation policies in estuarine regions and spatial planning instruments for pollution control in fishery areas.

Strategic pollution control under free trade

This paper designs a reciprocal dumping model to address the control of industrial pollution between two trading partners. Firms generate transboundary pollution from production and environmental taxes represent the pollution control instrument. We ask whether environmental taxes implemented in a non-cooperative setting are more stringent than the globally efficient level. Relative to the globally efficient case, we find in the linear Markov Perfect Nash Equilibrium (MPNE) context that the tax rate for both countries is smaller and individual emissions are larger. However, these results may not hold in the non-linear MPNE case depending on market structure and environmental conditions. Unlike the symmetric equilibrium case, the tax rates are always discontinuous under asymmetric MPNEs. The asymmetric equilibrium scenario can give rise to higher individual payoffs relative to the symmetric equilibrium case.

Industrial Wastewater Management in Yogyakarta, Indonesia: Direction to Control Industrial Pollution

Abstract Increasing competition over decreasing water supply and rapid growth of small and medium enterprises lacking pollution control measures suggest the need for improved institutional framework to manage effluent discharge. The research analyzes the adequacy of institutional arrangements and instruments for managing industrial effluent discharge in Yogyakarta, Indonesia through case study and in-depth interviews with purposive sampling. Results suggest overemphasis on prescriptive measures, lack of adequate coordination mechanisms, and lack of effective policy instruments for pollution control among small enterprises. It is necessary to establish an umbrella agency with cross-cutting authority for consistency, to differentiate regulatory and economic instruments for the various industries, to reduce the number of environmental permits, and to introduce incentives for developing industrial estates. Industries contemplate on their actions as the general public is notified of their environmental standing through media coverage within the Clean River Program.

Emission taxes vs. environmental standards under partial ownership arrangements

This paper analyzes two pollution control instruments, uniform taxes and absolute standards, when polluting firms engage in partial ownership arrangements (POAs). Specifically, we examine the case of a bilateral POA between competing firms in which both hold equity shares on each other's profits as silent investments. We show that taxes and standards are equally efficacious in affecting the firms' output decisions and pollution emissions. Compared to the social planner's solution, a bilateral POA results in suboptimal outcomes with lower industrial output and consumer surplus. Firm profits are higher and environmental quality improves (since emissions decline), but social welfare decreases. We compare the equilibrium results associated with two different types of POAs (bilateral vs. unilateral), and examine their differences in welfare implications for the choice of policy options between taxes and standards.

Prices or Quantities Can Dominate Banking and Borrowing*

AbstractThe possibility of intertemporal banking and borrowing of tradable permits is often viewed as tilting the various policy debates about optimal pollution control instruments towards favoring such time‐flexible quantities. This paper shows that this view can be misleading, at least for the simplest dynamic extension of the original “prices versus quantities” information structure. The model of this paper allows firms to know and act upon the realization of uncertain future costs two full periods ahead of the regulators. For any given circumstance, the paper shows that either a fixed price or a fixed quantity is superior in expected welfare to time‐flexible banking and borrowing. Furthermore, the standard original formula for the comparative advantage of prices over quantities contains sufficient information to completely characterize the regulatory role of intertemporal banking and borrowing. The logic and implications of these results are analyzed and discussed.

Comparative economic characteristics of environmental protection tools

The relative advantages of the tools for the environmental protection have been assessed in the article. From the economical point of view emission taxes, subsidies for abatement of emissions, and market-based permit system are more preferable in comparison with the control and management systems. The control of emissions for each organization can be achieved only in case when the marginal costs of abatement for each pollutant are known, which is unlikely in practice. In case of immiscible pollution, the determination of the marginal costs of organizations to control emissions is not required only for permitting schemes, which gives them an advantage over other tools. The least expensive for achieving a particular purpose in the fight against pollution is the tool of minimum technological requirements for the protection of the environment. The long-term effect of the instrument depends on the net income effect and the effect of technological innovation. Subsidy schemes or alternative methods of initial distribution of market permits at the expense of positive effects of income can increase the size of the industry, which is undesirable from the ecological point of view. In order to neutralize this effect, the organizations of the subsidized industry may be obliged to make one-time payments, the amount of which is the total cost of subsidies. The second way is the induced impact on the pace of technological innovation. Control and management tools have weak incentives for innovation. An emissions tax (or emission control subsidy) will encourage environmentally sound innovation. In the market scheme, emission reductions reduce taxes. Pollution control instruments have different consequences for the distribution of income in the economy and the competitiveness of the economy.

