Tuesday, October 23, 2012

PUMA publishes first-ever Product Environmental Profit and Loss Analysis identifying and comparing environmental impacts of products in Euros and Cents

31 waste disposal trucks are needed to clear the waste that 100,000 pairs of conventional sneakers cause during the production process and consumer life until their owners throw them away and they end up in landfills or incinerators. This is an insight gained from the first PUMA Product Environmental Profit and Loss (EP&L) Account for four selected footwear and apparel styles. Puma has started to extend the groundbreaking PUMA E P&L from 2010 to the product level and applied the analysis to two more sustainable and two conventional products: a pair of soon to be launched biodegradable PUMA InCycle Basket shoes and a biodegradable cotton PUMA T-shirt versus a pair of the conventional retro PUMA Suede shoes and a conventional cotton PUMA T-shirt. This helps to establish whether efforts to become a more sustainable company and develop more sustainable products are in fact making a positive difference....

What does the PUMA Product E P&L demonstrate?
The PUMA Product E P&L, which we developed with the support of PPR’s sustainability department PPR HOME as well as consulting firms Trucost and PwC, furthermore revealed that the new biodegradable PUMA shoe InCycle Basket and the biodegradable cotton T-shirt cause 31% less environmental impacts than their conventional counterparts. The analysis focussed on the environmental impacts caused by Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, waste and air pollution as well as the use of natural resources such as water and land along the entire value chain from the generation of raw materials and production processes to the consumer phase when our customers use, wash, dry, iron and finally dispose of the products.

More importantly, thePUMA Product E P&L ... values these environmental impacts and attaches a price tag of Euros and Cents.

By showing environmental costs in Euros and Cents, the new PUMA Product E P&L visualizes the environmental impacts PUMA products cause and makes comparing products in terms of sustainability easy for everyone. It therefore serves as a powerful assessment tool for comparing the sustainability of different products.
...
While the environmental impacts of the conventional PUMA Suede amount to €4.29 per pair, the environmental impacts of the biodegradable PUMA InCycle Basket are only €2.95 and therefore 31% lower.

What makes the PUMA InCycle Basket so much more sustainable than the conventional PUMA Suede? 
GREENHOUSE GAS: The production, usage and disposal of the PUMA InCycle Basket cause around 35% less environmental costs of GHG emissions than the conventional PUMA Suede. The main savings arise at the raw material production stage as the PUMA InCycle Basket’s upper is made of a mix of organic cotton and linen while the PUMA Suede is made of leather. GHG emissions associated with raising and slaughtering of cattle for the production of leather far exceed those related to cotton farming. The InCycle Basket has further GHG savings due to the use of organic cotton compared with conventional cotton, which is grown using synthetic fertilisers (GHG emissions arise during the manufacturing and usage of synthetic fertilisers). At the end of its life, the PUMA InCycle Basket is 100% compostable while the traditional PUMA Suede will likely be disposed of in landfills or incinerated, furthering its environmental footprint. Composting has the lowest GHG emissions in the end-of-life treatment of products.
WATER: The water consumed during the production, usage and disposal of the PUMA InCycle Basket has an environmental cost that is 21% less than the PUMA Suede’s. This is primarily due to the water consumed during the tanning of leather which exceeds that consumed during cotton fabric production (yarn production, weaving and finishing). The PUMA InCycle Basket does, however, have a higher water cost during the raw material phase where organic cotton farming is more water intensive than cattle ranching.
WASTE: The PUMA InCycle Basket creates approximately only one third of the environmental cost of waste that the PUMA Suede generates, with the main savings coming in at the raw material production and processing stages. Waste generation from the production and processing of leather is more intensive than that of cotton. Another waste-saving benefit of the PUMA InCycle Basket obviously comes at the end of its life as it is 100% compostable and therefore no environmental costs arise here as long as the product is not disposed of in landfill or incinerated. Only one third, or in other words, 12 waste disposal trucks are needed to clear the waste that 100,000 pairs of biodegradable PUMA InCycle Baskets cause until they end up in an industrial composting facility system – rather than the 31 trucks required for disposing of the waste of a conventional sneaker.
AIR POLLUTION: The PUMA Suede, however, causes 14% less environmental cost of air pollution than the PUMA InCycle Basket. The energy required for leather production is lower than the energy required for cotton fabric production such as yarn production, weaving and finishing.
LAND USE: In terms of environmental damages caused through land use, the PUMA InCycle offers an enormous benefit as its impact is less than 20% of the PUMA Suede’s. Far more agricultural land area is required for the production of leather, in particular related to the cattle farming, for the PUMA Suede than for the production of cotton used in the PUMA InCycle Basket. If land is being converted for agricultural services, loss of biodiversity and other natural services is caused. Those natural areas rich with biodiversity provide essential services to society which regulate our environment, provide goods and services that support livelihoods, offer opportunities for recreation, and provide cultural and spiritual enrichment.

