Granger causality between energy use and economic growth in France with using geostatistical models

This paper introduces a new way for investigating linear and nonlinear Granger causality between energy use and economic growth in France over the period 1960_2005 with using geostatistical models (kiriging and IDW). This approach imitates the Granger definition and structure and also, improves it to have better ability for probe nonlinear causality. Results of both VEC and Improved-VEC (with geostatistical methods) are almost same. Both show the existence of long run unidirectional causality from energy consumption to economic growth. The geostatistical analyzing shows there are some Exponential functions in VEC structure instead of linear form.Granger causality; Energy consumption; GDP; Geostatistical model; France

Granger causality between energy use and economic growth in France with using geostatistical models

This paper introduces a new way for investigating linear and nonlinear Granger causality between energy use and economic growth in France over the period 1960_2005 with using geostatistical models (kiriging and IDW). This approach imitates the Granger definition and structure and also, improves it to have better ability for probe nonlinear causality. Results of both VEC and Improved-VEC (with geostatistical methods) are almost same. Both show the existence of long run unidirectional causality from energy consumption to economic growth. The geostatistical analyzing shows there are some Exponential functions in VEC structure instead of linear form

Granger causality between energy use and economic growth in France with using geostatistical models

This paper introduces a new way for investigating linear and nonlinear Granger causality between energy use and economic growth in France over the period 1960_2005 with using geostatistical models (kiriging and IDW). This approach imitates the Granger definition and structure and also, improves it to have better ability for probe nonlinear causality. Results of both VEC and Improved-VEC (with geostatistical methods) are almost same. Both show the existence of long run unidirectional causality from energy consumption to economic growth. The geostatistical analyzing shows there are some Exponential functions in VEC structure instead of linear form

Economic and Environmental Impacts of Dietary Changes in Iran: An Input-Output Analysis

 Iran's simple and environmentally extended commodity by commodity input-output (IO) model was used to determine the impacts of dietary changes on the Iranian economy and on the environmental load. The original model is based on the status-quo diet and was modified to include the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and Mediterranean alternative dietary scenarios. A range of impacts occurred depending upon the relative changes in food items. The direction of changes was similar in the three alternative scenarios. The greatest and smallest impact occurred in the WHO and the Mediterranean scenarios respectively. Total changes in output in WHO, WCRF and Mediterranean dietary scenarios were calculated to be 7010.1, 4802.8 and 3330.8 billion Rials respectively. The outputs of rice, vegetables, fruit, bread and macaroni decreased, but those of live and other animal products increased. The output of non-food commodities and services increased as well. The environmental load increased for three dietary scenarios in comparison with the status-quo diet. The greatest and smallest environmental load occurred in WHO and Mediterranean dietary scenarios respectively. Thus, although dietary changes can have positive effects on economic output, in order to avoid negative environmental effects, it is necessary to consider strategies such as applying capabilities, particularly natural resources in an optimal healthy and environmentally diet, planning for improving forest covering and green space simultaneously with increasing economic activities and using indirect incentives, such as taxes and insurance, for promoting sustainable and healthy foods and reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Potential Effects of a Water Market on Enhancing Water Productivity and Reducing Water-Related Conflicts in Fars Province, Iran

The growing demand for water and the declining trend in renewable water resources in most regions has led to serious limitations on water availability calling for the sustainable management of the harvestable resources. This has, in turn, encouraged most planners in the water sector to focus on demand management. A number of tools are already available for realizing water demand management goals; one such tool is establishing a water market. The present study is designed and implemented in two stages to investigate the role of a water market in water resources management. In the first stage, the creation of a water market at the farm and basin levels is simulated using a mathematical planning model. The second stage involves the investigation of the combined effects of the water market and water extraction rationing policies. It is found that rationing policies lead to reduced extractions from groundwater resources. The two-stage random cluster sampling method is used to collect the required data. Pilot villages are selected based on the data obtained from the first sampling stage. Pilot farms are then selected in the second stage based on water availability in each place. The input-output data, quantities of available water, and any other data required are finally collected through interviews with local farmers. Results reveal that the volume of exchanged water accounts for 9.5% of the total water consumed and the average improvement gained in farmers’ income ranges from 15 to as high as 42%. This clearly provides enough incentives for the farmers to enter the water market. Like all other water saving policies and measures, establishing a water market might increase consumption, contrary to the national objectives, in the absence of proper supplementary preventive measures. Thus, a second scenario is designed to investigate the combined effects of both water extraction rationing and water marketing. According to this scenario, the total annual irrigation water allocations to the representative farms in groups 1 and 2 are reduced by 20 and 30%, respectively, to observe reductions in farmers’ income levels of only 8 to 11%. This indicates that the simultaneous implementation of both water extraction rationing and water marketing is able to guarantee reductions in water consumption without any considerable decline in farm income levels. The water thus saved can then be used for groundwater protective measures and environmental water allocations. Water meters and volumetric water delivery systems as components of a sound water bookkeeping system considerable at both farm and basin levels will form the prerequisite measures to any water saving policies such as water marketing

