Environmental Valuation & Cost-Benefit News

Report Finds Virtual Workstyles Could Save U.S. Business More Than $400 Billion a Year - Report Quantifies Benefits of Workshifting for Business, Workers and Nation

http://www.citrixonline.com/pr/pressRelease.tmpl?FileID=051810

A report commissioned by Citrix Online, a division of Citrix Systems, (NASDAQ:CTXS), found that virtual work policies could save U.S. businesses over $400 billion per year in increased productivity, lower office costs, and reduced absenteeism and staff turnover. Entitled "Workshifting Benefits: The Bottom Line," the report compiled by the Telework Research Network (TRN), quantifies the many benefits in dollars and cents. In addition to the cost savings for business, it also cites the benefits for individuals, the environment and the nation as a whole.

Key findings:
TRN's Savings Calculator is based on data that shows 40% of American workers could work from home at least some of the time1 and of those, 79% would choose to if given the opportunity2. If those people worked from home just half of the time:
* A company of 100 people could gain approx. $576,000 per year and the U.S. economy as a whole would gain $235 billion in increased productivity.
* U.S. business would save an additional $124 billion in office costs, $46 billion in reduced absenteeism and $31 billion in reduced employee turnover.
* Each employee could save an average of $362 on gas per year, plus $3,840 on related expenses such as parking, food and clothing.
* Individuals could recoup approx. 2 weeks of free time per year otherwise spent commuting.
* Employee gas savings would reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by about 53 million metric tons – the equivalent of taking over 9.6 million cars off the road – and it would save $23 billion a year in imported oil, which equates to approx. 288 million barrels of oil.
* U.S. taxpayers could save $2 billion in highway maintenance costs.
* As a nation, the U.S. would save $11 billion in traffic accident costs.

Bernardo de Albergaria, vice president, general manager of global marketing and eCommerce of Citrix Online, said: "Those of us lucky enough to work at organizations that support flexible working already understand the benefits: reduced stress, better work-life balance, increased motivation, healthier lifestyles…I could go on. It's no surprise this has become a priority of the Obama administration. But despite these benefits, fewer than 2% of U.S. employees practice flexible working, partly due to fears of 'out of sight, out of mind.' That's why we set out to prove that workshifting practices benefit businesses, employees and the nation as a whole."

Kate Lister, TRN's principal and the report's author, added: "By any measure, workshifting makes sense for the U.S. It helps Baby Boomers stay in the workforce longer if they choose to, and appeals to Millennials' desire for flexibility and independence. It also provides more job opportunities for disabled workers, rural residents, parents and caregivers. And then there are the environmental benefits: just by workshifting, we could achieve 27% of the President's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020."

Related links
* A full version of the report is available at www.workshifting.com or http://www.greenbiz.com/sites/default/files/Workshifting%20Benefits-The%20Bottom%20Line.pdf.
* Infographic link depicting statistics from workshifting report: http://www.workshifting.com/2010/05/the-dollars-and-sense-of-workshifting.html

Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) is a leading provider of virtualization, networking and software-as-a-service (SaaS) technologies for more than 230,000 organizations worldwide. Its Citrix Delivery Center, Citrix Cloud Center (C3) and Citrix Online Services product families radically simplify computing for millions of users, delivering applications as an on–demand service to any user, in any location on any device. Citrix customers include the world's largest Internet companies, 99 percent of Fortune Global 500 enterprises, and hundreds of thousands of small businesses and prosumers worldwide. Citrix partners with over 10,000 companies worldwide in more than 100 countries. Founded in 1989, annual revenue in 2008 was $1.6 billion.

CFitrix www.Citrixonline.com
Press Release dated May 18, 2010
via www.GreenBiz.com

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Innovation and Welfare: Results from Joint Estimation of Production and Demand Functions

http://papers.nber.org/papers/w16221

Abstract: This paper develops a simple framework to estimate the parameters of the production function together with the elasticity of the demand for the output and the impact of demand and cost shifters. The use of this framework helps, in the first place, to treat successfully the difficult problem of the endogeneity of input quantities. But it also provides a natural way to assess the welfare effects of firms’ innovative actions by estimating their impact on both cost and demand. We show that the total current period (static) welfare gains of introducing a process or a product innovation are, on average, about 1.6% and 4%, respectively, of the value of the firm's current sales. The increase in consumer surplus amounts to two- thirds of these gains in the first case and half in the second.