“The results of the PUMA Product E P&L dramatically demonstrate that we have to steadily increase the share of sustainable materials in our collections so that we mitigate not only PUMA’s but also our consumers’ environmental footprint,” added Zeitz. “For this reason, I also call upon governments to start supporting companies to use more sustainable materials in their products instead of continuing with antiquated incentives, such as import duties on synthetic materials that are in principle much higher compared with those placed on leather goods regardless of the environmental footprint. Governments have a unique opportunity to incentivize corporations so that they can accelerate their evolution to a more sustainable economy through more sustainable practices and products.”  As an example, if we switched our key suede footwear styles from being made of leather to being made from a high-end and sustainable recycled material, PUMA would face additional costs of at least €3.4 million in duty rates per year.
...
The biodegradable PUMA InCycle Cotton Shirt vs. the conventional PUMA Cotton Shirt
The environmental costs for the conventional PUMA cotton shirt (€ 3.42) are 31% higher than those for the biodegradable PUMA InCycle shirt (€ 2.36).


The distributional effects of pollution regulations: Do renters fully pay for cleaner air?

Abstract: Changes in housing prices play an important role in determining the incidence of environmental regulations: if the increase in value due to changes in environmental amenities is fully passed forward in the form of higher rental prices, renters may receive no net benefit from the regulations. To estimate the pass-through of the value of an environmental amenity, I exploit the reduction in suspended particulate matter (PM10) due to the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA). Using instrumental variables at varying levels of spatial aggregation I find that the 1990 CAAA led to a significant increase in rents, but the estimated percentage effect is about half as large as that of owner-occupied housing values. Little of this difference is driven by income differences between renters and homeowners; when stratifying by income and comparing the effect of the 1990 CAAA on housing values and rents, point estimates suggest that half of the increase in value is passed on to renters in the form of higher rents. This suggests that pass-through may be incomplete, but landowners still capture much of the value of the air quality regulations.

Highlights

► I study the housing market effects of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.
► Rents are less responsive to changes in pollution than owner-occupied housing values.
► This holds when stratifying by income, suggesting the “pass-through” may be incomplete.
► This has implications for the distributional effects of pollution regulations.
► Results are robust to alternative specifications and levels of spatial aggregation.
...
The 1990 CAAA had a significant impact on owner-occupied housing values. The estimates suggest that housing values in nonattainment counties increased an average of between $7,600 and $10,200 due to the reductions in PM10 concentrations from the 1990 CAAA, which represents a capital gain for homeowners at the time of improvement.

The capitalization of cleaner air into rents may actually harm lower income groups if prices increased more than their marginal willingness to pay. Instrumental variables estimates suggest that a one unit decrease in PM10 concentrations led to an increase of around 1/2 to 1 percent in the median rent. In 1990, the median monthly rental rate in the counties in this sample was about $558 (in 2000 dollars), which implies that the 1990 CAAAs caused an annual increase in rental prices of up to $281 by 2000. That represents just less than 1% of the median household income for renters.

This study finds that changes in particulate matter were capitalized into property values, but rents were not as responsive as owner-occupied housing values. The aggregate annual value of this capitalization in nonattainment counties is roughly $5.3 Billion.24 However, one should be careful when making welfare judgements using this type of reduced-form framework (Kuminoff and Pope, 2010). That said, it may be useful to put these numbers in context. A back-of-the-envelope calculation can be used to determine the comparable benefits of nonattainment designation from my first stage regression. Following Krupnick et al (2003), one can assume a value of a reduction in PM10 concentrations by one unit to have a value equal to $55 per person over the age of 30. In 1990, roughly 54% of the population was over 30 years old, which translates into an average of roughly 316,153 people in counties that later were designated as nonattainment areas. Thus, for a 4.1 unit decrease in PM10 concentrations (the average effect of nonattainment status, from the first stage regressions), the annual value for nonattainment counties was roughly $4.9 Billion.

