Analyse von Auswirkungen verschiedener Optionen einer GAP nach 2013 auf biologisch wirtschaftende Betriebe in Österreich

The aim of this study is to analyze alternative options of a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2013 and their consequences for farms in Austria. Projections about the development of agricultural markets are based on OECD-FAO forecasts. Using these price projections, three alternative policy scenarios have been developed for a period beyond 2013, which are compared with a baseline scenario. The three policy scenarios encompass different assumptions on specific measures in the dairy sector and higher modulation (13% versus the existing rate of 5%) as well as budget cuts in the first pillar of CAP of 30% and 50%, respectively. All the scenarios have been analyzed with the farm optimization system FAMOS, which differentiates among 5.796 typical farms in Austria. FAMOS has been expanded and considers now the law of diminishing costs and labor requirements with respect to farm size. Model results are presented for organic and conventional farms by means of frequency distributions on percentage changes in total gross margins. The results clearly indicate that uniform policy changes can affect farms quite differently. There are winners and losers, which have been identified according to farm characteristics

Measuring and explaining productivity growth of renewable energy producers: An empirical study of Austrian biogas plants.

This study explores productivity growth for a group of 65 Austrian biogas plants from 2006 to 2014 using Data Envelopment Analysis. The sample covers about 25 % of the installed electric capacity of Austrian biogas plants. Productivity growth is measured by calculating the Malmquist productivity index, and the contributions of technical change, efficiency change and scale change to productivity growth are isolated. Average annual productivity growth between 2006 and 2014 is 1.1 %. The decomposition of the Malmquist index shows that the annual scale change, technical change, and efficiency change for the average plant is 0.6 %, 0.3 % and 0.3 %, respectively. Those results indicate that the exploitation of returns to scale is a major driver of productivity growth in the Austrian biogas sector. However, there is a large variation in productivity growth across biogas plants. A second-stage regression analysis identifies important determinants of productivity growth. The results show that i) the exploitation of returns to scale as well as changes in ii) output diversification iii) capital intensity, iv) capacity utilization and v) feedstock prices are positively associated with productivity growth

Measuring and explaining productivity growth of renewable energy producers: An empirical study of Austrian biogas plants.

This study explores productivity growth for a group of 65 Austrian biogas plants from 2006 to 2014 using Data Envelopment Analysis. The sample covers about 25 % of the installed electric capacity of Austrian biogas plants. Productivity growth is measured by calculating the Malmquist productivity index, and the contributions of technical change, efficiency change and scale change to productivity growth are isolated. Average annual productivity growth between 2006 and 2014 is 1.1 %. The decomposition of the Malmquist index shows that the annual scale change, technical change, and efficiency change for the average plant is 0.6 %, 0.3 % and 0.3 %, respectively. Those results indicate that the exploitation of returns to scale is a major driver of productivity growth in the Austrian biogas sector. However, there is a large variation in productivity growth across biogas plants. A second-stage regression analysis identifies important determinants of productivity growth. The results show that i) the exploitation of returns to scale as well as changes in ii) output diversification iii) capital intensity, iv) capacity utilization and v) feedstock prices are positively associated with productivity growth

The Development of Enzymes for the Preparation of Chemicals

The use of enzymes as catalysts for the preparation of novel organic molecules is becoming more widespread every year. The science of biotransformation has matured, and biocatalysts now stand alongside other forms of catalysts to be considered as viable options for the promotion of a particular reaction. Of great importance for the breakthrough of biocatalysts was the availability of enzymes and the increasing demand for enantiomerically pure compounds. Especially, hydrolytic enzymes, lyases, and oxidoreductases are of technical importance today. The potential of enzymes for the synthesis of chemical compounds is by no means exhausted, and the enormous diversity of microorganisms is an almost unlimited pool for new enzymes. In this paper, different strategies are discussed to find and develop new enzymes for the application in organic synthesis

Praxisnahe Lerngelegenheiten in der Lehrerbildung - Validierung der simulationsbasierten Lernumgebung DiMaL zur Förderung diagnostischer Kompetenzen von angehenden Mathematiklehrpersonen

Praxisnahe Lerngelegenheiten in der Lehrerbildung - Validierung der simulationsbasierten Lernumgebung DiMaL zur Förderung diagnostischer Kompetenzen von angehenden Mathematiklehrpersone

Sharing tasks or sharing actions? Evidence from the joint Simon task.

In a joint Simon task, a pair of co-acting individuals divide labors of performing a choice-reaction task in such a way that each actor responds to one type of stimuli and ignores the other type that is assigned to the co-actor. It has been suggested that the actors share the mental representation of the joint task and perform the co-actor’s trials as if they were their own. However, it remains unclear exactly which aspects of co-actor’s task-set the actors share in the joint Simon task. The present study addressed this issue by manipulating the proportions of compatible and incompatible trials for one actor (inducer actor) and observing its influences on the performance of the other actor (diagnostic actor) for whom there were always an equal proportion of compatible and incompatible trials. The design of the present study disentangled the effect of trial proportion from the confounding effect of compatibility on the preceding trial. The results showed that the trial proportions for the inducer actor had strong influences on the inducer actor’s own performance, but it had little influence on the diagnostic actor’s performance. Thus, the diagnostic actor did not represent aspects of the inducer actor’s task-set beyond stimuli and responses of the inducer actor. We propose a new account of the effect of preceding compatibility on the joint Simon effect.Action Contro

Greening the Gas Grid—Evaluation of the Biomethane Injection Potential from Agricultural Residues in Austria

In order to implement the Paris Climate Agreement, the current Austrian coalition government has included trend-setting targets in its policy statement. “Green gas” plays a key role in this context, as the natural gas grid shall also gradually become renewable. This article analyses the technical biomethane injection potential for agricultural residues based on Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) data on a municipal level. While a technical biogas potential of 16.2 TWhCH4 from catch crops, farm manure, straw and beet leaves is available, only about half of it can be fed into the gas grid because of technical and economic reasons. Austria’s biomethane injection potential of 7.4 TWhCH4 is mainly produced in arable farming regions. In order to further increase this potential, the investment costs of biogas upgrading plants must be reduced, the use of biogenic waste and energy crops must be further promoted and an investor-friendly legal framework must be created

Ökonomische Potentialanalysen zur landwirtschaftlichen Biomasse- und Bioenergieproduktion in Österreich

Die Forcierung der Bioenergieproduktion ist in den letzten Jahren in den Mittelpunkt politischer Zielsetzungen gerückt. Aufgrund der vielfältigen Verwendungsmöglichkeiten von Biomasse ist davon auszugehen, dass die Bedeutung der Bioenergieproduktion zunehmen wird, um die energiepolitischen Ziele im Jahr 2020 zu erreichen. Das ökonomische Produktionspotential von Biomasse und Bioenergie hängt vor allem von den verfügbaren Flächen, den erzielbaren Pflanzenerträgen, den verfügbaren Produktions- und Prozesstechniken, den Produktions- und Prozesskosten entlang der Wertschöpfungskette sowie den Opportunitätskosten ab. Die Produktion von Biomasse zur energetischen Nutzung auf landwirtschaftlichen Flächen steht vor allem in Konkurrenz zur Produktion von Nahrungs- bzw. Futtermitteln. Diese kumulierte Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit der Wirtschaftlichkeit der Biomasseproduktion, der Optimierung der Produktionskosten von Bioenergie am Beispiel Biogas und den Effekten des Energiepflanzenanbaus auf den Ackerflächen in Österreich. In Abhängigkeit des Energiegehaltes sowie der Produktions- und Prozesskosten ergibt sich für Biomasse ein Preisband, welches überwiegend von den fossilen Energiepreisen bestimmt wird. In den vorgestellten Publikationen werden vor allem die Produktions-, Prozess- und Opportunitätskosten der landwirtschaftlichen Biomasse und Bioenergieproduktion in Österreich analysiert. Mit Hilfe eines integrierten Modellverbundes, bestehend aus dem Fruchtfolgeoptimierungsmodell CropRota, dem bio-physikalischen Prozessmodell EPIC und dem räumlich expliziten, ökonomischen Biomasseoptimierungsmodell BiomAT, können die ökonomischen Biomasseproduktionspotentiale in Österreich bestimmt und verortet werden. In den Artikeln werden auch direkte und indirekte Effekte der Biomasseproduktion in Österreich, wie z.B. der Rückgang der Lebensmittelproduktion, die Veränderungen der Bewirtschaftungsintensität und die Wechselwirkungen mit dem Österreichischen Agrarumweltprogramm analysiert. Die Modellergebnisse zeigen, dass ein massiver Ausbau der heimischen Biomasse- und Bioenergieproduktion signifikante Anpassungskosten sowie höhere Landnutzungsintensitäten zur Folge hätte.The promotion of bioenergy production has become in focus of political objectives such as the 2020 targets of the European Union. The economic potential of biomass and bioenergy production mainly depends on the availability of land, the crop yield potentials, the available production and process technologies as well as the production and opportunity costs along the supply chains. The production of biomass on agricultural land competes with the production of food and feed. The aim of this cumulative doctoral thesis is to assess the economic potentials of biomass and bioenergy production on agricultural land in Austria. Therefore, an integrated modelling system consisting of the crop rotation model CropRota, the bio-physical process model EPIC, and the spatially explicit economic biomass optimization model BiomAT has been used to assess the bio-physical and economic potentials of biomass and bioenergy production in Austria. The approach considers opportunity costs in spatially explicit manner. Furthermore, direct and indirect effects of biomass and bioenergy production such as the decline in food and feed production, a change of management intensity and the interaction to the Austrian agri-environmental program are assessed as well. The modeling results show that an expansion of biomass and bioenergy production would imply significant adjustment costs as well as higher land use intensities in Austria.eingereicht von Bernhard StürmerAbweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des VerfassersZsfassung in engl. SpracheWien, Univ. für Bodenkultur, Diss., 2011OeBB(VLID)193027

Best Available Technology for P-Recycling from Sewage Sludge—An Overview of Sewage Sludge Composting in Austria

In order to close the phosphorus cycle in the long term, efficient recycling processes are necessary to ensure that this critical nutrient can be returned to arable land. Sewage sludge recycling is of particular importance due to the relatively high phosphorus content of sewage sludge. In this article, the current recycling paths of Austrian sewage sludge are highlighted, focusing on the advantages and limitations of sewage sludge composting. In addition to nutrient contents, pollutant loads were also analyzed in order to also discuss the limitations of this recycling pathway. Therefore, data from Austrian composting plants with focus on sewage sludge are used. The results show that the currently relevant pollutants (heavy metals) are predominantly below the limits prescribed for recycling and spreading on arable land. However, in order to decide on a recycling path at an early stage, a pollutant monitoring system must be in place. Due to pollution, mono-incineration with subsequent phosphorus recovery is also currently being discussed in Austria. Mono-incineration can represent an important component of sewage sludge disposal, because some sewage sludges are not suitable for composting due to potential environmental hazards. Therefore, it is important that evidence-based limit values and measures for the reduction in pollutants for input sources are determined