by Jordi Jaumandreu and Jacques Mairesse
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) www.NBER.org
NBER Working Paper No. 16221; Issued in July 2010

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Nature-Based Assets Generates Jobs, Wealth and Restoration of Multi-Trillion Dollar Services - UNEP Report-Dead Planet: Living Planet- Makes Economic Case for Repairing ... Natural World

http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=628&ArticleID=6596

Restoring lost and damaged ecosystems-from forests and freshwaters to mangroves and wetlands-can trigger multi-million dollar returns, generate jobs and combat poverty according to a new report compiled by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

Launched on the eve of World Environment Day (WED), the report draws on thousands of ecosystem restoration projects world-wide and showcases over 30 initiatives that are transforming the lives of communities and countries across the globe.

The report, entitled Dead Planet, Living Planet: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration for Sustainable Development, underlines that far from being a tax on growth and development, many environmental investments in degraded, nature-based assets can generate substantial and multiple returns.

These include restoring water flows to rivers and lakes, improved soil stability and fertility vital for agriculture and combating climate change by sequestrating and storing carbon from the atmosphere.

The report underlines that maintaining and managing intact ecosystems must be the key priority. But given that more than 60 per cent of them-ranging from marshes and coral reefs to tropical forests and soils-are already degraded, restoration must now be an equal priority.

Repairing and rehabilitating ecosystems also generates jobs in a world where currently 1.3 billion are unemployed or underemployed while supporting international goals to substantially reduce the rate of loss of biodiversity-a key theme of 2010.
...
The report cites evidence that well-planned, science-based, community supported programmes can recover 25 44 per cent of the original services alongside the animals, plants and other biodiversity of the former intact system.

This is highlighted by a study on restoring degraded grasslands and lands around river systems in South Africa's Drakensberg Mountains.

It estimates that the project will bring back winter river flows to vulnerable communities amounting to close to 4 million cubic metres of water, cut sediment losses and store carbon.

Cost-$4.5 million or Euro 3.6 million over seven years and annual management costs of Euro 800,000.
Return-up to $7.4 million (Euro 6 million) a year while generating over 300 permanent, natural resource management jobs and 2.5 million person-days of work during the restoration phase.
...
The report however cites cases were often well-intentioned restorations have back-fired underlining that such projects should be carried out with care and planning.

The report cites the introduction into European waters of North American signal crayfish after over harvesting had reduced catches of native species to in some cases 10 per cent of the original catch.

Unfortunately the imports, initially into Swedish waters, carried a crayfish plague that has spread to native populations in an estimated 21 countries-some countries are trying to establish 'ark-sites' or secure sites to save the remaining indigenous populations.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "The ecological infrastructure of the planet is generating services to humanity worth by some estimates over $70 trillion a year, perhaps substantially more. In the past these services have been invisible or near invisible in national and international accounts. This should and must change".

"This report is aimed at bringing two fundamental messages to governments, communities and citizens on World Environment Day and in 2010-the UN's International Year of Biodiversity. Namely that mismanagement of natural and nature-based assets is under cutting development on a scale that dwarfs the recent economic crisis," he said.

"Two: that well-planned investments and re-investments in the restoration of these vast, natural and nature-based utilities not only has a high rate of return. But will be central, if not fundamental, to sustainability in a world of rising aspirations, populations, incomes and demands on the Earth's natural resources," said Mr Steiner who was in Kigali, Rwanda the main host for this year's global WED events.

The theme of ecosystem restoration underpins the Projeto Agua Limpa or Clean Water Project co-launched by UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Gisele Bündchen and her father in 2008 in her hometown of Horizontina.

The project is aimed at restoring the health of water supplies alongside a boost to biodiversity by restoring forests and rehabilitating river banks and riverside vegetation alongside river basins.

Ms Bündchen said: "UNEP's report on ecosystem restoration spotlights the enormous opportunities for communities to invest in their future development.
...
"Restoration pays off: Wetlands and forests can be up to 22 times more effective than investing in water treatment plants," says Christian Nellemann of UNEP's GRID-Arendal in Norway, who headed up the Rapid Response Report launched today. "Do it right. Back it up with long term management and, where needed, ensure laws are enforced. Ensure law enforcement. And you will succeed with broad public support and generate immediate and long term returns."