Though a standard model may predict perfect pass-through to landowners, the theoretical prediction regarding the pass-through of the value of an amenity could be ambiguous if one strays from classical.  This assumes a 5% discount rate to convert the owner-occupied housing price change into an annualized estimate. To arrive at this figure, assume that the impact of nonattainment status is a 4.1 unit decrease in PM10concentrations. There are 69 nonattainment counties in my dataset, and there are an average of 123,227 owner-occupied units and 88,221 rental units in nonattainment counties. Estimates suggest rents increased about $280 per year due to nonattainment designation, and owner-occupied values increased by a total of $8,900–this corresponds to an annual increase in value of about $424. Aggregating over nonattainment areas yields an estimate of approximately $5.3 Billion. Note that this value includes only the estimated changes in nonattainment areas due to the changes in regulations.

Full-size image (23 K) 
Fig. 1. Homeownership rates by income quintile.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2005. 
Full-size image (44 K) 
Fig. 4. PM10 Concentrations: 1990–2000.Source: Author's calculations using AQS data and county-level nonattainment status from the Federal Register. The top figure shows county-level averages (and 95% confidence intervals) for nonattainment and attainment counties. The bottom figure shows average concentrations of PM10, by monitor type. 
by Corbett A. Grainger E-mail the corresponding author; Dept of Ag. & Applied Economics, 427 Lorch Street, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI 53706, United States
Volume 96, Issues 9–10, October 2012, Pages 840–852
Keywords: Environmental regulations; Incidence; Property values; Rental housing; Pass-through

Green Crude: The Quest to Unlock Algae’s Energy Potential

A host of startup companies are pursuing new technologies that they claim will soon lead to large-scale commercialization of biofuels made from algae. But questions remain about the viability and environmental benefits of what its developers are calling “green crude.” by marc gunther

In ... Columbus, New Mexico ... Sapphire Energy wants to [turn] ... a 300-acre expanse of desert scrub into the world’s largest algae farm designed to produce crude oil. Sapphire began making oil there in May, and its goal is to produce about 100 barrels a day, or 1.5 million gallons a year, of oil, once construction ... is completed next year.

“We take algae, CO2, water and sunlight, and then we refine it,” says Cynthia Warner, the chief executive of Sapphire....
Sapphire is one of scores of companies worldwide that today are making biofuels from microalgae, albeit on a small scale, according to the Algae Biomass Organization, a trade group. Solazyme, which is arguably the industry leader, last year sold an algae-derived jet fuel to United Airlines, which used it to fly a Boeing 737-800 from Houston to Chicago.... Synthetic Genomics, a company founded by geneticist J. Craig Venter and financed by ExxonMobil, is building an algae farm in the Imperial Valley of southern California. Other algae farms are under development in Hawaii, by Phycal, and in Karratha, Australia, by Aurora Algae, and in Florida, by Algenol. In Europe, the Swedish energy company Vattenfall and Italy’s Enel Group have been using algae, which is then made into fuel or food, to absorb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, and Algae-Tec, an Australia-based company, has agreed to operate an algae-based biofuel plant in Europe to supply Lufthansa with jet fuel.

Although scientists and entrepreneurs have been trying to unlock the energy potential of algae for more than three decades, they don’t yet agree on how to go about it. Some companies grow algae in ponds, others grow them in clear plastic containers, and others keep their algae away from sunlight, feeding them sugars instead. To improve the productivity of the algae, some scientists use conventional breeding and others turn to genetic engineering.
...
After the 1970s oil shocks, the U.S. government created an algae research program that analyzed more than 3,000 strains of the tiny organisms; the program was shut down in 1996, after the Department of Energy concluded that algal biofuels would cost too much money to compete with fossil fuels....

... Sapphire’s annual production target of 1.5 million gallons for 2014 compares to U.S. daily oil consumption of 18.8 million barrels. Even algae’s most enthusiastic advocates say that commercialization of algal biofuels, on a scale that that would matter to the environment or the energy industry, is at least five to 10 years away.
...
In a thorough 2010 technology assessment, researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimated that producing oil from algae grown in ponds at scale would cost between $240 and $332 a barrel, far higher than current petroleum prices.

