Environmental Valuation & Cost-Benefit News

Economic and ecological costs and benefits of streamflow augmentation using recycled water in a California coastal stream

2013-05-27T14:57:00.001-04:00

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es305011z Abstract: Streamflow augmentation has the potential to become an important application of recycled water in water scarce areas. We assessed the economic and ecological merits of a recycled water project that opted for an inland release of tertiary-treated recycled water in a small stream and wetland compared to an ocean outfall discharge. Costs

Depth of manual dismantling analysis: A cost–benefit approach

2013-05-27T08:47:00.000-04:00

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2012.12.024 Abstract: This paper presents a decision support tool for manufacturers and recyclers towards end-of-life strategies for waste electrical and electronic equipment. A mathematical formulation based on the cost benefit analysis concept is herein analytically described in order to determine the parts and/or components of an obsolete product

Cost and benefit of renewable energy in the European Union

2013-05-27T07:08:00.000-04:00

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2012.06.014 Abstract: An assessment is made as to whether renewable energy use for electricity generation in the EU was beneficial throughout the cycle of high and low oil prices. Costs and benefits are calculated with the EU statistics for the period of low oil prices 1998–2002 and high oil prices 2003–2009. The share of renewable energy in

An assessment of the economic and social impacts of climate change on the coastal and marine sector in the Caribbean

2013-05-27T07:06:00.000-04:00

http://tinyurl.com/pesah4u Executive summary: Climate change poses special challenges for Caribbean decision makers related to the uncertainties inherent in future climate projections and the complex linkages between climate change, physical and biological systems, and socioeconomic sectors. At present, however, the Caribbean subregion lacks the adaptive capacity needed to address these

The Contingent Valuation Debate Rages On: From Hopeless to Curious? Thoughts on Hausman’s “Dubious to Hopeless” Critique of Contingent Valuation

2013-05-20T15:36:00.000-04:00

http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/aplwpaper/13-07.htm Abstract: Hausman (2012) “selectively” reviews the CVM literature and fails to find progress over the 18 years since Diamond and Hausman (1994) argued that unquantified benefits and costs are preferred to benefits and costs quantified by CVM for policy analysis. In these comments, we provide counter-arguments to the claims made by Hausman.

Macroeconomic Impacts of the EU 30% GHG Mitigation Target

2013-05-20T13:17:00.000-04:00

http://www.feem.it/getpage.aspx?id=5447&sez=Publications&padre=73 Abstract:The reduction of GHG emissions is one of the most important policy objectives worldwide. Nonetheless, concrete and effective measures to reduce them are hardly implemented. One of the main reasons for this deadlock is the fear that unilateral actions will reduce a country’s competitiveness, and will benefit those

The Impact of Brownfields on Residential Property Values in Cincinnati, Ohio: A Spatial Hedonic Approach

2013-05-20T10:08:00.000-04:00

http://www.jrap-journal.org/pastvolumes/2010/v42/v42_n3_a5_mihaescu.pdf Abstract This paper empirically assesses the impact brownfield sites have on market values of single-family residential properties. Using three different hedonic model specifications, Ordinary Least Squares and Spatial Autoregressive (SAR) and Spatial Error Models (SEM), this study shows that properties located less than

Debundling Property Rights for Contaminated Properties: Valuing the Opportunity Cost of the Right to Sell, Using Cumulative Options

2013-05-18T21:24:00.000-04:00

http://www.umac.mo/fba/irer/papers/past/vol15n2/v15n205.html Abstract: This paper examines the loss of control of the ability to time the sale or develop property as an intrinsic benefit of the bundle of ownership rights. This right, proxied by the real option to control property, can be hindered by the existence of contamination. An empirical analysis of a contaminated site is used to

The Gulf Oil Spill and Its Impact on Coastal Property Value Using the Before-and-After Procedure

2013-05-18T19:41:00.000-04:00

http://ares.metapress.com/content/w3871jn5483l8465/ Abstract: The before-and-after procedure is applied to Coastal Alabama property to estimate the economic loss in property value caused by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. The project is unique in that it relies on market trends shown in the total population of deed recordings allowing the total impact to be estimated with the dynamic

EPA Announces Selected Recipients to Receive $62.5 Million to Clean Up Contaminated Sites, Protect Health and the Environment, and Revitalize Communities Nationwide

2013-05-18T18:33:00.000-04:00

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/C5696C235A9244BA85257B650057D896 Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the selection of 240 recipients recommended to receive $62.5 million in grants to protect people’s health and the environment in local communities. These new investments, funded by EPA’s Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grants,

What Do Property Values Really Tell Us? A Hedonic Study of Underground Storage Tanks

2013-05-18T18:31:00.000-04:00

http://le.uwpress.org/content/89/2/211 Abstract: Hedonic property value models are widely used but are susceptible to potentially invalid conjectures based on the assumed measure of environmental quality. This paper focuses on an application where this is of particular concern: leaking underground storage tanks. I estimate a hedonic model using quasi-experimental and spatial econometric

Valuation of Human Health: An Integrated Model of Willingness to Pay for Mortality and Morbidity Risk Reductions

2013-05-18T18:05:00.000-04:00

http://yosemite.epa.gov/ee/epa/eed.nsf/WPNumber/2012-07 Abstract: This paper develops and applies an integrated model of human mortality and morbidity valuation that is consistent with principles of welfare economics. The standard expected utility model of one person facing two health states (alive and dead) is extended to a setting in which two family members (a parent and a child) face

The Price Premium for Organic Wines: Estimating a Hedonic Farm-gate Price Equation

2013-05-16T15:51:00.001-04:00

http://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/osloec/2013_007.html http://www.sv.uio.no/econ/english/research/memorandum/pdf-files/2013/memo-07-2013.pdf Abstract:: Organic wines are increasingly produced and appreciated. Since organic production is more costly, a crucial question is whether they benefit from a price premium. We estimate hedonic price functions for Piedmont organic and conventional wines.