Prices or Quantities Dominate Banking and Borrowing

The possibility of intertemporal banking and borrowing of tradeable permits is often viewed as tilting the various policy debates about optimal pollution control instruments toward favoring such time-flexible quantities. The present paper shows that this view is misleading, at least for the simplest dynamic extension of the original `prices vs. quantities' information structure. The model of this paper allows the firms to know and act upon the realization of uncertain future costs two full periods ahead of the regulators. For any given circumstance, the paper shows that either a fixed price or a fixed quantity is superior in expected welfare to time-flexible banking and borrowing. Furthermore, the standard original formula for the comparative advantage of prices over quantities contains sufficient information to completely characterize the regulatory role of intertemporal banking and borrowing. The logic and implications of these results are analyzed and discussed.

The Polluter-Pays Principle and its Implications for Environmental Governance in China

The polluter-pays principle aims to correct market failure and its resulting social injustice by shifting pollution costs from the public at large to polluting enterprises, while at the same time reducing the amount of pollution produced. This article argues that China’s undoubted commitment to the implementation of the polluter-pays principle as a key instrument of pollution control in its domestic jurisdiction necessitates as a matter of legal principle a corresponding reliance on a nationally regulated system of verification of pollution data by private-sector firms operating at arm’s length from the government. Even though China has taken significant steps to implement the polluter-pays principle, to date there has been no provision for independent third-party verification of the monitoring-and-reporting practices of polluting enterprises. Instead, verification of the reported data is being carried out by the government itself, through site inspections by teams of government agents. In its eagerness to enforce environmental law in a society where violations by polluters are the norm more than the exception, China’s government is contravening the polluter-pays principle’s requirement of ‘independence’ in the verification of pollution data. For the principle to be implemented fairly, the legislature should facilitate the development of an industry of environmental verifiers in the country’s non-government sector.

Technology adoption under time-differentiated market-based instruments for pollution control

Peak concentrations of ground-level ozone pose health risks to millions of U.S. citizens across the U.S. In order to reduce peak ozone concentrations, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from the power sector, among others, have been regulated with technology-based standards or, more commonly in recent years, market-based instruments such as cap-and-trade programs. However, the lack of temporal flexibility in current designs of these market-based instruments limits their cost-effectiveness on days forecasted to have the highest levels of pollution, including ozone precursors such as NOx, and as further emission reductions are sought, the marginal cost of these approaches increases dramatically. In this paper, we compare three regulatory schemes for reducing NOx emissions on high-ozone days: time-differentiated pricing, which prices NOx emissions only on days with high-ozone concentrations; undifferentiated pricing, which represents current NOx emission regulations; and technology-based standards. We develop a novel model that captures for the first time both the short- and long-term response of generators, through redispatching and control technology adoption, to a dynamic pricing scheme such as time-differentiated pricing. Unlike prior studies on time-differentiated pricing, the heart of our model, a unit commitment model, accounts for inter-temporal constraints on power generation that may be crucial to accurately capturing the response of generators to a transient price signal. We apply this model to the Texas power system and find that while control technology adoption (specifically selective catalytic reduction) does occur at very high time-differentiated prices, time-differentiated pricing mainly affects emissions and costs through redispatching of gas- for coal-fired generation. Furthermore, we show that time-differentiated pricing, due to its targeted pricing mechanism, provides a more cost-effective approach than undifferentiated pricing or technology-based standards for reducing NOx emissions on high-ozone days, but is not cost-effective at reducing summer-wide NOx emissions. Our results illustrate the trade-offs between these regulatory approaches and suggest that states should consider dynamic pricing schemes such as time-differentiated pricing for achieving further reductions in peak ozone concentrations.

