Ethanol from Biomass: Economic and Environmental Potential of Converting Corn Stover and Hardwood Forest Residue in Minnesota

Research was undertaken to determine the economic feasibility and environmental impact of harvesting corn stover and hardwood forest residue in Minnesota and surrounding states for conversion to fuel ethanol at facilities located in Minnesota. It was estimated that only 7 of the total 41 million dry tons of corn stover produced and 3 of the 6.5 million dry tons of hardwood residue produced in the study region would likely be harvested each year. From these quantities, it would be physically feasible to produce about 874 million gallons of ethanol annually. It was estimated that 200 million gallons could be harvested at a delivered feedstock cost below $40 per ton. Results indicate further that ethanol derived from corn stover would be cost competitive with corn-grain ethanol, and that hardwood residue-derived ethanol would be about$0.16 per-gallon higher than the upper-bound cost for corn-grain ethanol. Furthermore, this work indicates that large-scale substitution of petroleum gasoline with biomass-derived ethanol would have huge impacts with respect to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, although SOx emissions would increase.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

A Brief Agrarian History of the Cottonwood River Watershed in Southwestern Minnesota

The Cottonwood River Watershed is located in southwestern Minnesota, draining 1,310 square miles of land within the Minnesota River Basin. The watershed is comprised of parts of Brown, Cottonwood, Lyon, Murray, and Redwood Counties. This essay gives a brief account of the initial European settlement of the area and the establishment of the current political boundaries. It then focuses on the major developments in agricultural production during the past 150 years, touching on the changes in landscape and wildlife due to drainage and restructuring of water bodies and the clearing of forest land.Land Economics/Use,

DISPUTES IN SUGAR AND AGRICULTURAL-BASED SWEETENERS

Agribusiness,

The Economics of Harvesting and Transporting Hardwood Forest Residue for Conversion to Fuel Ethanol: A Case Study for Minnesota

Forest residues are being considered as potential feedstock for a biomass-to-ethanol facility in Minnesota (USA), using residues from major wood-producing counties in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Results indicate that marginal residue costs delivered to a conversion facility would be $56-80/Mg for a small (95-189 MM liters) plant, and about$81/Mg for a larger (379 MM liters) plant. Output beyond these levels would involve substitution of lower-cost market pulpwood as the plant feedstock because of relatively high marginal residue costs. Sensitivity analysis indicates that either a 20-percent increase or decrease in the quantity of available residue would impact marginal cost estimates by no more than $15/Mg.biomass, economics, ethanol, residue supply, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

What Have We Learned from the Deepwater Horizon Disaster? An Economist’s Perspective

This paper outlines what we have learned about the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil disaster from the economics discipline as well as what effect the DWH disaster has had on the economics discipline. It appears that what we know about the economic impact of the DWH spill today is limited, possibly because such analysis is tied up in the federal Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process and other state-led efforts. There is evidence, however, that the NRDA process has changed over time to de-emphasize economic valuation of damages. There is also evidence that economists may be producing fewer outputs as a result of the DWH relative to scholars from other disciplines because of an apparent absence of funding for it. Of the research that has taken place, this paper provides a summary and highlights the main directions of future research. It appears that the most pressing topic is addressing the incentives and policies in place to promote a culture of safety in the offshore oil industry. Also, it appears that the most prominent, and challenging, direction of future research resulting from the DWH is the expansion of an ecosystems services approach to damage assessment and marine policy. Lea el abstracto en español 请点击此处阅读中文摘

What are Barrier Islands Worth? Estimates of Willingness to Pay for Restoration

A dichotomous-choice contingent-valuation survey was conducted in the State of Mississippi (USA) to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) for three restoration options being considered for the state’s barrier islands. Random-effects probit models were estimated, and parametric and non-parametric WTP estimates and confidence intervals were calculated. Turnbull lower-bound mean WTP was $22 per respondent to maintain the existing footprint over a 30-year period,$152 to restore 2,338 acres (pre-1969 footprint), and $277 to restore 5,969 acres (pre-1900 footprint). Econometric results indicate that for the Pre-Camille and Pre-1900 options, coastal residents and those citing storm protection, recreation impact, and environmental impact as primary decision factors, were more likely to support restoration, with marginal effects of these greater for the Pre-Camille option. For the Status-Quo option, 75% of respondents voted in favor of restoration, and the offered bid was not significant; only the hurricane-protection and environmental-impact variables were significant for this option.Dichotomous choice, Krinsky-Robb, non-market valuation, random-effects probit, referendum, Turnbull, Demand and Price Analysis, Public Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty, H41, Q24, Q26, Q51, Q57,

