SABIIA - Sistema Aberto e Integrado de Informação em Agricultura (Sabiia)

Maddaloni, Jesse D.; Rowe, Andrew M.; van Kooten, G. Cornelis.

A load balance model is used to quantify the economic and environmental effects of integrating wind power into three typical generation mixtures. System operating costs over a specified period are minimized by controlling the operating schedule of existing power generating facilities for a range of wind penetrations. Unlike other studies, variable generator efficiencies, and thus variable fuel costs, are taken into account, as are the ramping constraints on thermal generators. Results indicate that system operating cost will increase by 15% to 110% (pending generation mixture) at a wind penetration of 100% of peak demand. Results also show that some mixtures will exhibit cost reductions on the order of 13% for moderate wind penetrations and high wind farm...

Linking Forests and Economic Well-Being: A Four-Quadrant Approach

Palavras-chave: Wind power integration; Generation mixtures; Emissions cost; Environmental Economics and Policy; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q40; Q42; Q50.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37044

Wang, Sen; DesRoches, C. Tyler; Sun, Lili; Stennes, Brad; Wilson, Bill; van Kooten, G. Cornelis.

This paper has three main objectives: (1) to investigate whether the four-quadrant approach introduced by Maini (2003) reveals a useful typology for grouping countries by GDP and forest cover per capita, (2) to determine if the framework can enhance our understanding of the relationship between forest cover and GDP per capita, and (3) to investigate why countries in the four-quadrant world occupy different quadrants, and to determine the principal factors affecting country-movement across and within the individual quadrants. The examination reveals that countries can be classified into four broad categories, and that GDP and forest cover per capita have a low but consistent level of negative association. After regressing economic, institutional, social...

The Impact of Agriculture on Waterfowl Abundance: Evidence from Panel Data

Palavras-chave: Economic well-being; Forest cover; Institutions; Corruption; Education; Environmental Economics and Policy; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; G00; I20; Q23.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37036

Wong, Linda; van Kooten, G. Cornelis; Clarke, Judith A..

Agricultural expansion and intensification in Canada’s Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) have contributed to declining waterfowl populations since the 1970s. Although this region represents a mere 10% of North America’s waterfowl breeding habitat, it produces over 50% of the continent’s duck population and roughly 60% of Canada’s agricultural output. Thus, intense competition exists between private economic interests and public benefits in the PPR. To better understand the conflict between agricultural and wildlife uses of land, panel methods are used to examine the spatiotemporal variation of waterfowl populations and agricultural land use intensity in the PPR from 1961-2006. For the main static model, we find that a one percent increase in cropland or pasture...

Palavras-chave: Wetlands protection; Spatial econometrics; GIS; Land use conflict; Migratory waterfowl; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q57; C33; Q15; Q24.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/98422

Deforestation

Folmer, Henk; van Kooten, G. Cornelis.

Wind Power: The Economic Impact of Intermittency

Palavras-chave: Environmental Economics and Policy; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q10; Q23; Q58; R14.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37035

Wind is the fastest growing renewable energy source for generating electricity, but economic research lags behind. In this study, therefore, we examine the economics of integrating large-scale wind energy into an existing electrical grid. Using a simple grid management model to investigate the impact of various levels of wind penetration on grid management costs, we show that costs of reducing CO2 emissions by relying more on wind power depend on the generation mix of the existing electricity grid and the degree of wind penetration, with costs ranging from $21 to well over $1000 per tonne of CO2 reduced. Costs are lowest if wind displaces large amounts of fossil fuel production and there is some hydroelectric power to act as a buffer. Hydro capacity has...

Economic Aspects of Wind Power Generation in Developing Countries

Palavras-chave: Wind power; Carbon costs; Electricity grids; Mathematical programming; Environmental Economics and Policy; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q54; Q41; C61.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/54370

van Kooten, G. Cornelis; Wong, Linda.

Power interruptions are a typical characteristic of national grids in developing countries. Manufacturing, processing, refrigeration and other facilities that require a dependable supply of power, and might be considered a small grid within the larger national grid, employ diesel generators for backup. In this study, we develop a stochastic simulation model of a very small grid connected to an unreliable national grid to show that the introduction of wind generated power can, despite its intermittency, reduce costs significantly. For a small grid with a peak load of 2.85 MW and diesel generating capacity of 3.75 MW provided by two diesel generators, the savings from using wind energy (based on wind data for Mekelle, Ethiopia) can amount to over a million...

Economics of Forest and Agricultural Carbon Sinks

Palavras-chave: Wind energy and development; Stochastic simulation of electricity grids; Economic savings from wind power; Environmental Economics and Policy; International Development; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q42.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/54706

Severing the Link between Farm Program Payments and Farm Production: Motivation, International Efforts, and Lessons

Palavras-chave: Environmental Economics and Policy; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q10; Q23; Q27; Q54.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37013

Ogg, Clayton W.; van Kooten, G. Cornelis.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy; International Relations/Trade.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/93398

Carbon Sinks and Reservoirs: The Value of Permanence and Role of Discounting

Benitez, Pablo C.; van Kooten, G. Cornelis.