The report makes a series of recommendations including:
. Urging overseas development agencies; international finance agencies and other funders such as regional development banks to factor ecosystem restoration and long term management assistance into development support; food security initiatives; job creation and poverty alleviation funding.
. One per cent of GDP should be set aside annually for conservation, management and restoration of the environment and natural resources, with the precise amount linked to national circumstances.
. That ecosystem restoration is guided by experiences learnt to date to avoid unintended consequences such as the introduction of alien invasive species and pests.
. That priority is initially given to biodiversity and ecosystem 'hotspots'.
. That infrastructure projects that damage an ecosystem has funds set aside to restore a similar degraded ecosystem elsewhere in a country or community.

Key Highlights from the Report

The Economic Case for Ecosystems

Through The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), hosted by UNEP, and a myriad of other recent reports and initiative, the value of the Earth's natural assets and their role in development are now being glimpsed.
. It is estimated that ecosystems deliver essential services worth between $21 trillion and up to $72 trillion a year-comparable to World Gross National Income in 2008 of $58 trillion.
. Wetlands, half of which have been drained over the past century often for agriculture, provide annual services of near $7 trillion.
. Forested wetlands treat more wastewater per unit of energy and have up to 22 fold higher cost-benefit ratios than traditional sand filtration in treatment plants.
. Coastal wetlands in the United States, which among other services provide storm protection, have been valued at $23 billion annually.
. In India, mangroves serving as storm barriers have been noted to reduce individual household damages from $153 per household to an average of $33 per household in areas with intact mangroves.
. Pollination from bees and other insects provide services boosting agricultural production worth at least $153 billion annually.

Ecosystems are also central in natural pest control, indeed, many of the world's key crops such as coffee, tea and mangoes are dependent on the pollination and pest control services of birds and insects.

. By some estimates projected loss of ecosystem services could lead to up to 25 per cent loss in the world's food production by 2050 increasing the risks of hunger.
. Services delivered by the Mau forest complex in Kenya, such as hydropower, drinking water, moisture for the tea industry abd river flows to key tourist attractions including the Massai Mara and Lake Nakuru, are worth an estimated $320 million a year.

The $320 million was based on a calculation in 2008. Today it was announced by the Kenya Forest Research Institute that new calculations indicate that the ecosystem services of the Mau may be more like $1.5 billion a year after adding additional beneficiary sectors such as drinking water provision to cities and carbon storage of greenhouse gases.

. Currently 75 per cent of globally, usable freshwater supplies come from forests. Many cities including Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, Tokyo, Melbourne, New York and Jakarta all rely on protected areas to provide residents with drinking water.
. Overall one third of the world's 100 largest cities draw a substantial proportion of their drinking water from forest protected areas.
. Without the national protected area network in Venezuela, sedimentation of rivers could reduce farm earnings by around $3.5 million a year.
. The value of coastal wetlands for hurricane protection has been estimated at $250 51,000 per hectare per year, with an average of $8,240 per hectare per year.
. Over 80 per cent of people in developing countries rely on traditional plant-based medicines for basic healthcare.
. Three-quarters of the world's top-selling prescription drugs include ingredients derived from plant extracts.
. Environmental degradation including ecosystem losses is augmenting the impact of natural disasters such as floods, droughts and flash floods affecting 270 million people annually and killing some 124,000 people worldwide every year, of which 85 per cent are in Asia.
. Greenhouse gas emissions from peatland drainage in Southeast Asia is contributing the equivalent of 1.3 to 3.1 per cent of current global CO2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuel - as well as threatening the survival of the endangered orangutans.
. The recent agreement signed on 26 May 2010 between Norway and Indonesia on the financial support of US$ one billion to reduce deforestation and draining of peatlands, provides a new impetus for both climate change mitigation and the endangered orang-utans in these unique forests.

The Case for Ecosystem Restoration

The report underlines that conserving existing ecosystems is far cheaper than restoration.

Effective conservation, such as that practised in many National Parks and protected areas may cost from a few tens of dollars to a few hundred dollars per hectare.

However, protected areas cover only 13 per cent, 6 per cent and less than 1 per cent of the planet's land, coastal and ocean areas.

Many important ecosystems fall outside these areas. Restoration costs may be ten times higher than managing existing ecosystems, but still something of a bargain considering the returns in terms of restored nature-based services.

Indeed the report says that compared to loss of ecosystem services, well-planned restorations may provide cost benefit ratios of 3 75 in terms of return on investment.