The Impact of Brownfields on Residential Property Values in Cincinnati, Ohio: A Spatial Hedonic Approach

2013-05-15T15:25:00.000-04:00

http://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/huiwps/0085.html Abstract: This paper empirically assesses the impact brownfield sites have on market values of single-family residential properties. Using three different hedonic model specifications, namely Ordinary Least Squares, Spatial Autoregressive, and Spatial Error Model, this study shows that properties located less than 1,000 feet from a brownfield

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for Business Coalition Study Shows Multi Trillion Dollar Natural Capital Risk

2013-05-01T21:37:00.000-04:00

http://tinyurl.com/d8t5uwa The report, “Natural Capital at Risk – The Top 100 Externalities of Business”, estimates the global top 100 environmental externalities are costing the economy world-wide around $4.7 trillion a year in terms of the economic costs of greenhouse gas emissions, loss of natural resources, loss of nature-based services such as carbon storage by forests, climate change and

Strategically Placing Green Infrastructure: Cost-Effective Land Conservation in the Floodplain

2013-05-01T18:17:00.000-04:00

http://www.rff.org/Documents/EST-green-infrastructure-report.pdf Abstract: Green infrastructure approaches have attracted increased attention from local governments as a way to lower flood risk and provide an array of other environmental services. The peer-reviewed literature, however, offers few estimates of the economic impacts of such approaches at the watershed scale. Carolyn Kousky,

The Long-term Effects of Early Lead Exposure: Evidence from a case of Environmental Negligence

2013-03-25T23:40:00.001-04:00

http://www.nber.org/papers/w18915 Abstract: This paper estimates the effect of early lead exposure on academic achievement and adult earnings. We analyze longitudinal information from individuals attending primary and secondary schools in the city of Arica (in northern Chile). Between 1984 and 1989, Arica received more than 20,000 tons of toxic chemicals containing high concentrations of

Flooding and Liquidity on the Bayou: The Capitalization of Flood Risk into House Value and Ease-of-Sale

2013-03-25T21:14:00.000-04:00

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-6229.2012.00338.x Abstract: The existing literature focuses on how perceived flood risk affects house value. Search theory, however, implies that flood risks will be capitalized into both house price and liquidity. This article draws on search theory to develop an empirical approach for estimating flood risk capitalization into both price and

IBM Taps Big Data to Help Solve Water Challenges Across South Africa“WaterWatchers,” a new mobile app, harnesses the power of crowdsourcing

2013-03-25T20:36:00.000-04:00

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/40705.wss IBM (NYSE: IBM) marks World Water Day with the launch of a crowdsoucing project to help capture, share and analyze information about the water distribution system in South Africa. The project, called “WaterWatchers,” is driven by a new mobile phone application and SMS capability that will enable South African citizens to report water

Biodiversity-Based Business in Peru Can Power Green Economy: UNEP Study

2013-03-24T21:56:00.000-04:00

http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=2704&ArticleID=9429 Goods and services derived from biodiversity (known as BioTrade) in Peru have grown by 20 per cent in the last five years, generating significant revenue and promoting sustainable development, while simultaneously supporting pro-poor development. But despite these benefits, Peru's BioTrade sector still

What Changes Energy Consumption, and for How Long? New Evidence from the 2001 Brazilian Electricity Crisis

2013-03-24T20:30:00.002-04:00

http://www.rff.org/Publications/Pages/PublicationDetails.aspx?PublicationID=22149 Abstract: There is little evidence from impact evaluation studies of ambitious residential energy conservation programs, especially in developing countries. In this paper, I investigate the short- and long-term impacts of the most ambitious electricity conservation program to date. This was an innovative program

Changes in implicit flood risk premiums: Empirical evidence from the housing market

2013-03-23T21:15:00.000-04:00

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2012.12.002 Abstract: Hedonic valuation models have shown that sales prices can capitalize property risk factors, such as flood zone; properties facing lower risk sell at a premium, all else being equal. Previous research has indicated that price differentials reflecting risk of flooding become much larger in the wake of a storm. We re-examine these

New Reasons to Change Light Bulbs

2013-03-23T19:05:00.000-04:00

http://tinyurl.com/cso67ax ... LED [light] bulbs ... have been slow to arrive, mainly because of their high price.... That’s a pity, because LED bulbs ... last about 25 times as long as incandescents and three times as long as CFLs; we’re talking maybe 25,000 hours of light.... You know how hot incandescent bulbs become. That’s because they convert only 5 to 10 percent of your

From Hopeless to Curious? Thoughts on Hausman’s “Dubious to Hopeless” Critique of Contingent Valuation

2013-03-23T18:48:00.000-04:00

http://econ.appstate.edu/RePEc/pdf/wp1307.pdf Abstract: Hausman (2012) “selectively” reviews the CVM literature and fails to find progress over the 18 years since Diamond and Hausman (1994) argued that unquantified benefits and costs are preferred to benefits and costs quantified by CVM for policy analysis. In these comments, we provide counter-arguments to the claims made by Hausman. We

Deutsche Bank: "Sustainable" solar market expected in 2014

2013-03-22T21:47:00.000-04:00

http://tinyurl.com/ay9m7vn and http://tinyurl.com/bkohb5f Analysts at Deutsche Bank have predicted that the global solar PV sector will transition from a subsidised market to a sustainable market within a year, citing the arrival of “grid parity” in a number of key markets, with unexpectedly strong demand and rebounding margins. The Deutsche Bank team said key markets such as India, China