Scientists are enthusiastic about storing carbon in terrestrial sinks and geological reservoirs in order to obviate the need for lifestyle-changing reductions in fossil-fuel use. Estimating relative costs of various options depends on how permanence is assessed and whether physical carbon is discounted. We demonstrate that, in carbon markets, terrestrial sinks credits cannot be traded one-for-one for emission reduction credits and the conversion factor would depend on how long sinks keep CO2 out of the atmosphere as compared with emission reductions and, discounting physical carbon. As a result, the authority could not determine a conversion factor and the market would be required to do so.

Creating Carbon Offsets in Agriculture through No-Till Cultivation: A Meta-Analysis of Costs and Carbon Benefits

Palavras-chave: Climate change; Carbon offset; Carbon sinks; Discounting physical carbon; Environmental Economics and Policy; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; O13; Q54.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37018

Manley, James G.; van Kooten, G. Cornelis; Moeltner, Klaus; Johnson, Dale W..

Carbon terrestrial sinks are often seen as a low-cost alternative to fuel switching and reduced fossil fuel use for lowering atmospheric CO2. To determine whether this is true for agriculture, one meta-regression analysis (52 studies, 536 observations) examines the costs of switching from conventional tillage to no-till, while another (51 studies, 374 observations) compares carbon accumulation under the two practices. Costs per ton of carbon uptake are determined by combining the two results. The viability of agricultural carbon sinks is found to vary by region and crop, with no-till representing a low-cost option in some regions (costs of less than $10/tC), but a high-cost option in others (costs of $100-$400/tC). A particularly important finding is that...

CAN DOMESTICATION OF WILDLIFE LEAD TO CONSERVATION? THE ECONOMICS OF TIGER FARMING IN CHINA

Palavras-chave: Costs of soil carbon credits; Conventional and zero tillage systems; Carbon accumulation in soil; Agribusiness; Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q10; Q50.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/36994

Abbott, Brant; van Kooten, G. Cornelis.

Tigers are a threatened species that might soon disappear in the wild. Not only are tigers threatened by deteriorating and declining habitat, but poachers continue to kill tigers for traditional medicine, decoration pieces and so on. Although international trade in tiger products has been banned since 1987 and domestic trade within China since 1993, tigers continue to be poached and Chinese entrepreneurs have established tiger farms in anticipation of their demise. While China desires to permit sale of tiger products from captive-bred tigers, this is opposed on the grounds that it likely encourages illegal killing. Instead, wildlife conservationists lobby for more spending on anti-poaching and trade-ban enforcement. In this study, a mathematical...

Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation

Palavras-chave: Endangered species and extinction; Wildlife farming; Economics of natural; Mathematical bioeconomics; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q27; C61; Q57.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61071

Elephants and the Ivory Trade Ban: Summary of Research Results

Biological Carbon Sinks: Transaction Costs and Governance

Palavras-chave: Economics of elephant conservation; Economics of ivory trade; Trade bans; Environmental Economics and Policy; International Development; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q57; Q27; O13.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/57807

Activities that remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in forest and agricultural ecosystems can generate CO2-offset credits that can thus substitute for CO2 emissions reduction. Are biological CO2-uptake activities competitive with CO2 offsets from reduced fossil fuel use? In this paper, it is argued that transaction costs impose a formidable obstacle to direct substitution of carbon uptake offsets for emissions reduction in trading schemes, and that separate caps should be set for emissions reduction and sink-related activities. While a tax/subsidy scheme is preferred to emissions trading for incorporating biologically-generated CO2 offsets, contracts that focus on the activity and not the amount of carbon sequestered are most likely to lead to the...

Divergence between WTA and WTP Revisited: Livestock Grazing on Public Range

Palavras-chave: Carbon sequestration; Transaction costs; Climate change; Environmental Economics and Policy; Land Economics/Use; Q54; Q23; Q42; H23; D23.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/45505

Sun, Lili; van Kooten, G. Cornelis; Voss, Graham M..

The research reported here provides further empirical support for the contention that there is a divergence between WTA and WTP. The conclusion is based on results from a 2002 survey of Nevada ranchers that asked about willingness to pay for public forage and WTA compensation to part with grazing rights. WTP and WTA are estimated simultaneously, with the estimators used to demonstrate a statistically significant divergence between WTP and WTA. The simultaneous estimation allows us to identify ranch characteristics that influence the discrepancy in valuations. Ranch size, public grazing allotment, financial distress, and long term commitment to ranching are all significant influences on the disparity. We interpret these results both with respect to general...