A New Balance Sheet for Nations: Launch of Sustainability Index that Looks Beyond GDP

www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=2688&ArticleID=9174
The world's fixation on economic growth ignores a rapid and largely irreversible depletion of natural resources that will seriously harm future generations, according to a report which today unveiled a new indicator aimed at encouraging sustainability - the Inclusive Wealth Index (IWI).

The IWI, which looks beyond the traditional economic and development yardsticks of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Human Development Index (HDI) to include a full range of assets such as manufactured, human and natural capital, shows governments the true state of their nation's wealth and the sustainability of its growth. 

The indicator was unveiled in the Inclusive Wealth Report 2012 (IWR), a joint initiative launched at Rio+20 by the United Nations University's International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (UNU-IHDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The report looked at changes in inclusive wealth in 20 countries, which together account for almost three quarters of global GDP, from 1990 to 2008. 

Despite registering GDP growth, China, the United States, South Africa and Brazil were shown to have significantly depleted their natural capital base, the sum of a set of renewable and non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels, forests and fisheries.

Over the period assessed, natural resources per-capita declined by 33 per cent in South Africa, 25 per cent in Brazil, 20 per cent in the United States, and 17 per cent in China. Of all the 20 nations surveyed, only Japan did not see a fall in natural capital, due to an increase in forest cover.

If measured by GDP, the most common indicator for economic production, the economies in China, the United States, Brazil and South Africa grew by 422 per cent, 37 per cent, 31 per cent and 24 per cent respectively between 1990 and 2008. 

However, when their performance is assessed by the IWI the Chinese and Brazilian economies only increased by 45 per cent and 18 per cent. The United States' grew by just 13 per cent, while South Africa's actually decreased by 1 per cent.

...The report focuses on the sustainability of current resource bases, and does not analyze the rest of the 19th and 20th centuries, when many developed countries following an accelerated growth path may have depleted natural capital.

Wealth accounting, the concept behind the IWI, draws up a balance sheet for nations and shows countries where their wealth lies. By taking into account a wide array of capital assets a nation has at its disposal to secure society's well-being, it presents a more comprehensive picture and informs policy makers on the importance of maintaining their nation's capital base for future generations.
... 
The importance of keeping an eye on the full range of a country's capital assets becomes particularly evident when population growth is factored in. 

When population change is included to look at the IWI on a per-capita basis, almost all countries analyzed experienced significantly lower growth. This negative trend is likely to continue for countries that currently show high population growth, like India, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, if no measures are taken to increase the capital base or slow down population growth.

The IWR presents the inclusive wealth of 20 nations: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Nigeria, Norway, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, USA, United Kingdom and Venezuela. 

The countries selected represent 56% of world population and 72% of world GDP, including high, middle and low-income economies on all continents. A few countries were chosen based on the hypothesis that natural capital is particularly important to their productive base - as in the case of oil in Ecuador, Nigeria, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela; minerals in countries such as Chile; and forests in Brazil.

Key findings from the report are:
  • While 19 out of the 20 countries experienced a decline in natural capital, six also saw a decline in their inclusive wealth, putting them on an unsustainable track, Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, South Africa and Nigeria were the nations that failed to grow. The remaining 70 per cent of countries show IWI per-capita growth, indicating sustainability.
  • High population growth with respect to IWI growth created unsustainable conditions in five of the six countries mentioned above. Russia's lack of growth was due largely to a drop in manufactured capital
  • 25 per cent of countries which showed a positive trend when measured by GDP per capita and HDI were found to have a negative IWI per capita. The primary driver of the difference in performance was the decline in natural capital
  • With the exception of France, Germany, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States, all countries surveyed have a higher share of natural capital than manufactured capital, highlighting its importance
  • Human capital has increased in every country and is the prime capital form that offsets the decline in natural capital in most economies
  • There are clear signs of trade-off effects between the different forms of capital
  • Technological innovation and/or oil capital gains (due to rising prices) outweigh decline in natural capital and damages from climate change, moving a number of countries - Russia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela - from an unsustainable to a sustainable trajectory
  • Estimates of inclusive wealth can be improved significantly with better data on the stocks of natural, human and social capital and their values for human well-being.

