Portfolio Analysis for Optimal Seafood Product Diversification and Resource Management

Future harvests from commercial fish stocks are unlikely to increase substantially due to biological and regulatory constraints. Developing alternative sets of processed seafood products is one strategy for increasing welfare while managing the risks inherent in a variable and renewable natural resource. To quantify the risk-benefit tradeoffs of alternative strategies, a portfolio decision framework is embedded into a multi-period bioeconomic model. The model is used to generate an efficient portfolio frontier to estimate possible rent dissipation from status quo management. Frontiers are also generated for seafood processors and brokers. Implications for the different industry agents are discussed.bioeconomic analysis, dynamic optimization, Markowitz, Pacific whiting, portfolio analysis, resource management, seafood processing, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Connecting the Dots: Linking Sustainable Wild Capture Fisheries Initiatives and Impact Investors

Wilderness Markets undertook a series of fishery value chain assessments to better understand the opportunities and constraints for private impact capital to flow into wild capture fisheries markets. Given the investments in developing sustainable fisheries pilots, Wilderness Markets expected to identify a range of investment opportunities in each of the fisheries assessed. However, they did not find investment opportunities that could address the suite of challenges associated with improving financial and social outcomes, while also contributing to conservation outcomes, particularly in developing country fisheries. Wilderness Markets' research indicates the lack of triple-bottom line (TBL) investment opportunities is due to six main constraints to an economically sustainable fisheries value chain—data, management, market differentiation, infrastructure, finance and the lack of investable entities

The offshoring of financial services : a reassessment

Operating in increasingly competitive market environment, financial services companies are engaged in international re-engineering of business processes mirroring developments in manufacturing over the past four decades. Drawing upon interviews conducted with senior managers and partners from two leading international banks, a multinational 'consumables' provider and a leading finance consultancy, as well as extensive published surveys, we examine the distinctive 'anatomy' of offshoring in financial services, and industry which also manifests a high degree of geographical concentration for 'higher order' functions. We conclude that the reality of process re-engineering in the sector has frequently failed to meet business objectives, and has run the risk of creating 'backlash' from employees in both home and host environments

Offshore wind energy in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region and the EPA clean power plan proposed rule

ABSTRACT Offshore Wind Energy in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region and the EPA Clean Power Plan Proposed Rule Kamil E. Armaiz Nolla Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere have been experiencing a rapid rise since the start of the Industrial Era. Human activities have been recognized by the scientific community as the main contributors to CO2 emissions by way of the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. Scientific consensus about human-induced climate change has been recognized since 1992 by the work of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate. Since then, global efforts to mitigate climate change have been underway. On June 2, 2014 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a proposal to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide produced by existing power plants. The plan is based on state-specific emission rate targets for the power sector in order to achieve a national carbon emission reduction of 30 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels. The plan proposes measures known as the Best System of Emission Reduction, or BSER, to achieve the required targets. One of these measures is to use renewable energy technology that is already part of the renewable portfolio standards that have been established by each state. This work looks at the role of offshore wind (OSW) energy as a significant contributor to CO2 reductions. The U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region, specifically the states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia, holds an abundance of strong and steady offshore winds already identified by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in Wind Energy Areas. The Clean Power Plan does not include OSW energy as part of the BSER due to the current absence of operational OSW facilities in the United States, preventing the calculation of a benchmark development rate target. However, this dissertation makes a compelling case for the integration of OSW energy as a significant player in the EPA Clean Power Plan Proposed Rule through scenarios that consider different levels of OSW deployment for the Mid-Atlantic Region within the Plan’s methodology calculations

DECISION-MAKING FRAMEWORK FOR THE SELECTION OF SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES FOR ENERGY-RETROFITS

Buildings are major consumers of energy worldwide. On the other hand, over 60% of the US housing inventory is over 30 years old and a large number of these homes are energy inefficient. Therefore, it is essential to target the existing building stock for energy efficient interventions as a key to substantially reduce the adverse impacts of buildings on the environment and economy. Building energy retrofitting has emerged as a primary strategy for reducing energy use and carbon emissions in existing buildings. An energy retrofit can be defined as a physical or operational change in a building, its energy-consuming equipment, or its occupants\u27 energy-use behavior to convert the building to a lower energy consuming facility. Energy retrofitting could result in additional sustainable benefits such as reducing maintenance costs, reducing air emissions, creating job opportunities, enhancing human health, and improving thermal comfort among others. One of the main challenges in building energy retrofitting is that several combinations of applicable energy consumption reducing measures can be considered to retrofit a building and it is a difficult task to choose the best retrofit strategy. Although numerous resources provide advice on how to retrofit a building, decisions regarding the optimal combination of retrofitting measures for a specific building are typically complex. In addition, most of the decisions for energy retrofits are based on limited cost categories rather than environmental and social considerations. The main goal of this study is to develop a decision support system that integrates sustainable criteria (i.e. economic, environmental, and social benefits) in decision-making in energy retrofits. This goal will achieved through following objectives: (1) Determining the impact of building life-cycle on energy retrofitting decision-making; (2) Identifying and quantifying the sustainable benefits of building energy retrofitting to be used as an objective function in optimization problems; (3) Developing a systematic approach to select among different sustainable decision criteria for energy retrofitting decision-making; and (4) Developing and demonstrating a decision-making optimization model to select the best energy retrofitting alternative for a specific building while maximizing its sustainable benefits. First a life-cycle cost analysis of the case study is presented in terms of energy retrofitting. This life-cycle cost analysis is used to explore the process of decision-making in energy retrofits. Then, a comprehensive study on identifying and quantifying the sustainable benefits of energy retrofits is performed that can be used in decision-making. Different tools such as literature review, surveys, Delphi technique, concept mapping approach, hedonic price modeling, and statistical analysis are used in this step. After that, a Sustainable Energy Retrofit (SER) decision support system is proposed. Finally, the application of this decision support system on a case study of a house located in Albuquerque, New Mexico is explored. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by: (1) Integrating sustainable impacts of building energy retrofits (i.e. Economic, Environmental, and social) in decision-making; (2) Proposing a decision matrix that guides decision-makers on how to select the objective function(s) to formulate an optimization problem that results in the selection of the best energy retrofitting strategy, considering the benefits to investors; (3) Introducing a novel simplified energy prediction method by integrating dynamic and static modeling; (4) Measuring the implicit price of energy performance improvements in the US residential housing market; (5) Identifying, categorizing, and mapping the social sustainability criteria of energy improvements in existing buildings; and last but not least (6) Developing a decision-support system for energy retrofitting projects that integrates the above approaches. The energy retrofitting decision-making model developed in this research can be implemented for different types of buildings to help decision-makers select the optimum energy retrofit strategy that not only maximizes monetary benefits, but also maximize environmental and social benefits. The presented research can also help homeowners to plan or evaluate their retrofitting strategies