Initial studies compiled by TEEB indicate that restoration of grasslands, woodlands and forests offer some of the highest rates of returns.

. The Turkish city of Istanbul has increased the number of people served with wastewater treatment over 20 years from a few hundred thousand to over nine million-95 per cent of the population-by rehabilitating and cleaning river banks, relocating polluting industries, installing water treatment works and re-establishing river-side vegetation.
. In Vietnam, planting and protecting nearly 12,000 hectares of mangroves has cost just over $1 million but saved annual expenditure on dyke maintenance of well over $7 million.
. In Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, strict law enforcement, costing the lives of over 190 rangers, has helped restore the critically endangered mountain gorilla population back to a slight increase in the Virungas National Park - and is generating large revenues from tourism.
. Restoration of over 500 hectares of mangroves in India's Andhra Pradesh region has cost $3 million over seven years but has increased the population of edible crabs and fodder for livestock thereby boosting local incomes while increasing biodiversity such as otter and birds.
. Coastal ecosystems in Biscayne Bay, Florida have been restored for annual benefit worth $1.7 million.
. Banning unsustainable fishing methods; re-introductions of native fish species and re-planting of native aquatic grasses have transformed the once highly polluted and degraded Lake Hong in China.
. Since 2003, water quality has improved dramatically, rare birds like the Oriental White Stork have returned after 20 years and fisher folk have seen incomes triple.

Among the case studies is a re-afforestation project in an area of Tanzania called the Shinyanga region just south of Lake Victoria.

Until recently it was nick-named the Desert of Tanzania as a result of deforestation and the conversion of woodlands into croplands.

However an 18-year project aimed at creating village-based woodland enclosures has reversed land degradation and improved rural livelihoods.

Some 350,000 hectares of ngitili, the local world for enclosures, have been planted covering well over 800 villages and 2.8 million people.

Studies by the Tanzanian government and the group IUCN highlights multiple improvements such as better diets and food security and less time spent by women searching for fuel wood.
. The cash benefits of the restoration alone are estimated at about $14 per person per month, some $5.50 higher than the national average.

Under the UN's climate agreements, countries are moving to pay developing nations to conserve rather than fell forests.

Known as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, this could lead to an estimated halving of deforestation rates by 2030.
. By some estimates this could cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 1.5 2.7 billion tons annually at a cost of just over $17 billion to $33 billion per year, but with a long-term benefit estimated at $3.7 trillion in present value terms.
. Under the Scolel Te Project in Mexico, some 700 farmers in 40 communities have planted over 700 hectares of trees on degraded land to sequester carbon receiving tens of thousands of dollars from the carbon offset markets-which in this case is linked with offsetting Formula One racing and the World Rally Championship.

The full report is available free of charge at http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/dead-planet/

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) www.UNEP.org
June 3, 2010

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Cost optimization of a real-time GIS-based management system for hazardous waste transportation

http://wmr.sagepub.com/content/28/8/723.abstract

Abstract: In this paper, the design and cost analysis of a real-time, geographical information system (GIS) based management system for hazardous waste transportation are described. The implementation of such a system can effectively prevent illegal dumping and perform emergency responses during the transportation of hazardous wastes. A case study was conducted in Guangzhou, China to build a small-scale, real-time management system for waste transportation. Two alternatives were evaluated in terms of system capability and cost structure. Alternative I was the building of a complete real-time monitoring and management system in a governing agency; whereas alternative II was the combination of the existing management framework with a commercial Telematics service to achieve the desired level of monitoring and management. The technological framework under consideration included locating transportation vehicles using a global positioning system (GPS), exchanging vehicle location data via the Internet and Intranet, managing hazardous waste transportation using a government management system and responding to emergencies during transportation. Analysis of the cost structure showed that alternative II lowered the capital and operation cost by 38 and 56% in comparison with alternative I. It is demonstrated that efficient management can be achieved through integration of the existing technological components with additional cost benefits being achieved by streamlined software interfacing.

by Yun Zhu 1, Che-Jen Lin 1, Yilong Zhong 1, Qing Zhou 1, Che-Jen Lin 2 and Chunyi Chen 3
1. College of Environmental Science & Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, China, zhuyun@scut.edu.cn
2. Department of Civil Engineering, Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas, USA
3. Guangdong Province Environment Information Centre, Fengzhe Building, Guangzhou, China
Waste Management and Research via Sage Publishing http://wmr.sagepub.com
Volume 28, Number 8; August, 2010; pages 723-730
doi: 10.1177/0734242X09345277