In Organic-Hungry Hong Kong, Corn as High as an Elevator’s Climb

Kimbo Chan knows all about the food scandals in China: the formaldehyde that is sometimes sprayed on Chinese cabbages, the melamine in the milk and the imitation soy sauce made from hair clippings. That is why he is growing vegetables on a rooftop high above the crowded streets of Hong Kong.

“Some mainland Chinese farms even buy industrial chemicals to use on their crops,” Mr. Chan said. “Chemicals not meant for agricultural uses at all.” 

As millions of Hong Kong consumers grow increasingly worried about the purity and safety of the fruits, vegetables, meats and processed foods coming in from mainland China, more of them are striking out on their own by tending tiny plots on rooftops, on balconies and in far-flung, untouched corners of highly urbanized Hong Kong. 
...
Organic food stores are opening across the city, and there is growing demand in the markets for organic produce despite its higher prices. There are about 100 certified organic farms in Hong Kong. Seven years ago, there were none.

There is no official count of rooftop farms in Hong Kong, but they are clearly part of an international trend. New York has many commercialized rooftop farms established by companies like Gotham Greens, Bright Farms and Brooklyn Grange. In Berlin, an industrial-size rooftop vegetable and fish farm is in the pipeline. In Tokyo, a farm called Pasona O2 takes urban farming a step further: Vegetables are grown not only on roofs, but also in what was an underground bank vault.

With 7.1 million people in one of the most densely populated cities on earth, Hong Kong has little farmland and almost no agricultural sector. The territory imports more than 90 percent of its food. Hong Kong is hooked on vegetables, and 92 percent of its supply comes from mainland China.
... 
Land is one of Hong Kong’s problems, of course. There is not very much of it, and only 1.6 percent is farmed....

A government proposal to develop the New Territories threatens to remove about 242 acres of farmland, according to a joint statement issued by green groups. This accounts for about 13 percent of Hong Kong’s active farmland, they said.

Some urban farmers find the effort worth it. It cost Mr. Lam about 500,000 Hong Kong dollars, or roughly $65,000, to set up City Farm, including all farming materials, an office, piping and wiring. And the whole operation can be easily moved. 

Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneity of Marginal Emissions: Implications for Electric Cars and Other Electricity-Shifting Policies

http://www.nber.org/papers/w18462
In this paper, we develop a methodology for estimating marginal emissions of electricity demand that vary by location and time of day across the United States. The approach takes account of the generation mix within interconnected electricity markets and shifting load profiles throughout the day. Using data available for 2007 through 2009, with a focus on carbon dioxide (CO2), we find substantial variation among locations and times of day. Marginal emission rates are more than three times as large in the upper Midwest compared to the western United States, and within regions, rates for some hours of the day are more than twice those for others. We apply our results to an evaluation of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). The CO2 emissions per mile from driving PEVs are less than those from driving a hybrid car in the western United States and Texas. In the upper Midwest, however, charging during the recommended hours at night implies that PEVs generate more emissions per mile than the average car currently on the road. Underlying many of our results is a fundamental tension between electricity load management and environmental goals: the hours when electricity is the least expensive to produce tend to be the hours with the greatest emissions. In addition to PEVs, we show how our estimates are useful for evaluating the heterogeneous effects of other policies and initiatives, such as distributed solar, energy efficiency, and real-time pricing.
...
The environmental and economic implications of reducing electricity demand—from PEVs as well as solar installations—depends on where and when the shifts occur. In the case of photovoltaics, the timing of these reductions will follow the trajectory of the sun, ramping up in the morning, peaking by mid-afternoon, and tapering off in the evening. Thus, the benefits of distributed solar deployment will depend importantly on the marginal emissions and costs of electricity generation in the relevant electricity market during daylight hours, and our methodological approach is well suited for quantifying these effects.