Framework for developing and deploying location-based services in emerging economies

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.Includes bibliographical references.The general belief is that Location-Based Services (LBS) in emerging economies does not make much sense until there is widespread availability of geographic information system (GIS) data, broadband internet access, payment methods, infrastructure such as power, well developed advertising platform, etc. There is also the belief that these deficiencies make it next to impossible to realize revenues from the existing revenue models such as mobile adverts, online adverts, subscription, etc. This study shows how LBS services can be developed and deployed in emerging economies within these given set of constraints. It also adduces methods for overcoming some of the identified hindrances such as ways for creating effective and sufficient revenues from online and mobile adverts. The central hypothesis for this work is encapsulated in a "change of mindset" from developing products comparable to those in developed world (United States, Western Europe) to developing products which meet the immediate needs of the local environment in emerging economies/developing economies (however crude these solutions may appear initially from the POV of the developed world) and make use of not only locally available technologies but locally available phenomena. These solutions are then refined as they are consumed by the populace and the populace becomes more "sophisticated". This hypothesis is developed and fleshed out in a methodical manner using data and examples from developing countries - Nigeria (Africa), India (Asia), etc. This study finishes with the architecting of an LBS service (routing/navigation service) for an emerging economy using the framework developed in this study. Recommended future work includes developing more LBS services using this framework and deployment of the developed service, followed by a detailed analysis of the framework and possibly refinements to it.by Ifeanyi Katchy.S.M

Developing an e-logistics system : a case study

Author name used in this publication: E. W. T. NgaiAuthor name used in this publication: T. C. E. Cheng2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Utilizing Geographic Information Systems for Condition-Based Maintenance on the Energy Distribution Grid

The energy distribution grid is a critical infrastructure challenged with shifting requirements induced by the skyrocketing importance of green energy. Particularly, legacy assets—such as medium-voltage switchgear cabinets and circuit breakers—need to be maintained to prevent energy outages and reduce resource consumption. While related research has abundantly presented algorithms for condition-based maintenance, no design knowledge is available to prescribe how an information system for this purpose ought to be designed. In a design science research project, we develop an information system for condition-based maintenance of legacy assets in the medium voltage distribution grid that utilizes geospatial data. Our design integrates Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) functionality with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and a Machine Learning System (MLS) for predicting outages. We demonstrate a current proof-of-concept and conclude by presenting a set of theoretical hypotheses that can guide the evaluation once the system is available

Understanding the current trends in mobile crowdsensing - a business model perspective: case MyGeo Trust

Crowdsensing and personal data markets that have emerged around it have rapidly gained momentum in parallel with the appearance of mobile devices. Collecting information via mobile sensors and the applications relying on these, the privacy of mobile users can be threatened, especially in the case of location-related data. In 2015, a research project called MyGeoTrust was initiated to investigate this issue. One aim of the project was to study the potential business models for a trusted, open-source crowdsourcing platform. This study, carried within the MyGeoTrust project, reviews existing literature about business models, location-based services, and open-source software development. It then investigates the relationship between these topics and mobile crowdsensing. As a whole, this thesis provides an overview on the development of location-based services, as well as the current trends and business models in crowdsensing. The empirical part of the thesis employs embedded case study methodology, acquiring empirical data from several sources. The analyzed case is the MyGeoTrust project itself, and other empirical data is collected via market analysis, interim reports, a user survey, and semi-structured interviews. This material forms the baseline for the empirical study and project-specific recommendations. The findings suggest that creating a two- or multisided platform is the most robust business model for mobile crowdsensing. The identified benefits of platform-based business models include facilitating the value exchange between self-governing groups and possibilities to build positive network effects. This is especially the case with open-source software and open data since the key value for users - or “the crowd” in other terms - is created through network effects. In the context of open business models, strategic planning, principally licensing, plays a central role. Also, for a differentiated platform like MyGeoTrust finding the critical mass of users is crucial, in order to create an appealing alternative to current market leaders. Lastly, this study examines how transformational political or legal factors may shape the scene and create requirements for novel, privacy-perceiving solutions. In the present case study, the upcoming European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation is a central example of such a factor