Search Results (28)

Water-intensive industries in the Mediterranean face supply stress and decarbonisation pressure simultaneously. We develop an operations-research decision-support framework that treats the firm as one node of a small industrial resource cluster and prices the cost and carbon-equivalent emissions of five alternative supply trains—municipal water, river water, groundwater, rainwater harvesting and brewery wastewater reuse—within a multi-objective Linear Program. Each train carries engineering-grounded expenditures, energy intensities and grid emissions, and a weighted-sum scalarisation is solved daily for 365 days under three managerial scenarios. On a Cretan microbrewery whose 2022 demand of 5250 m³ is met from the municipal network, the balanced and cost-focused scenarios coincide on a single optimum that cuts the Levelised Cost of Water by 25.3% and emissions by 40.7%, while the eco-friendly scenario yields a 19.3% cost and 51.7% emissions reduction. LP duality, shadow prices and an extended sensitivity programme (diversification, capacity, grid factor, discount rate, RO recovery and demand profile) turn the optimisation into a decision-support package: optimal daily allocations, shadow-price signals on capacity and demand, and robustness diagnostics for capital planning, dispatch and risk management. Results are site-specific, but the framework and its diagnostics transfer in structure to clusters sharing the same convex-polytope source geometry; transposition to energy cooperatives is future work. Full article

The increasing frequency and severity of extreme droughts caused by climate change has emerged as a key risk factor exerting complex effects on the overall national economy through a structure of interconnected industries. The Water Input–Output Linear Programming (WIOLP) model was applied to data from 2015 to 2018 to quantitatively assess the effects of drought-induced water use constraints on production and socioeconomic potential losses. By modeling scenarios in which water use decreased by 10% from 100%, changes in the gross output, the value added, the socioeconomic potential loss, and the shadow price by industry were evaluated. Results showed that socioeconomic potential losses increased nonlinearly, with maximum potential losses of 311,118 billion Korean Won (KRW) in 2015 and 355,260 billion KRW in 2018. The shadow price rose from 7311 to 73,186 KRW/m³ in 2015 and from 3291 to 89,586 KRW/m³ in 2018, confirming that the marginal productivity of water increased exponentially under stricter constraints. Industry-level analysis revealed the largest losses in high water use industries (e.g., agriculture, forestry, fisheries, chemicals, and non-metals), whereas electricity, electronics, and machinery sectors maintained relatively stable production. This study demonstrates that the WIOLP model can empirically analyze nonlinear economic ripple effects under resource constraints, overcoming limitations of conventional input–output and computable general equilibrium models. Full article

Agriculture uses 80% of global water resources, driving several water management challenges across the world. These challenges require the exchange of effective practices. We found that California’s Tulare Lake Basin (TLB) and Mexico’s Nazas–Aguanaval watershed share key features, leading us to propose the TLB as a model of climate resilience. After contrasting the policies for TLB with those for Nazas–Aguanaval, we found that no constrained pricing policy proposal exists for the Nazas–Aguanaval watershed. We apply a hydro-economic model using Positive Mathematical Programming to support an incentive structure for reducing water use in agriculture while maximizing profits. The optimal crop policy could reduce water demand by 20%, with a trade-off of an 11% reduction in profits. This would save 185.4 hm³/year, which represents 90% of the volume required for an ongoing infrastructure project for urban water supply in the watershed. Additionally, implementing a price of 14 USD/dam³ could increase the irrigation district’s revenue, boosting farmers’ profits by up to 16% and district revenue by up to 134%. Our results demonstrate the benefits of applying Positive Mathematical Programming in a semiarid watershed to support water and agriculture policy. This research is a starting point for increasing the climate resilience of watersheds under water and financial stress. Full article

Land-use changes cause disturbance to sediment dynamics, increasing downstream sediment loads discharged into ecosystems and provoking impacts on stream quality and damage to current stormwater infrastructures. Wastewater nature-based solutions (NBSWT) are bioretention techniques that alleviate downstream degradation caused by runoff sediment accumulation and are projected as an off-line street device that enhances treatment of runoff contaminant loads. This research assesses the economic, social, and environmental benefits from sediment load reduction in runoff by designing a new NBSWT in a selected urban area of the Mantiqueira Mountain Range (São Paulo, Brazil), considered an irreplaceable protected area for biodiversity and urban water supply. To achieve this quantification, the shadow prices methodology has been used. The results obtained here show the adaptive capacity that NBSWT have according to the territory and its climatic particularities, quantified at USD 40,475,255. This value demonstrates that the retention of runoff sediment generates a direct environmental benefit related to the ecosystem improvement of the river system located downstream, preserving its environmental and social importance. Hence, this study demonstrates the potential of using shadow prices methodology as a management tool for quantifying the environmental benefit of removing runoff solids by using NBSWT in developing urban areas. Full article