Consider a simple, illustrative example of a residential solar system that homogeneously produces 1 kWh of electricity for consumption from 7 AM to 7 PM. Using the hourly coefficients from Table 2, we can readily estimate the reduction in CO2 emissions that would occur because of displaced electricity demand in various parts of the country. By simply summing coefficients over the relevant hours, we find, for example, that the solar installation would avert 9.8 lbs of CO2/day for a household in the WECC, while the comparable number is 14.7 lbs of CO2/day for the Eastern interconnection. Scaling emissions to the annual level, this yields 3,359 and 5,347 lbs for the two regions, respectively.25 While in both regions the solar generated electricity occurs during hours when marginal emissions are relatively low, the differences indicate that the environmental benefits of distributed solar (assuming comparable generation) are significantly higher in the East, where the marginal emissions are greater from electricity on the grid. Monetizing these benefits, using the social cost of carbon estimate of $21 per metric ton (discussed previously), we value the emission reductions at $34 and $51 per year in the WECC and Eastern interconnections, respectively. These benefits are, however, lower than the additional benefits of avoided generation costs, which can be derived in similar fashion using the hourly marginal generation costs in Appendix Table 3. Interestingly, the cost savings in the Eastern interconnection are also larger than those in the WECC, with magnitudes of $251 versus $227 per household per year.
...
Policies that seek to promote energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings are playing an increasingly important role in the portfolio of initiatives designed to address energy and climate challenges. The methodology and estimates in this paper can further the understanding of the heterogeneous benefits that arise from such policies. Unlike the charging of PEVs and solar power, investments in energy-efficiency affect energy consumption patterns over the course of an entire day. Let us assume for simplicity that investments in efficiency reduce household electricity consumption by a homogenous 10 percent throughout all hours of the day and night.28 It follows that for the average residential home in the United States, which consumes approximately 30 kWh/day, the savings would be a 0.125 kW reduction in electricity consumption each hour. Using our estimates of the hourly marginal benefits in terms of reduced CO2 emissions and avoided generation costs, we can see how the benefits differ by region. Under the admittedly strong assumption about homogeneity of energy savings across varied climates, we see that efficiency investments again have greater benefits in the East. In the WECC the stylized investment in energy efficiency reduces CO2 emissions by 2.4 lbs per household per day (880 lbs per year, valued at $8.38), while the same investment for a residence in the Eastern interconnection reduces emissions 3.9 lbs per household per day (1,408 lbs per year, valued at $13.42). Note that the environmental return is more than 50 percent greater in the East. The two regions are, however, more similar with respect to the avoided generation costs, with an annual estimated savings of $52.10 for the WECC and $55.28 for the East.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Report: U.S. Solar Market Spikes in Q2 2012, More than Doubling Q2 2011 Market Size

Supported by a record 477 MW of utility-scale installations, the U.S. solar market in Q2 2012 grew by 45% over Q1 2012 and 116% over Q2 2011, according to latest U.S. Solar Market Insight® Report

GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association® (SEIA®) today released U.S. Solar Market Insight: 2nd Quarter 2012. The report finds that U.S. solar achieved its second-best quarter in history, having installed 742 megawatts of solar power, and the best quarter on record for the utility market segment. Utility installations hit 477 megawatts in the second quarter, with eight states posting utility installations of 10 megawatts or greater: California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, New Mexico, and New Jersey. In total, the U.S. now has 5,700 megawatts of installed solar capacity, enough to power more than 940,000 households.According to U.S. Solar Market Insight: 2nd Quarter 2012, the utility photovoltaic (PV) market will remain strong through the last two quarters of 2012. With 3400 megawatts of utility PV projects currently under construction, and weighted U.S. average system prices 10 percent lower than the previous quarter, GTM Research forecasts an additional 1.1 gigawatts of utility PV to begin operating before year’s end. The report forecasts a total of 3200 megawatts, or 3.2 gigawatts, of PV will be installed in the U.S. in 2012, up 71 percent over 2011.

FIGURE 1: U.S. Solar PV Installations, 2010–Q2 2012

Note: Figure 1 for PV installations above does not include 30-megawatt CPV project installed in Q2 2012 characterized as concentrating solar power within the report.

“The U.S. solar industry is rapidly growing and creating jobs across America despite the slow economic recovery,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of SEIA. “More solar was installed in the U.S. this quarter than in all of 2009, led for the first time by record-setting utility-scale projects. With costs continuing to come down, solar is affordable today for more homes, businesses, utilities, and the military. Smart, consistent, long-term policy is driving the innovation and investment that’s making solar a larger share of our overall energy mix.”

For the fourth consecutive quarter, the U.S. residential solar market grew incrementally, installing 98.2 megawatts. California, Arizona, and New Jersey led residential installations nationally, with smaller-market states of Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Maryland demonstrating strong quarter-over-quarter growth.