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Are Building Codes Effective at Saving Energy? Evidence from Residential Billing Data in Florida

http://papers.nber.org/papers/w16194

Abstract: In response to the 1973 oil embargo, many states began passing building energy codes in order to promote energy efficiency. While the vast majority of states have energy codes in place, policymakers are now attempting to legislate energy codes at the federal level to help address more recent concerns about energy efficiency and climate change. Nevertheless, surprisingly little is known about whether energy codes are an effective way to reduce energy consumption in practice. This paper provides the first evaluation of an energy-code change that uses residential billing data on both electricity and natural gas, combined with data on observable characteristics of each residence. The study takes place in Gainesville, Florida, and the empirical strategy is based on comparisons between residences constructed just before and just after Florida increased the stringency of its energy code in 2002. Grant D. Jacobsen and Matthew J. Kotchen
find that the increased stringency of the energy code is associated with a 4-percent decrease in electricity consumption and a 6-percent decrease in natural-gas consumption. The pattern of savings is consistent with reduced consumption of electricity for air-conditioning and reduced consumption of natural gas for heating. The authors also estimate economic costs and benefits and find that the private payback period for the average residence is 6.4 years. The social payback period, which accounts for the avoided costs of air-pollution emissions, ranges between 3.5 and 5.3 years.

by Grant D. Jacobsen and Matthew J. Kotchen
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) www.NBER.org
NBER Working Paper No. 16194; Issued in July 2010

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Industrial test and techno-economic analysis of CO2 capture in Huaneng Beijing coal-fired power station

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.03.007

Abstract: The first industrial-scale CO2 capture plant in China has been demonstrated at Huaneng Beijing power plant has shown that this technology is a good option for the capture of CO2 produced by commercial coal-fired power plants. The commissioning and industrial tests are introduced in this paper. The tests show that in the early stages of the passivation phase, the concentration variations of amine, anti-oxidant and Fe3+ are in the normal range, and the main parameters achieve the design value. The efficiency of the CO2 capture was about 80–85%, and by the end of January 2009 about 900 tons of CO2 (99.7%) have been captured. The equipment investment and consumptive costs, including steam, power, solution and others, have been analyzed. The results show: the cost of the absorber and the stripper account for about 50% of main equipment; the consumptive cost is about 25.3 US$ per metric tons of CO2, of which the steam requirement accounts for about 55%; the COE increased by 0.02 US$/kW h and the electricity purchase price increased by 29%.

by Bin Huang 1, Shisen Xu 1, Shiwang Gao 2, Lianbo Liu 2, Jiye Tao 2, Hongwei Niu 2, Ming Cai 2 and Jian Cheng 2
1. China Huaneng Group R&D Center, ZhiChunlu Road, Beijing 100098, PR China; Tel.: +86 10 58733788; fax: +86 10 58733800.
2. Xi′an Thermal Power Research Institute, XingQing Road, Xi′an 710032, PR China
Applied Energy via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com
Volume 87, Issue 11; November, 2010; Pages 3347-3354

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Ozone pollution and farm profits in England and Wales

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a908461882~db=all

Abstract: Tropospheric ozone is an air pollutant known to adversely affect crop yields across Europe. Experimental work is underway to quantify yield effects at ambient ozone levels for a number of crops. In this article, we undertake direct, farm-level evaluation of the impact of ozone by estimating a multi-output profit function using a panel dataset of cereal farms in England and Wales. A system of equations, comprising the profit function, input and output share equations is estimated using a fixed-effects seemingly unrelated regression technique, with ozone as a quasi-fixed input. Estimated parameters are used to calculate tropospheric ozone-related profit and output supply elasticities. The main findings from the profit function show that a 10% increase in average ozone levels would decrease variable profits by 1.3% and wheat output supply by 1%. These results are of a significantly lower magnitude, but qualitatively consistent with findings from similar studies carried out in North America.

by Harris Neeliah and Bhavani Shankar; both of the Department of Agricultural and Food Economics, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AR, UK
DOI: 10.1080/00036840701858158
Applied Economics via Routledge Taylor & Francis InformaWorld www.InformaWorld.com,
Volume 42, Issue 19; August, 2010; pages 2449-2458

Original post blogged on b2evolution.