Hainan Island has rich water resources and unique lake ecosystems. Organically connecting lakes and wetlands with forest ecosystems should be considered in order to strengthen biodiversity protection, form a continuous green corridor to promote species migration and gene exchange, and enhance the stability and resilience of the overall ecological system and maximize its benefits. The method of linear programming was used in this study to analyze the forest ecosystem on Hainan Island in China in order to provide a scientific basis for the integration, protection and management of lakes, wetlands and forests. This study points out that the ratio of the area of timber forest, protection forest, special-purpose forest and bamboo forest should be adjusted from the current 68:22.9:7.1:1.8 to 24:72.8:2.5:0.6. The average shadow price of the reasonable use of different forest lands on Hainan Island is 2512.46 CNY/ha and the optimal value of special-purpose forest is 4376.04 CNY/ha, rather than the current 6888.50 CNY/ha. This study also shows that the timber forest, special-purpose forest and bamboo forest on Hainan Island are short-term products, while protection forest, wood-fuel forest, economic forest, open forest land, shrub land, young afforested land and non-forest land are long-term products, for which it is not easy to obtain benefits in the short-term. A combination of long- and short-term forest ecological planning should be considered to maintain the various long-term benefits. This study finally proposes that Hainan Island should reduce its proportion of timber forest area; increase its proportion of protection forest area; focus on the integrated development of lakes, wetlands and forests and biodiversity conservation goals; and pay close attention to the adjustment of forest type structure in order to meet the needs of ecological province construction and sustainable development. Full article

The virtual water flow behind product trade provides researchers with ideas to alleviate water problems in China’s coastal areas, with accompanying resource and economic implications. This paper adopts a multi-region input–output model to calculate virtual water flows in coastal areas and analyses resource benefits and economic benefits, by combining the water stress index and shadow price, to measure gains and losses of virtual water flow. This study shows that (1) China’s coastal areas depends on external water supplies; (2) virtual water flows between coastal and inland areas generated 38.26 billion m³ of net scarce water savings and CNY 31,751 billion of net economic benefits, indicating that coastal areas benefited from virtual water flows from both resource and economic perspectives; (3) virtual water flows among coastal provinces and cities caused 11.10 billion m³ of net scarce water losses, but generated CNY 9784 billion of net economic gains, indicating that a further intensification of water stress in coastal areas, but such a virtual water flow pattern was beneficial from an economic perspective. This paper reveals the resource and economic impacts of virtual water flow at the national scale and among coastal provinces and cities and further proposes suggestions for promoting the beneficial flow of virtual water in coastal areas. Full article

Urban lake wetlands play an essential role in providing ecological services, promoting urban sustainability, and enhancing the quality of urban life. This study quantitatively assesses the ecosystem services value (ESV) of the Zhangdu, East, and Ziyang urban lake wetlands in Wuhan, China, based on primary survey data and methodologies, including the market price, shadow engineering, and travel cost methods. The ESV is categorized into direct use value (DUV), indirect use value (IUV), and non-use value (NUV). Our findings reveal that the non-use value proportion is significant, amounting to 1.569 × 10⁸ CNY × yr⁻¹ for Zhangdu Lake, 1.527 × 10⁸ CNY × yr⁻¹ for East Lake, and 1.060 × 10⁸ CNY × yr⁻¹ for Ziyang Lake. This indicates a high willingness to pay among respondents, reflecting a recognition of the value of wetland services. In addition to the non-use value, this study underscores the considerable material production, water conservation, and leisure tourism value that these urban lake wetlands provide. The assessment of ESV delivers a scientific basis for the management and protection of urban lake wetlands. It also highlights the challenges faced, such as pollution and fragmented management approaches due to unclear property rights and insufficient funding. This study concludes by emphasizing the need for future research to explore mechanisms that promote social participation in wetland management, with the aim of enhancing the overall ecological health of urban lake wetlands. Full article