In addition, the residential segment continues to be highlighted by consumer acceptance of third-party solar ownership models. The major state markets in California, Arizona, and Colorado all saw third-party residential solar account for greater than 70 percent of total Q2 2012 installations. U.S. Solar Market Insight: 2nd Quarter 2012 finds that in the California market, this quarter marks the first time that the average installed price of a third-party-owned system was lower than that of a system purchased outright: $5.64 per watt for third-party versus $5.84 per watt for directly-owned solar systems.

“We’re starting to see innovative PV business models take a substantial hold in the U.S. residential market,” said Shayle Kann, Vice President of Research at GTM Research. “The success of third-party residential solar providers has attracted more than $600 million in new investments in recent months. This influx of cash into the residential space signifies the growing acceptance of solar leases and power purchase agreements as a secure investment for project investors. We expect that third-party installations will claim even more market share in the coming quarters.”

FIGURE 2: Percentage of Residential Third-Party Installations in Arizona, California, Colorado & Massachusetts, 2009–Q2 2012

In contrast to the utility and residential markets, the non-residential (e.g., commercial, government, non-profit) segment contracted, falling from 291 megawatts in Q1 2012 to 196 megawatts this quarter. Although California (down 45 percent) and New Jersey (down 35 percent) contributed to a large part of the decline, these states were not alone. Only ten of the 24 states the report tracks individually saw quarterly growth in the non-residential market in Q2 2012. This trend was likely due to a combination of factors. In some individual markets such as New Jersey, it was a result of state-market-specific factors such as SREC oversupply. In other states, Q1 2012 had been bolstered by safe-harbored 1603 Treasury Program installations.

In addition to coverage of U.S. demand markets, U.S. Solar Market Insight: 2nd Quarter 2012 provides insight into the state of PV component manufacturing in the U.S. Global oversupply continues to be the chief challenge to U.S. PV suppliers, as wafer, cell, and module production in the U.S. fell 33, 25 and 28 percent respectively in Q2 2012 as a result.

Today, the U.S. solar industry employs more than 100,000 Americans at 5,600, mostly small businesses, across all 50 states.

KEY REPORT FINDINGS – Q2 2012

Photovoltaics (PV):
  • PV installations totaled 742 megawatts in Q2 2012, up 45 percent over Q1 2012 and 116 percent over Q2 2011
  • The residential market remained relatively flat in Q2, while the non-residential market shrank 33 percent on a quarterly basis
  • Q2 2012 was the largest quarter ever for utility PV installations, as more than 20 projects were completed, totaling 447 megawatts
  • There is now a cumulative 5,161 megawatts of PV capacity spread amongst nearly 248,000 individual systems operating in the U.S. as of the end of Q2
  • GTM Research forecasts that 3.2 gigawatts of PV will be installed in the U.S. in 2012, up 71 percent over 2011
Concentrating Solar Power (CSP and CPV):
  • Cogentrix’s 30-megawatt-ac CPV Alamosa Solar came on-line
  • Construction progressed at the BrightSource Ivanpah Project, with 92 percent of pylon installation complete at Unit 1 at the end of June
  • Two CSP projects, the 100-megawatt Quartzsite Project and the 100-megawatt Moapa Solar Energy Center, were expedited under President Obama’s “We Can’t Wait” initiative
  • As of the end of Q2 there is a cumulative of 546 megawatts concentrating solar capacity operating in the U.S. 
Background Resources:

A Bioeconomic Analysis of Traditional Fisheries in the Red Sea

Abstract
We undertake a bioeconomic analysis of the aggregate traditional fisheries in the Northern and Central areas of Red Sea off the coast of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Results of our analysis using a Fox model and the Clarke-Yoshimoto- Pooley (CY&P) estimation procedure suggest that the aggregate traditional fisheries have been overfished since the early 1990s. The estimated stock size in recent years is as low as 6,400 MT, while the estimated stock size associated with the maximum economic yield (MEY) is 19,300 MT. The socially optimal level of fishing effort is about 139,000 days. Thus, the current effort level of 300,000 to 350,000 days constitutes a problem of overfishing. The estimated current total gross revenue from the traditional fisheries is Saudi Rials (SR) 147 million with zero net benefit. If total fishing effort is reduced to the socially optimal level, then we estimate gross revenue would be SR 167 million and the potential net benefit from the KSA Red Sea traditional fisheries could be as large as SR 111 million.
 