Impact of livelihood strategies and capitals on rangeland sustainability and nomads' poverty: A counterfactual analysis in Southwest Iran

peer reviewedTraditional ranching farming provides society with meat, agricultural products, leather, and hides in an economic procedure through livestock grazing on rangelands. Based on recent research, traditional ranching farming has a crucial role and a significant contribution to the employment of nomadic households. According to recent rangeland degradation, it is important to pay attention to the nomadic livelihoods based on the rangeland environment and the household economy. Global implications for the study of pastoral livelihoods are based on maintaining rangelands and improving household welfare (in terms of earnings). For this purpose, a sustainable livelihood framework based on livelihood strategies and natural and unnatural capitals was applied. The sample size of 393 households from 24 nomadic residences was selected based on the multi-stage cluster sampling method. Data were collected in the form of face-to-face interviews with sample nomads in 2018. The results of switching regression models for analyzing the counterfactual effect indicated that nomadic households who adopted servicing, agriculture, and diversification strategies caused the improvement of rangeland sustainability at 3%, 7%, and 4% and the reduction of household poverty at 4%, 7%, and 5%, respectively. In this regard, increasing human capital and financial capital have significant effects on rejecting ranching strategies and selecting agriculture and diversification strategies

Determining Proper Subsidy to Renewable Energy in Iran: A Hybrid Approach of CGE Model

The main purpose of this paper is to determine the amount of subsidy required to promote the share of renewable energy in total electricity production. To do so, different scenarios have been studied by a hybrid approach of Computable General Equilibrium model. The results have been created by entering the details of technology-specific information for electricity generation into this model. The result of codification and calibration of the model shows that in the case of applying same subsidy to achieve 10 present shares of renewable energies in total electricity production, there is a need for 851 percent subsidy rate. Although in this case the wind energy is the only activated resource and the solar and biogas sections have not succeeded in achieving any rise in production rate. The other scenario was based on the unequal subsidy, proportional to disadvantage of different renewable energy. The result shows that, to achieve a balance growth of 4 percent energy productions from renewable sources, the rate of subsidy for wind energy should be 887 present. This rate for solar is 1776 present and for biogas is 1585 present. So, in the first scenario, the proper tariff for purchase of electricity from renewable energy is 4100 Rials per kWh. This tariff in the second scenario is 4260, 8520 and 7600 Rials per kWh respectively

Sustainable water resources management under population growth and agricultural development in the Kheirabad river basin, Iran

In this study, an integrated system dynamics model was developed for scenario analysis in sub-sectors of the Kheirabad River Basin in southwestern Iran where managing water resources is seriously challenging due to population growth and peri-odic drought. Afterward, the variability of water demand and supply under baseline scenario and different water demand management policies, including water conserva-tion and water pricing, was evaluated. Findings illustrated that with increasing popula-tion and cropland area if no further demand management policies were implement-ed, the total water demand and withdrawal of water resources increase by more than 0.75% annually. The annual surface water availability during 2018-2030 is expected to decrease by around -1.23%. Under these circumstances, the sustainability index of the water resources system is equal to 0.703, indicating that the water system would not be able to meet the total water demand in the near future. However, the water resource sustainability index increases significantly by improving irrigation efficiency and changing crop patterns at the basin. Also, the reduction in per capita water demand and domestic water pricing under the competition structure would help to improve the sustainability index to 0.963 and 0.749, respectively

Economic and Environmental Impacts of Dietary Changes in Iran: An Input-Output Analysis

Iran's simple and environmentally extended commodity by commodity input-output (IO) model was used to determine the impacts of dietary changes on the Iranian economy and on the environmental load. The original model is based on the status-quo diet and was modified to include the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and Mediterranean alternative dietary scenarios. A range of impacts occurred depending upon the relative changes in food items. The direction of changes was similar in the three alternative scenarios. The greatest and smallest impact occurred in the WHO and the Mediterranean scenarios respectively. Total changes in output in WHO, WCRF and Mediterranean dietary scenarios were calculated to be 7010.1, 4802.8 and 3330.8 billion Rials respectively. The outputs of rice, vegetables, fruit, bread and macaroni decreased, but those of live and other animal products increased. The output of non-food commodities and services increased as well. The environmental load increased for three dietary scenarios in comparison with the status-quo diet. The greatest and smallest environmental load occurred in WHO and Mediterranean dietary scenarios respectively. Thus, although dietary changes can have positive effects on economic output, in order to avoid negative environmental effects, it is necessary to consider strategies such as applying capabilities, particularly natural resources in an optimal healthy and environmentally diet, planning for improving forest covering and green space simultaneously with increasing economic activities and using indirect incentives, such as taxes and insurance, for promoting sustainable and healthy foods and reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Economic and Environmental Impacts of Dietary Changes in Iran: An Input-Output Analysis

&nbsp;Iran's simple and environmentally extended commodity by commodity input-output (IO) model was used to determine the impacts of dietary changes on the Iranian economy and on the environmental load. The original model is based on the status-quo diet and was modified to include the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and Mediterranean alternative dietary scenarios. A range of impacts occurred depending upon the relative changes in food items. The direction of changes was similar in the three alternative scenarios. The greatest and smallest impact occurred in the WHO and the Mediterranean scenarios respectively. Total changes in output in WHO, WCRF and Mediterranean dietary scenarios were calculated to be 7010.1, 4802.8 and 3330.8 billion Rials respectively. The outputs of rice, vegetables, fruit, bread and macaroni decreased, but those of live and other animal products increased. The output of non-food commodities and services increased as well. The environmental load increased for three dietary scenarios in comparison with the status-quo diet. The greatest and smallest environmental load occurred in WHO and Mediterranean dietary scenarios respectively. Thus, although dietary changes can have positive effects on economic output, in order to avoid negative environmental effects, it is necessary to consider strategies such as applying capabilities, particularly natural resources in an optimal healthy and environmentally diet, planning for improving forest covering and green space simultaneously with increasing economic activities and using indirect incentives, such as taxes and insurance, for promoting sustainable and healthy foods and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. </span