This article discusses the challenges of water scarcity and industrial water pollution in developing countries, specifically in Morocco, where the olive oil industry is a significant contributor to organic water pollution. The Moroccan government has implemented regulations and economic incentives to address this issue, but enforcement has been hindered by a lack of information on environmental damage and pollution abatement costs. This study aims to improve the knowledge of public decision makers on the costs of the depollution of oil mills and to use this information to develop tools for the reinforcement of the current regulation mechanism. To meet our research objective, the Translog hyperbolic distance function is used to represent the environmental technology generating three undesirable outputs (SS, BOD, and COD) and to estimate the olive oil mills’ specific pollution abatement cost (shadow price). Finally, pollutant-specific taxes are computed using the tax-standard method. The results showed that oil mills must renounce the production of olive oil totaling MAD 13,314, MAD 4706, and MAD 5786 for the reduction of one ton of SS, BOD, and COD, respectively, and that there are economies of scale in the treatment of olive mill wastewater. After calculating the rate of the environmental tax, we conclude that implementing the tax according to current emission standards can be very restrictive for oil mills, as it would represent 22% of the total annual turnover of the olive oil industry. These findings suggest a redesign of the regulation mechanism, including the implementation of environmental monitoring systems, the consideration of economies of scale in pollution control, and the use of better-targeted green subsidies and effective environmental tax. However, further research is needed to understand the impact of these measures on the economic performance of the olive oil industry. Full article

Constructed wetlands (CWs) are nature-based solutions that utilize natural vegetation, soils, and microbes to treat domestic wastewater and industrial effluents. They are engineered treatment systems that mimic the functions of natural wetlands to capture stormwater, reduce nutrient loads, and create diverse wildlife habitats. Providing these monetary and non-monetary benefits, its implementation has grown in several applications and geographical spread. Recent studies integrate the ecosystem services of CWs in project valuation, and the critical analysis of research hotspots has not been made yet. This study employs a systematic review to analyze the literature on ecosystem services provided by CWs and how they are incorporated into the valuation of CW projects. Among the ecosystem services that have been identified are provisioning (biomass and water supply), regulating (wastewater treatment and purification, climate regulation, flood prevention, and erosion control), cultural (recreation and aesthetic, biodiversity, education, and research), and supporting (habitat formation, nutrient cycling, and hydrological cycle). In terms of valuation methods and techniques, the results identified contingent valuation, shadow pricing, cost–benefit analysis, benefits transfer, habitat evaluation procedures, replacement cost, and travel cost. The analysis results provide researchers with a concrete basis for future studies and directions for further development. This also provides policymakers and CW project planners with valuable insights on various aspects of policy support for CW adoption and project valuation. Full article

The contradiction between the supply and demand of water resources has become increasingly prominent, and water rights trading is an effective approach to increase the efficiency of water resource utilization and allocation so as to achieve sustainable use of water resources. Current transferring cost and price in China are both underestimated, taking into account the construction and maintenance fee of water conservation project and the irrigation risk compensation fee but ignoring the renovation and reconstruction fee of water conservation projects, and the compensation fee for farmers. This paper takes assignee rights, assignee capacity, and compensation to third parties into comprehensive considerations in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, where the contradictions between water, energy and food are most prominent in China. Tradable water use rights were analyzed based on a water transfer pricing model. The results show that there is an obvious negative correlation between shadow water price and water usage, and the shadow price of water resources is between 10.91 and 40.52 CNY/m³, which is an optimal solution under the constraint of water usage from 6.65 to 7.03 billion m³. The reasonable water transfer price is 10.91 CYN/m³, of which the earning of the agricultural assignor was 5.96 CNY/m³. This price guarantees the interests of the assignee and is also affordable to the assignee. This research provides a specific calculation method for the transfer pricing of water rights under non-market conditions, which is of important theoretically and has practical significance. Full article

In mounted photovoltaic (PV) facilities, energy output losses due to inter-row shading are unavoidable. In order to limit the shadow cast by one module row on another, sufficient inter-row space must be planned. However, it is not uncommon to see PV plants with such close row spacing that energy losses occur owing to row-to-row shading effects. Low module prices and high ground costs lead to such configurations, so the maximum energy output per available surface area is prioritized over optimum energy production per peak power. For any applications where the plant power output needs to be calculated, an exact analysis of the influence of inter-row shading on power generation is required. In this paper, an effective methodology is proposed and discussed in detail, ultimately, to enable PV system designers to identify the optimal inter-row spacing between arrays by generating a multiplier factor. The spacing multiplier factor is mathematically formulated and is generated to be a general formula for any geographical location including flat and non-flat terrains. The developed model is implemented using two case studies with two different terrains, to provide a wider context. The first one is in the Kingdome of Saudi Arabia (KSA) provinces, giving a flat terrain case study; the inter-row spacing multiplier factor is estimated for the direct use of a systems designer. The second one is the water pump for agricultural watering using renewable energy sources, giving a non-flat terrain case study in Dhamar, Al-Hada, Yemen. In this case study, the optimal inter-row spacing factor is estimated for limited-area applications. Therefore, the effective area using the proposed formula is minimized so that the shading of PV arrays on each other is avoided, with a simple design using the spacing factor methodology. Full article