An evaluation of oil pollution prevention strategies in the Arctic: A comparison of Canadian and U.S. approaches

While the Arctic is often described as a cohesive region, there is great regime diversity across Arctic states. What factors influence regime diversity in the Arctic and how does that diversity impact users and coastal states? Recognizing the Arctic regime as the intersection of overlapping governance systems, this research compares two regions: the Northwest Passage, Canada and the Bering Strait, USA, applying principles of Most Similar System Design (MSSD). The two regions are parts of a common waterway, now more accessible as a result of diminished sea ice. The paper explores the similarities and differences between the two oil pollution control regimes and investigates the relationship between prevention and response measures in each regime. The Canadian oil pollution control regime is characterized by a large number of measures designed to prevent spills while the U.S. regime features measures intended to assure adequate response to spills. States most able to develop a preventative framework are those with strict legal authority and sovereign rights over their maritime regions. Moreover, states whose national identities are strongly tied to particular regions may be more likely to enact protective measures. The U.S. is dependent on international pollution control instruments in the Bering Strait given the shared jurisdiction of the waterway. Canada operates in accord with its claim that the Northwest Passage are internal waters and has enacted a unilateral pollution control regime. These differences underscore that, absent broader international agreements than exist at present, Arctic waters are likely to remain a patchwork of regulatory regimes.

A Study of Co-variation and Convergence of Alternative Measures of Sustainability on the Basis of Panel Data

The study highlights the need for creating alternative indicators of sustainability for considering a well guarded view about sustainable development of a country. The aim of the study is (1) to focus on different alternative measures of sustainability, (2) to assess whether these alternative measures move in the same direction which indicates peoples’ wellbeing as well as maintenance of environmental health and (3) to ascertain whether there has been some tendency towards convergence among the considered countries based on the alternative sustainability measures. Four alternative sustainability indicators like Green Net National Product, Ecological Footprint, Sustainable Human Development Index and Pollution Sensitive Human Development Index, for 22 developing countries have been constructed. Correlation matrix has been considered to focus on the extent of consistency between alternative indices. Unit root test has been done to ensure the stationarity of time series of such indices. The issue of convergence of different sustainability indices has been analysed by use of beta and sigma convergence employing pooled OLS and fixed effect model. It has been found that the different indices are more or less mutually consistent and stationary and over time they have converged across the considered countries. The results indicate that despite convergence coherent with Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis, the level of environmental degradation when linked to GDP per capita gives rise to an N-shaped pattern. The study suggests the need for diverse economic pollution control instruments to avoid degradation of the environment.

Influence of soil and climate heterogeneity on the performance of economic instruments for reducing nitrate leaching from agriculture

Economic instruments can be used to control groundwater nitrate pollution due to the intensive use of fertilizers in agriculture. In order to test their efficiency on the reduction of nitrate leaching, we propose an approach based on the combined use of production and pollution functions to derive the impacts on the expected farmer response of these instruments. Some of the most important factors influencing nitrate leaching and crop yield are the type of soil and the climatic conditions. Crop yield and nitrate leaching responses to different soil and climatic conditions were classified by means of a cluster analysis, and crops located in different areas but with similar response were grouped for the analysis. We use a spatial economic optimization model to evaluate the potential of taxes on nitrogen fertilizers, water prices, and taxes on nitrate emissions to reduce nitrate pollution, as well as their economic impact in terms of social welfare and farmers' net benefits. The method was applied to the Mancha Oriental System (MOS) in Spain, a large area with different soil types and climatic conditions. We divided the study area into zones of homogeneous crop production and nitrate leaching properties. Results show spatially different responses of crop growth and nitrate leaching, proving how the cost-effectiveness of pollution control instruments is contingent upon the spatial heterogeneities of the problem.

A comparative assessment of economic-incentive and command-and-control instruments for air pollution and CO2 control in China's iron and steel sector

China's iron and steel sector is faced with increasing pressure to control both local air pollutants and CO2 simultaneously. Additional policy instruments are needed to co-control these emissions in this sector. This study quantitatively evaluates and compares two categories of emission reduction instruments, namely the economic-incentive (EI) instrument of a carbon tax, and the command-and-control (CAC) instrument of mandatory application of end-of-pipe emission control measures for CO2, SO2 and NOx. The comparative evaluation tool is an integrated assessment model, which combines a top-down computable general equilibrium sub-model and a bottom-up technology-based sub-model through a soft-linkage. The simulation results indicate that the carbon tax can co-control multiple pollutants, but the emission reduction rates are limited under the tax rates examined in this study. In comparison, the CAC instruments are found to have excellent effects on controlling different pollutants separately, but not jointly. Such results indicate that no single EI or CAC instrument is overwhelmingly superior. The environmental and economic effectiveness of an instrument highly depends on its specific attributes, and cannot be predicted by the general policy category. These findings highlight the necessity of clearer identification of policy target priorities, and detail-oriented and integrated policy-making among different governmental departments.