An Analysis of the Role of Tile-Drained Farmland Under Alternative Nitrogen Abatement Policies

Agricultural nitrogen is a major contributor to Gulf of Mexico hypoxia, and research has shown that agricultural subsurface tile drainage is a major carrier of nitrogen from croplands to streams and rivers. This study compares the results of abating nitrogen under a retired-land minimization policy with those of a new revenue-maximizing policy, paying particular attention to the role of tile-drained land. Findings reveal the retirement-minimizing policy resulted in more tile-drained land being retired and less being fertilizer-managed than was optimal under the net-return maximizing policy. Also, it led to a greater economic burden being shouldered by tile-drained land. Under both cases, tile drainage dominated the abatement process.abatement, ADAPT, drainage, hypoxia, nitrogen, Crop Production/Industries, Land Economics/Use,

A PARTIAL-EQUILIBRIUM SIMULATION OF INCREASING THE U.S. TARIFF-RATE SUGAR QUOTA FOR CUBA AND MEXICO

A model consisting of Cuba, Mexico, the U.S., and an aggregated "Rest of the World" was developed to simulate increases in U.S. sugar imports from Cuba and Mexico. Results indicate that increased imports would generate up to $505 million in U.S. net gains, and that world prices increase only minimally.International Relations/Trade,

Study of Evacuation Behavior of Coastal Gulf of Mexico Residents

In this study, we investigate the link between hurricane characteristics, demographics of the Coastal Gulf of Mexico residents, including their household location, and their respective evacuation behavior. Our study is significantly different from the previously made studies on hurricane evacuation behavior in two ways. At first, the research data is collected through recording responses to a series of hypothetical situations which are quite identical to the set of information that people are used to see during the hurricane season. Secondly, this study addresses and includes response heterogeneity while analyzing sample behavior, an issue which has not been addressed in previous research on hurricane evacuation behavior in spite of its importance.Evacuation Behavior, Hurricane, Response Heterogeneity, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty, C35, Q54,

Flood Insurance Demand along the Gulf and Florida Coast

The objective of this research is to identify factors that influence both the decision (yes or no) and level of flood insurance among coastal homeowners in the southeast U.S. Recently flood damage has dramatically increased (Flood), and Crossett et al. (2004) report that coastal populations are growing. And in spite of rising costs of living in coastal areas, people are willing to pay more for access to ocean views and other natural amenities associated with coastal living (Bin and Kruse, 2006). Although the federal government provides flood insurance programs and encourages at-risk residents to insure their property from flood, rates of uptake remain low (Burby, 2001; Kunreuther, 2006; Landry and Jahan-Parvar, 2009). The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was created to provide often subsidized premiums to cover losses which private insurance markets failed to offer. However, as Kunreuther et al.(1978) argue, many people do not bother to prepare, and have a low willingness to pay for coverage, even if subsidized (Kunreuther 1996). However, of those who have previously experienced flooding, they tend to insure their properties more (McClelland, Schulze, and Coursey 1993). Based on previous literature, we identified key factors to establish testable hypotheses regarding effect on flood insurance demand. These include: income, previous flood experience, the presence of a mortgage, home location (both flood zone status and distance from the shore), participation in CRS, the distance from the coast, the house construction year as well as measures of respondent risk preferences and perceptions. Data on flood coverage level and the above explanatory variables were obtained via revealed-preference online survey method, contracted through Knowledge Networks (KN) during August-September 2010. We chose to contract with KN for several reasons. First, they are, to our knowledge, the only survey firm that can legitimately say they have a true probability based sample for an online survey because they recruit by phone and/or mail (randomly selected using random-digit dialing (RDD) or by using address-based sampling); additionally they provide internet access to households that do not have it. KN was also contracted to overcome the typical of low response rate when surveying the general public. KN uses an online panel (called the “Knowledge Panel”). KN Panel members that were homeowners were sampled from 95 counties in Gulf Coast and Florida Atlantic Coast counties in AL, FL, LA, MS, and TX, with an 47% response rate (720 observations), with 67% from FL, 24% from TX, 5% from LA, and 4% collectively from AL and MS. As expected, insurance purchase is positively affected by the individual’s risk perception, their risk preference, whether or not they have a mortgage, flood zone residence, their income, CRS, previous flood experience, and the year of construction of house. Coefficients of mortgage and risk perception, income, flood zone are significant at 0.05 the level. Additionally, the coefficient of distance from the coast is only significant at the 0.1 level.Flood Insurance, Risk, Insurance Demand, Environmental Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty,