A reclaimer scheduling problem arising in coal stockyard management

We study a number of variants of an abstract scheduling problem inspired by the scheduling of reclaimers in the stockyard of a coal export terminal. We analyze the complexity of each of the variants, providing complexity proofs for some and polynomial algorithms for others. For one, especially interesting variant, we also develop a constant factor approximation algorithm.Comment: 26 page

Financing reef destruction

The “big four” Australian banks—ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB and Westpac—have played an integral role, together lending almost $4 billion to coal and gas projects in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area since 2008.   Deals are becoming larger and more complex. While the role of Australian banks remains critical, projects now require a host of international lenders participating in a deal and support from government-backed institutions.   Australian and overseas banks alike are contravening principles and initiatives that promote environmentally responsible investment. Several major new fossil fuel export projects are seeking to meet investment deadlines in 2013.   Australians have a brief window of opportunity to intervene and prevent these projects securing the investment required to proceed

Tools for reformulating logical forms into zero-one mixed integer programs (MIPS)

A systematic procedure for transforming a set of logical statements or logical conditions imposed on a model into an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) formulation or a Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) formulation is presented. A reformulation procedure which uses the extended reverse polish representation of a compound logical form is then described. A prototype user interface by which logical forms can be reformulated and the corresponding MIP constructed and analysed within an existing Mathematical Programming modelling system is illustrated. Finally, the steps to formulate a discrete optimisation model in this way are demonstrated by means of an example

Nations as Strategic Players in Global Commodity Markets: Evidence from World Coal Trade

We explore the hypothesis that export policies and trade patterns of national players in the steam coal market are consistent with non-competitive market behavior. We test this hypothesis by developing an equilibrium model which is able to model coal producing nations as strategic players. We explicitly account for integrated seaborne trade and domestic markets. The global steam coal market is simulated under several imperfect market structure setups. We find that trade and prices of a China - Indonesia duopoly fit the real market outcome best and that real Chinese export quotas in 2008 were consistent with simulated exports under a Cournot-Nash strategy.Strategic National Trade; Imperfect Competition; Steam Coal; China; Indonesia

Shale gas - How does it affect the Gas market?

Imperial Users onl

Maritime Commerce in Greater Philadelphia: Assessing Industry Trends and Growth Opportunities for Delaware River Ports

Maritime Commerce in Greater Philadelphia: Assessing Industry Trends and Growth Opportunities for Delaware River Ports is an evaluation of existing port conditions along the Delaware River and market-driven opportunities for expansion. The report includes an economic impact analysis, Delaware River port descriptions, global trends, and recommended strategies for ports growth. Key findings include:Region-wide port activity generates $69 million in tax revenues for state governments across Greater Philadelphia and more than$11 million in Philadelphia Wage Tax revenues.Each on-site port job supports two jobs from port activity and employee spending. Total regional port-related employment is 12,000+ jobs.Delaware River ports import nearly 1/2 of the nation's cocoa beans, almost 1/3 of the bananas, and a 1/4 of all fruit and nuts.Growing maritime commerce in Greater Philadelphia will require collaboration among Delaware River ports to leverage existing strengths and strategically invest in regional infrastructure improvements

Financial Risks of Investments in Coal

Analyzes the regulatory, commodity, and construction risks of investing in coal mining and coal-fired power plants. Examines industry analysts' consensus on viable alternatives to coal, including natural gas, solar, wind, and energy efficiency

Fueling the fire

Since the global financial crisis, tens of billions of dollars have been loaned to the Australian fossil fuel industry. Many of these projects have been responsible for horrific environmental damage, including the destruction of prime agricultural land and nature reserves, contamination of aquifers, declining air quality and the industrialisation of iconic sites including the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.   Fossil fuels are also the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Fossil fuels make up over 85% of global energy consumption, producing more than 30 Gt CO2 (billion tonnes of carbon dioxide) each year. The increasing concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere is causing global warming, which is already delivering dangerous impacts that are set to become catastrophic without an urgent reduction in emissions.   Funding decisions made by banks to support fossil fuel projects have massive impacts on our climate, environment, health, communities and economy. It is incumbent on these institutions to withdraw their support for the destructive and dangerous activities of the fossil fuel industry

CO2 Emissions reduction strategies and economic development of India

This paper examines the consequences of alternative CO2 emission reduction strategies on economic development and, in particular, the implications for the poor by empirically implementing an economy-wide model for India over a 35-year time horizon. A multi-sectoral, inter-temporal model in the activity analysis framework is used for this purpose. The model with specific technological alternatives, endogenous income distribution, truly dynamic behaviour and covering the whole economy is an integrated top-down bottom-up model. The results show that CO2 emission reduction imposes costs in terms of lower GDP and higher poverty. Cumulative emission reduction targets are, however, preferable to annual reduction targets and that a dynamically optimum strategy can help reduce the burden of emission reductions. The scenarios involving compensation for the loss in welfare are not very encouraging as they require large capital inflows. Contrasted with these, scenarios involving tradable emission quota give India an incentive to be carbon efficient. It becomes a net seller for the first 25 years and because of reduction in carbon intensity it would demand less in later years when it becomes a net buyer. The results suggest that for India, and other developing countries, the window of opportunity to sell carbon quotas is the next two decades or so.

Have Prices of Internationally Traded Steam Coal been Marginal Cost Based?

During 2007 and 2008 steam coal prices soared to unprecedented levels. Since then much has been speculated about the drivers of these price peaks. This paper is concerned with the costs of steam coal allocation in the seaborne market and their influence on the price equilibrium. It presents an optimisation model that differentiates between mining technologies and therefore allows to analyse the effects of input price escalation on marginal costs in detail. Since 2005 input prices of commodities used in coal mining and bulk carrier freight rates increased significantly, causing marginal costs to rise. However, this affected suppliers along the global supply curve differently. We find that low-cost intramarginal suppliers experienced higher cost increases than marginal suppliers due to the different production technologies applied. Based on our results we conclude that prices of internationally traded steam coal are generally marginal cost based. However, the all time price spike of 2008 was not caused by cost escalation. We suppose that short-run capacity scarcity was responsible for the soaring prices in this year. Hence, marginal costs are a major determinant of the price equilibrium in the seaborne steam coal market given that capacity is not scarce.Steam coal; Marginal Costs; Mining Technologies; Cost Escalation; Price Peak