Natural Resource-Based Socio-Economic System of Local Communities: Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change

Local rural communities challenge due to regional disparities on conditions and features of economic, infrastructural, social development etc. Most rural communities are strengthened by natural and environmental bases for economic development compared to urban areas. But during the last two decades they face the global challenge – climate change, which takes a risk of socio-economic system (SES), based on natural resources use. Agriculture and natural-based activities are the most vulnerable systems to climate change. This study aims to test the possibilities for Ukrainian local rural communities to adapt their SES, which are based mainly on natural resources use, toward the building of more resilient to climate change systems. Here, we develop the framework for assessment of vulnerability of community’ SES to climate change, using the integrated indicator-based approach. We estimate the Vulnerability Index for six rural communities, describing the integrated level and by subsystems level of vulnerability. Our assessment confirms the high vulnerability of agriculture and natural ecosystem to climate change. It is a crucial challenge for further socio-economic development of the rural SES with the monofunctional economy which is based on natural resources use. In addition, the problem is exacerbated by the high vulnerability of the social system and infrastructure for most studied communities. Understanding the vulnerable subsystems of community’ SES ensure timely response and the development of concrete policy actions at the community and state levels. In this study we substantiate the hotlist of actions for the most vulnerable subsystems

Economic Feasibility of Agricultural Biogas Production by Farms in Ukraine

Renewable energy generation in Ukraine is developing slower than state strategies and expectations, with the installations for energy generation based on biogas currently being among the lowest in terms of installed capacity. Most of those involved in energy generation from agricultural biogas are large enterprises, while the small and medium-sized farms are far less involved. Thus the article aims to assess the economic feasibility of biogas production from agricultural waste by specific farm types and sizes, with a special focus on small and medium-sized farms. The research results present findings in two dimensions, first defining the economic feasibility of biogas installations in Ukraine based on investment costs and the rate of return at both the current and potential feed-in tariff, and second, analyzing the influence of state regulation and support on the economic feasibility of agricultural biogas production in Ukraine. The results emphasize that the construction of small generation capacities does not provide sufficient funds under the current feed-in tariff to meet the simple return period expected by the domestic financing institutions. Except for the general support programs for agricultural activities, there are no support funds specifically for biogas producers, while there is tight competition with wind and solar energy due to diversified feed-in tariffs