Increasing the public benefits of agricultural conservation easements: an illustration with the Central Valley Farmland Trust in the San Joaquin Valley

Agricultural conservation easements (ACEs) involve the significant expenditure of public funds through either tax benefits and/or direct public expenditures. The selection of agricultural parcels for conservation should, therefore, maximise net public benefits to the extent possible within financial constraints and the need for agricultural viability to maintain working landscapes. Some programmes select agricultural parcels for conservation easements based only on agricultural viability and/or land cost, however, without explicit consideration of the many other public benefits often associated with ACEs. This paper illustrates application of a method for increasing the public benefits of agricultural conservation easements through a case study in the northern San Joaquin Valley of California. The method is a strategic planning process that incorporates both a GIS-based quantitative assessment and a more qualitative assessment. Such an approach is a supplement to – rather than a substitute for – the more science-based Landscape Evaluation and Site Evaluation (LESA) approach developed by the US Soil Conservation Service (SCS) and cost-minimisation approaches that emphasise economic considerations. However, we show that public land use planning and regulatory policies are essential for agricultural conservation. Acquisition strategies in isolation will not be successful without complementary public regulatory policies.     

风城油田清洁生产审核成效分析

从环境效益、技术可行性、经济效益及对生产的影响等方面进行清洁生产审核效果分析和评价。介绍了风城油田作业区自实施清洁生产以来,审核工作开展情况,物料与能耗分析;筛选出无费方案2个、低费方案6个、中费方案4个、高费方案2个,实施率分别为100%、100%、50%和100%。结论如下:节约电能1209.19万kW·h/a,节约天然气2739.25×10~4m~3/a,减少CO_2排放27682.84 t/a,减少NO_2排放645.22 t/a,减少SO_2排放17.35 t/a,减少烟尘排放396.90 t/a,减少固体废物排放0.12t/a,清洁生产方案将产生经济效益达4263.32万元/a。     

Assessing the Impacts of Establishing MPAs on Fishermen and Fish Merchants: The Case of Lyme Bay,UK

Shortly after the implementation of a marine protected area (MPA) in Lyme Bay in 2008, inside which scallop dredging and bottom trawling is prohibited, a socio-economic impact assessment was initiated. This article presents the initial findings from this study. The aim was to understand the costs and benefits to fishermen and fish merchants of establishing the MPA. These were assessed using a combination of primary and secondary data. The results indicate that the impacts of the closure differ according to the gear type and the fishing location used by the fishermen. Static gear fishermen who fish inside the closed area have seen changes in terms of increased fishing effort, mostly because they have been able to increase the number of crab and whelk pots they deploy. The effects of the closure on static gear fishermen who fish outside the closed area has been reported in terms of increased conflicts with towed gear fishermen who now fish regularly in their traditional grounds. Fishermen using towed gear on the other hand have been impacted through displacement effects as they have been forced to look for other fishing grounds outside the closed area. Most fish merchants and processors initially claimed that they were heavily impacted by the closure but when they were interviewed 1 year after the closure they suggested a more stable picture. Preliminary analyses of landings data indicate that the introduction of the MPA has so far had minimal impacts on the average incomes and financial profits of fishermen and fish merchants. This conclusion, however, reflects a short-term view as the impacts of the closure of Lyme Bay are likely to be felt for a long time to come.     

Economic Feasibility Study for Phosphorus Recovery Processes

Phosphorus recovery from wastewater has become a necessity for sustainable development because phosphorus is a non-renewable essential resource, and its discharge into the environment causes serious negative impacts. There are no economic incentives for the implementation of phosphorus recovery technologies because the selling price of rock phosphate is lower than phosphorus recovered from sewage. The methodologies used to determine the feasibility of such projects are usually focused on internal costs without considering environmental externalities. This article shows a methodology to assess the economic feasibility of wastewater phosphorus recovery projects that takes into account internal and external impacts. The shadow price of phosphorus is estimated using the directional distance function to measure the environmental benefits obtained by preventing the discharge of phosphorus into the environment. The economic feasibility analysis taking into account the environmental benefits shows that the phosphorus recovery is viable not only from sustainable development but also from an economic point of view.     

绿色经济新理念及中国开展绿色经济研究的思考

联合国里约20周年世界峰会的重要内容之一是倡导绿色经济。绿色经济的概念最早在1989年由英国环境经济学家Pearce提出,但现在的绿色经济却具有全新的意义。本文基于参加联合国有关绿色新政和绿色经济的政策咨询和研究报告,论述了绿色经济的基本背景、三重效益、研究模型以及绿色经济与生活质量的关系,对如何开展中国绿色经济研究进行探讨。首先,文章认为在深入探讨绿色经济前,需要了解当前发展绿色经济的基本背景,明确为什么要发展绿色经济、什么才是我们所需要的绿色经济,以及怎样促进绿色经济发展三个基本问题。其二,绿色经济与褐色经济的情景模拟表明,绿色经济发展模式具有更好的三重底线效益。联合国的T-21模型对过去40年(1970-2010)及未来40年(2010-2050)进行了绿色情景与褐色情景两种模拟,认为在自然资本的环境收益方面,绿色经济发展情景下自然资本的退化得到了基本遏制,而褐色经济发展情景下自然资本的退化会进一步增强;在物质资本的经济收益方面,绿色经济发展情景下,2020年以前经济增长率(2.5%)会低于褐色经济(3%),但从长期平均增长率看绿色经济发展模式(2.5%)可以带来比褐色经济发展模式(2%)更好的经济增长;在人力资本的社会效益方面,在2030年以前绿色经济发展情景下就业机会有小幅减少,但长期来看,绿色经济能够创造与褐色经济同样多的就业机会,甚至可以有小幅的增加(0.6%)。其三,绿色经济研究模型表明,绿色经济投资于自然资本可以实现所需要的经济社会发展与自然资本消耗的脱钩。绿色经济假说是:将资金投资于提高资源能源效率与扩大自然资本两个方面,是否能够导致更好的经济社会发展。基于该理论假设,联合国等国际组织将自然资本引入生产函数,建立了Threshold-21模型,证明绿色经济即投资于自然资本可以实现所需要的经济社会发展与自然资本消耗的脱钩。其四,绿色经济发展模式不仅有利于经济增长,同时能够增加生活质量。绿色经济假说,强调了绿色投资对生活质量有正的影响。通过生态绩效模型、结构方程模型以及典型案例研究等三种方法进行分析,研究表明:减少自然资本消耗可以减少生态环境的治理成本和维护成本、维持与增加自然资本对人类的功能;可以提高自然资本的生产效率,用较少的自然资本投入达到社会稳定所需要的人造资本;可以提高人造资本的服务效率,用一定的物质存量为更多的人服务。其五,开展深化中国绿色经济理论与绿色发展模式的系统研究。联合国等国际组织倡导的绿色经济可以给我们发展中国的绿色经济带来新的启示,笔者认为对中国绿色经济理论与绿色发展模式开展深入和系统的研究,应该包括理论内涵、实证分析、发展情景、行动领域、政策体系等五个依次递进、前后照应的研究模块。     

西秦岭山地农村生活能源建设与退耕还林的生态经济效益评价

在西秦岭山地使用太阳灶和沼气。生态经济效益显著。1户1台1．5m^2太阳灶、1个80沼气池每年所得刭的热量等于773k标准煤。折合1353kg薪材。净收益为268元。一年内所替代的薪柴等于0．338hm^2有林地一年的生长量，可使0．042275m^2有林地免遭砍伐。农户从退耕还林中得到的收益为平均每年465元。与种植粮食比较，这些收益主要是不再种粮后所节省的生产成本。退耕还林以扩大林木增量为目标，应作为中长期的战略。稳步实施。使用太阳灶和沼气以保护林木存量为目标。是巩固退耕还林成效的有力措施和生态建设的必要手段。应加大投入和建设力度。     

减少环境灾害高效开发油页岩的集成技术分析

能源是经济发展的动力,面对世界能源资源的日益短缺以及国际石油价格猛涨的局势,开发利用新能源已迫在眉睫。介绍了油页岩的特性和用途及其开发前景;提出了油页岩综合利用的“集成技术”,阐述了该技术的重要思想,详细分析了其经济效益,为油页岩的高效开发利用提供参考。     

厨余垃圾-蔬菜废物协同生产液肥项目技术经济分析

厨余垃圾-蔬菜废物协同生产液肥项目,需要建立科学、高效的运行管理机制和投入产出机制,以提高其经济效益。系统研究银川市某液肥项目的设备投资和运行费用等情况,目前该项目处理规模约为10.6 t/d,运行负荷率为35.3%,导致处理成本高达337.9元/t。因此,提高运行负荷率,是降低处理成本的关键。     

生态工业园建设在循环经济中的战略意义—大连经济技术开发区生态工业园建设

本文对生态工业园的概念及其建设的重要作用作了介绍。以大连经济技术开发区生态工业园的建设为例,探讨了生态工业园的建设方法,并分析了生态工业园建设所带来的经济效益,从而阐明了生态工业园建设对于发展循环经济的重要战略意义。生态工业园建设是我国发展循环经济、实现经济社会可持续发展的战略选择。生态工业园建设应围绕主导产业构建生态工业产业链,实现区内资源循环利用并运用产业生态管理。     

Environmental and Distributional Impacts of Conservation Targeting Strategies

Resource purchasing funds have become a major tool for environmental protection and resource conservation. These funds use various strategies to target resources for conservation, the choice of which may lead to striking differences in environmental performance. This paper develops an analytical framework to analyze the impact of alternative targeting strategies on different interest groups, including consumers, producers, labor, and environmentalists. We show that ignoring the output price effect of purchasing funds reduces environmental gain and in some cases may make a purchasing fund counterproductive, and we argue that the optimal design of targeting criteria must consider the price feedback effect.