Bioeconomic modeling of wetlands and waterfowl in Western Canada: Accounting for amenity values

Palavras-chave: Contingent valuation methods; Dichotomous choice surveys; WTA versus WTP; Grazing rights and public forage; Agribusiness; Land Economics/Use; Q15; Q24; Q51.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37014

van Kooten, G. Cornelis; Withey, Patrick; Wong, Linda.

This study extends an original bioeconomic model of optimal duck harvest and wetland retention by bringing in amenity values related to the nonmarket (in situ) benefits of waterfowl plsi the ecosystem values of wetlands themselves. The model maximizes benefits to hunters as well as the amenity values of ducks and ecosystem benefits of wetlands, subject to the population dynamics. Results indicate that wetlands and duck harvests need to be increased relative to historical levels. Further, the socially optimal ratio of duck harvest to wetlands is larger than what has been observed historically. Including amenity values leads to a significant increase in the quantity of wetlands and duck harvests relative to models that focus only on hunting values.

Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry: Economic Perspectives

Palavras-chave: Bioeconomic modelling; Wetland protection; Wildlife management; Nonmarket values; Prairie pothole region; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q57; C61; Q25.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/94936

Economists are rarely brought into the interdisciplinary research until the biophysical scientists have developed their models, made their measurements or completed their research task. The research economist is then brought in to do what amounts to a consulting task – provide some numbers that indicate impacts on the economy and employment. In this paper, I begin by illustrating cases from forestry where this leads to erroneous and costly policy outcomes. However, the main objective of this paper is to examine the role of genetic engineering in forestry and agriculture. In forestry, planting of genetically-modified (GM) tree species is nearly non-existent, with the exception of hybrid poplar that is used to produce pulp or fuel. However, as explored here,...

Challenges for Less Developed Countries: Agricultural Policies in the EU and the US

Palavras-chave: Precautionary principle; Economics of genetically-modified organisms; Agriculture and forestry; Mountain pine beetle; Agricultural and Food Policy; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; O13; O32; Q11; Q18; Q23.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/107480

Schure, Paul; van Kooten, G. Cornelis; Wang, Yichuan.

Agricultural policies adopted by developed countries are considered distortional and detrimental to less developed countries (LDCs). This paper discusses the adverse impacts on less developed countries of the agricultural support regimes of the European Union (EU) and the United States (US). Despite the fact that the budget for agriculture in these constituencies has the same order of magnitude, we find that the EU relies much more heavily on agricultural support than does the US. Specifically, the EU provides agricultural producers with an amount of support that is about two-and-a-half times that of the US, and for most commodities a larger share of farmers’ income stems from support measures as well. While the composition of producer support differs...

Network Constrained Wind Integration: An Optimal Cost Approach

Palavras-chave: Agricultural support; European Union; US; Developing countries; Least-developed countries; Agricultural and Food Policy; Farm Management; Q14; Q17; Q18.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37047

Maddaloni, Jesse D.; Rowe, Andrew M.; van Kooten, G. Cornelis.

Planning electricity supply is important because power demand continues to increase while there is a concomitant desire to increase reliance on renewable sources. Extant research pays particular attention to highly variable, low-carbon energy sources such as wind and small-scale hydroelectric power. Models generally employ only a simple load levelling technique, ensuring that generation meets demand in every period. The current research considers the power transmission system as well as load levelling. A network model is developed to simulate the integration of highly variable non-dispatchable power into an electrical grid that relies on traditional generation sources, while remaining within the network’s operating constraints. The model minimizes a...

Voluntary Environmental Action and Export Destinations: The Case of Forest Certification

Palavras-chave: Electric networks; Optimal power flow; Wind power; Intermittent sources; Environmental Economics and Policy; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q40; Q42.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37034

Moeltner, Klaus; van Kooten, G. Cornelis.

There is an increasing tendency for forest product firms worldwide to adopt sound environmental management practices by voluntarily agreeing to have their forest practices certified by third parties. Using a simple model of profit maximization, we illustrate that the puzzling emergence of this non-state, self-imposed governance structure is compatible with firms' profit motives. An empirical model using firm data from three countries shows firm location and export destinations play a key role in firms' decisions to seek certification, while the nature of forestland ownership has no significant impact on certification decisions.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Export markets; Forest certification; Profit maximization; Discrete choice models; Environmental Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/31100

Integrating Wind Power in Electricity Grids: An Economic Analysis

Liu, Jia; van Kooten, G. Cornelis; Pitt, Lawrence.

As a renewable energy source, wind power is gaining popularity as a favoured alternative to fossil fuel, nuclear and hydro power generation. In Europe, countries are required to achieve 15% of their energy consumption from wind by 2010 as the EU strives to meet its Kyoto obligations. Wind power is considered to be environmentally friendly and low cost. While environmental friendliness has come under scrutiny because wind turbines continue to pose a hazard to birds, are visually unappealing, affect the uses of land and change air flows, the purpose of this paper is to examine the question of its presumed low cost and effectiveness at reducing CO2 emissions by replacing power generated from fossil fuels. To do so, we develop a mathematical programming model...