The Search for Abatement Technologies in the Alberta Oil Sands

We develop a three-stage model of abatement technology search, adoption, and deployment. Using this model, which draws on search theory tools more frequently used in labour and monetary economics, we compare market-based and command-and-control pollution control instruments with respect to the incentives each provides for abatement technology search and adoption, expected emissions reductions, and expected compliance costs. We motivate our work by examining firm-level decisions in the oil sands region of Alberta, Canada, where firms are developing new abatement technologies to reduce fluid tailings associated with mining operations. We show that the polluting firm always has more incentives to search for and adopt a more efficient abatement technology under either an emissions tax or a tradeable permit system than under an equivalently stringent emissions standard. We also show that while expected incentives for innovation are comparable under emissions taxes and tradeable permit regimes, the likelihood for total future compliance costs to be reduced after an increase in the stringency of environmental policy - the so-called Porter hypothesis - is higher with a tradeable permit regime.

Potential anti-competitive effects of emission permit markets – A survey on theoretical findings and evidence

Abstract Emissions trading has been established as an important instrument of pollution control in many world regions. However concerns have been raised whether or not emission-trading schemes may distort competition either on the permit market itself or on related output markets. In this paper we review tradable emission-allowance schemes with special reference to anti-competitive effects. Such distortions may be caused by large firms exercising market power on the allowance market by holding down supply or suppressing demand in order to manipulate prices to their advantage. Firms may also try to abuse the allowance market to put other firms, with whom they compete on the output market, at a competitive disadvantage. Further distortions and abuses may be caused by special or ill-defined rules on the allowance market or other markets. In this paper we survey theoretical insights on potential anti-comptitive effects of emissions trading and also provide some empirical evidence for market power abuses on auctioned and grandfathered allowance markets with a particular focus on the (alleged) allowance market abuse by power utilities in Germany and California.

China's provincial industrial pollution: the role of technical efficiency, pollution levy and pollution quantity control

AbstractUsing China's provincial economic and pollution data from 1992 to 2008, we employ data envelope analysis and econometric analyses to explicitly estimate technical efficiency and examine the role of technical efficiency, pollution control instruments (pollution levy and pollution quantity control) and prices of production inputs on pollution intensity. We find that an increase of labor wage and a decrease of capital cost are associated with an improvement in technical efficiency. The levy rates of air pollution improve technical efficiency but pollution quantity control targets have no statistically significant effect on technical efficiency. On the other hand, technical efficiency, the effective levy rates, pollution quantity control targets and capital cost have a negative effect but wage has a positive effect on pollution intensity. The importance of production input prices in pollution intensity and technical efficiency suggests alternative channels for industrial pollution control as well as cautions for the unintended consequence on the environment if any policy changes are made relating to labor and capital costs.

Environmental tax and regional government consumption expenditure in a fiscal federalism system

The increasing attention to climate changes have led national Governments to design environmental tax policies able to face environmental problems and their associated economic consequences like as a negative change of GDP. The environmental taxation in particular is considered a powerful instrument of pollution control. More important, it provides public revenue that can be recycled at local level in order to attain the regional double dividend in a fiscal federalism framework. In this respect, we use a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model with imperfect labour market, to assess the regional effects of an environmental fiscal reform designed with the aim of reducing the CO2 emissions in a fiscal federalism setting. In particular, we introduce a local green tax on commodities output with a progressive structure. The tax burden depends on the commodity polluting power. According to fiscal federalism principles the tax revenue is collected by the local Government and it is entirely recycled to finance the local consumption expenditure. The application is done on a bi-regional Social Accounting Matrix for Italy and the results highlights the distributional effects of the reform on macroeconomic variables into the bi-regional income circular flow.

An enquiry into the existence of environmental Kuznets curve and issue of convergence related to CO<SUB align="right">2 emission - a panel data analysis

A world-wide concern has recently emerged about the rapid depletion of natural resources and degradation of environmental conditions caused by the actions of both developed and developing groups of countries. Analysis of panel data covering the period 1990–2008, shows that developed countries are facing an N-shaped curve regarding the relation between income and CO2 emission while EKC relation holds for developing countries. The observance of EKC should not however make the developing countries complacent. The observed convergence in CO2 emission growth indicates that the developing region is catching up at a faster rate with the developed countries. Hence, with an extended future time, there is likelihood that N-shaped pattern might ensue for developing countries also. Introduction of economic instruments for pollution control and strict enforcement laws, greater use of captive mechanism for carbon capture, strengthening institutional rules of forest management though greater peoples’ participation in fo...