Consumer Willingness to Pay for Eco-labeled Refrigerators

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has used environmental information provision as a policy tool to take advantage of consumer preferences for products that meet higher environmental standards. Such environmental programs include a variety of policies ranging from eco-labeling programs to voluntary environmental agreements between governments and manufacturers. This study analyzes the effects of two such programs - the ENERGY STAR program, an eco-labeling program, and the Climate Leaders program, a voluntary environmental agreement program - on consumer preferences for a household appliance. The study estimates consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for the two programs and examines factors that motivate WTP. A particular interest for the ENERGY STAR program is in determining how the offer of a mail-in rebate affects these preferences. Data used for this study was collected from an online survey conducted in the United States during March and April, 2009. Conditional and random parameter logit models, with product attributes only and with demographic and other individual characteristics as interaction terms, are used to analyze the data. Findings from this study imply that consumers are willing to pay a premium equivalent to a significant portion of the purchase prices for the products approved by either program. Also, it is found that consumers who are more concerned about environmental issues, such as global climate change, and who have confidence in the effects of collective action, are more likely to engage in the purchase of such environmentally friendly products. These results should help government agencies and manufacturers evaluate the effectiveness of environmental information provision programs

Factors Influencing Consumer Likelihood of Purchasing a Flexible-Fuel or Hybrid Automobile

Developing fuels and vehicles that reduce our reliance on fossil fuels has become a priority due to the threat of global climate change and desire for reduced dependence on oil imports. Flexible-fuel vehicles that can run on ethanol/gasoline blends of up to 85% ethanol and hybrid electric vehicles present two such opportunities. While production of both flexible-fuel and hybrid vehicles is increasing, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about how consumers will respond to these products. To address this uncertainty, data was collected through an online survey of automobile owners that asked respondents how likely they were to choose either a flexible-fuel or hybrid vehicle as their next vehicle. A bivariate probit model was used to jointly analyze responses to these two questions. The results show that, while there was some overlap in the factors correlated with perceived likelihood of choosing one of these two types of automobiles, there were also clear differences. These results should benefit policymakers, marketers and academics seeking a better understanding of the respective markets for these vehicles.flexible-fuel vehicles, ethanol, E85, hybrid electric vehicles, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Preliminary studies of the tardigrada communities from a polymetallic nodule area of the deep South China Sea

Knowledge about marine tardigrades from the South China Sea is very scarce, with only four species from shallow waters recorded to date. The present study investigated the structure and diversity of tardigrade communities from the deep sea (1517-1725 m) at 8 stations in a polymetallic nodule area of the northern South China Sea. A total of 151 arthrotardigrades were collected belonging to 11 genera (Angursa, Batillipes, Coronarctus, Euclavarctus, Exoclavarctus, Halechiniscus, Moebjergarctus, Raiarctus, Rhomboarctus, Tanarctus and Tholoarctus), representing 17 species. Two Angursa species (Angursa sp. 4 and Angursa sp. 3) were the most abundant (25.2% and 14.6%, respectively), followed by Moebjergarctus sp. (13.9%). Specimens were mostly (90.7%) distributed in the upper layer of the sandy-mud sediment (0-1 cm). The SIMPROF test showed that the composition of tardigrade communities at all stations was not significantly different. At different stations, the number of species, Shannon-Wiener diversity index and Pielou’s evenness index ranged from 4 to 10, 1.94 to 2.87, and 0.75 to 1.00, respectively. The average taxonomic distinctness (D+) ranged from 72.50 to 90.00, and the variation in taxonomic distinctness (L+) ranged from 316.67 to 1181.25. This study provides some basic information about the biodiversity of the marine tardigrade community in the South China Sea.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Dynamics and Uncertainty in Land Use Conversion for Perennial Energy Crop Production: Exploring Effects of Payments for Ecosystem Services Policies

Perennial energy crops like switchgrass that are used for biofuel production have the potential to generate various water quality benefits such as reduced nitrogen runoff. Yet the current expected returns to switchgrass are not profitable enough for these crops to be widely adopted by U.S. farmers due to relatively unstable yields, volatile revenues, and high costs of crop establishment. This study uses a dynamic economic model to investigate the uncertainties in the yields and costs of switchgrass production, in comparison with those of corn-soybeans in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed in Pennsylvania. Results indicate that farmers would be willing to convert corn-soybeans to switchgrass land use with the provision of payments for ecosystem services (PES). A targeted PES policy based on the environmental effectiveness of the crop land is found to be slightly more effective in providing nitrogen reductions than a uniform PES policy with cost savings of 8–19%. Moreover, switchgrass has the potential of providing energy supply while reducing greenhouse gases emissions

Prediction of Ventilation Effects on Reducing Moisture Damage in Tishun Tang in the Palace Museum in Beijing, China

The Palace Museum in Beijing is World Cultural Heritage and representative of Chinese traditional brick buildings, but has been suffering deterioration for centuries. Environment monitoring showed that the special construction of foundation resulted in the humid micro-environment and moisture damage near wall bottom and floor in buildings. In order to make clear the effects of ventilation on reducing moisture damage, we took Tishun Tang as example and built a two-dimensional hygrothermal simulation model. There are two ventilation plans. One is direct ventilation, letting the outdoor air go into indoor space directly through the flue under floor. The other is to add air temperature and humidity control during that produce, called controlled ventilation. In those two plans, ventilation rate is raised to 1 time per hour from 0.4 times (current state). The results show that compared with direct ventilation, controlled ventilation is more efficient for reducing moisture damage. In controlled ventilation plan, heating outdoor air before the air exchange in winter benefits to raising indoor surface temperature by one degree and reducing area of freezing-thawing damage. Dehumidifying the outdoor air during ventilation in summer is the most important point of decreasing the high mould risk from 22 ~ 25 days to 7 ~ 10 days

First record of a deep-sea tardigrade from the South China Sea, Halechiniscus janus sp. nov. (Arthrotardigrada: Halechiniscidae)

Bai, Lifen, Wang, Xiaogu, Gao, Xiaohui, Li, Yujie, Fontoura, Paulo (2022): First record of a deep-sea tardigrade from the South China Sea, Halechiniscus janus sp. nov. (Arthrotardigrada: Halechiniscidae). Zootaxa 5159 (3): 425-439, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5159.3.

The Effect of Mail-in Utility Rebates on Willingness-to-Pay for ENERGY STAR® Certified Refrigerators

This study examines how a $50 mail-in rebate influences consumer willingness-to-pay for an ENERGY STAR-certified refrigerator. Data collected from a 2009 U.S. online survey containing a hypothetical choice experiment. Results suggest that a rebate induces uncertainty about the quality of ENERGY STAR-certified refrigerators and, thus, could actually reduce willingness-to-pay