Carbon-rich habitats can provide powerful climate mitigation if meaningful protection is put in place. We attempted to quantify this around the Tristan da Cunha archipelago Marine Protected Area. Its shallows (<1000 m depth) are varied and productive. The 5.4 km² of kelp stores ~60 tonnes of carbon (tC) and may export ~240 tC into surrounding depths. In deep-waters we analysed seabed data collected from three research cruises, including seabed mapping, camera imagery, seabed oceanography and benthic samples from mini-Agassiz trawl. Rich biological assemblages on seamounts significantly differed to the islands and carbon storage had complex drivers. We estimate ~2.3 million tC are stored in benthic biodiversity of waters <1000 m, which includes >0.22 million tC that can be sequestered (the proportion of the carbon captured that is expected to become buried in sediment or locked away in skeletal tissue for at least 100 years). Much of this carbon is captured by cold-water coral reefs as a mixture of inorganic (largely calcium carbonate) and organic compounds. As part of its 2020 Marine Protection Strategy, these deep-water reef systems are now protected by a full bottom-trawling ban throughout Tristan da Cunha and representative no take areas on its seamounts. This small United Kingdom Overseas Territory’s reef systems represent approximately 0.8 Mt CO₂ equivalent sequestered carbon; valued at >£24 Million GBP (at the UN shadow price of carbon). Annual productivity of this protected standing stock generates an estimated £3 million worth of sequestered carbon a year, making it an unrecognized and potentially major component of the economy of small island nations like Tristan da Cunha. Conservation of near intact habitats are expected to provide strong climate and biodiversity returns, which are exemplified by this MPA. Full article

The development of metropolitan cities inevitably relies on natural resources beyond their boundary through trade of materials and products, particularly within the same urban agglomeration. Meanwhile trade facilitates the optimization of resource allocations under scarcity, among cities and sectors, and therefore generates economic gains. This study constructs an economic evaluation model combining a Multi-Regional Input-Output model and a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to quantify the economic impacts of virtual water trades among the 13 cities in the JingJinJi region (China national capital area), one of the most water-scarce regions in China. We found that the total virtual water trade among the 13 cities amounted to 927 million m³ in 2012, among which agricultural sectors contributed 90% while the industrial sector and service sector together made up the remaining 10%. While Beijing and Tianjin are the main virtual water importers, importing respectively 300.48 and 226.92 million m³ in 2012, Shijiazhuang was the largest virtual water exporter, exporting 173.29 million m³ virtual water in the same year. Due to their more advanced economic conditions, Beijing and Tianjin also have the highest shadow prices of water, at respectively 912.21 and 831.86 CNY per m³, compared to a range of 79.31 to 263.03 CNY per m³ in cities in Hebei. Virtual water flows from cities in Hebei to Beijing and Tianjin thus generate economic gains. It is estimated that virtual water trades in the JingJinJi region have generated a net economic gain of 403.62 billion CNY in 2012, particularly owing to trades of agricultural products from Shijiazhuang to Beijing and Tianjin. Full article

Urban green infrastructure (UGI) includes green and blue open spaces that provide multiple ecosystem services (ES) and the ecological and cultural benefits for people to hedge the urbanization challenges. In this paper, we assessed the total economic value of ES provided by UGI in the capital core area of Beijing by calculating the value of six types of ES related to high-density urban features: (1) climate regulation, (2) carbon sequestration and oxygen production, (3) water control and conservation, (4) air pollution reduction, (5) noise reduction (6) cultural services through the combination of replacement cost, carbon tax, shadow project, afforestation cost, and market price methods. The results showed that UGI generated economic benefits in the surveyed area of about CNY ¥1.56 billion (USD $240 million) per year or CNY ¥91.76 (USD $14) per capita. The largest share of ES came from carbon sequestration and oxygen production, amounting to about 46.32% of the total ES value. Our findings also revealed that the distribution of ES value patterns varied across communities. This study enhanced the understanding of local UGI and had significant policy implications for future urban sustainable management, both in the capital core area of Beijing and in other high-density urban areas. Full article

The present study examines the optimal water supply portfolio under the impact of climate change constructed by the authors previously. It incorporates feasibility planning for water supply projects, assesses a feasible water supply portfolio for central Taiwan, and uses the shadow price method to assess the rationality of the compensation policy for transferring agricultural water to ensure water supply security for the industrial sector. The study finds that Changhua and Yunlin have the highest per-unit costs of raw water, and the Nantou region has the highest carbon emission coefficient (carbon footprint) per unit of water produced. The cumulative value (2021–2031) of the water resources policy to reallocate agricultural water to achieve water supply security is about TWD 15.904–31.13 billion. The shadow price of industrial water is about TWD 40.18/cubic meter. Therefore, a compensation price for agricultural water transfer of less than TWD 40.18/cubic meter represents a rational policy. Full article