By Di Jin 1, Hauke Kite-Powell 2, Porter Hoagland 3 and Andrew Solow 4, all of the Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA.
1. Senior scientist ()
2. Research specialist ()
3. Senior research specialist ()
4. Senior scientist and director ()
Marine Resource Economics www.MarineResourceEconomics.com
Volume 27, Number 2; June, 2012; pages 137-148

Friday, October 19, 2012

In Cancer Care, Cost Matters

NY Times op-ed by Peter B. Bach, Leonard B. Saltz and Robert E. Wittes, doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center:
AT Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, we recently made a decision that should have been a no-brainer: we are not going to give a phenomenally expensive new cancer drug to our patients. The reasons are simple: The drug, Zaltrap, has proved to be no better than a similar medicine we already have for advanced colorectal cancer, while its price — at $11,063 on average for a month of treatment — is more than twice as high.

In most industries something that offers no advantage over its competitors and yet sells for twice the price would never even get on the market. But that is not how things work for drugs. The Food and Drug Administration approves drugs if they are shown to be “safe and effective.” It does not consider what the relative costs might be once the new medicine is marketed.

By law, Medicare must cover every cancer drug the F.D.A. approves. (A 2003 law, moreover, mandates payment at the price the manufacturers charge, plus a 6 percent cushion.) In most states private insurers are held to this same standard. Physician guideline-setting organizations likewise focus on whether or not a treatment is effective, and rarely factor in cost in their determinations. Ignoring the cost of care, though, is no longer tenable. Soaring spending has presented the medical community with a new obligation. When choosing treatments for a patient, we have to consider the financial strains they may cause alongside the benefits they might deliver.

This is particularly the case with cancer, where the cost of drugs, and of care over all, has risen precipitously. The typical new cancer drug coming on the market a decade ago cost about $4,500 per month (in 2012 dollars); since 2010 the median price has been around $10,000. Two of the new cancer drugs cost more than $35,000 each per month of treatment.

The burden of this cost is borne, increasingly, by patients themselves — and the effects can be devastating. In 2006, one-quarter of cancer patients reported that they had used up all or most of their savings paying for care; a study last year reported that 2 percent of cancer patients were driven into bankruptcy by their illness and its treatment. One in 10 cancer patients now reports spending more than $18,000 out of pocket on care.

Which brings us back to our decision on Zaltrap. In patients with advancing, metastatic colorectal cancer, the new drug, approved by the F.D.A. in August and jointly marketed by Sanofi and Regeneron, offers the same survival benefit as Genentech’s Avastin, which works through a similar molecular mechanism. When compared with the standard chemotherapy regimen alone, adding either medicine has been shown to prolong patient lives by a median of 1.4 months. Major clinical practice guidelines, like those from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, agree that Zaltrap is no better than Avastin in this setting. (Full disclosure: Two of us, Dr. Bach and Dr. Saltz, have been paid consulting fees by Genentech.)

But Avastin costs roughly $5,000 a month: very expensive in its own right, yet less than half of Zaltrap’s price tag. And while the side effects in both drugs are roughly equal, doses of Avastin generally take less time to administer than those of Zaltrap, which makes Avastin more convenient for patients.

Consider that colorectal cancer is typically diagnosed in older individuals and the cost issue becomes starker still. Many patients are on Medicare and living on fixed incomes. And because Medicare requires patients to co-pay for cancer drugs, 20 percent of the cost of drugs like Zaltrap and Avastin is passed on — absorbed either by supplemental insurance or by the patients themselves.

Tax Incentives for Developing Sewage Treatment Capacity in China

China relies considerably on surface water, but water in the majority of the country’s rivers is not fit for consumption—and the health impacts from water pollution are costly. Yet the construction of sewage treatment facilities varies dramatically throughout China. Some cities have constructed many plants, while others have not.

According to research by RFF Fellow Anthony Liu and coauthor Junjie Zhang, fiscal incentives—specifically, China’s tax sharing system—have a key role to play in the provision of sewage treatment infrastructure. In a new RFF discussion paper, “Environmental Infrastructure in China and Fiscal Incentives,” they note:

“Under China's tax sharing system, some cities are allowed to keep high shares of their value-added tax (VAT), while others keep relatively small shares. Since the VAT is levied on industrial activity, we hypothesize that cities that received relatively high shares were incentivized to direct financial resources toward activities that directly boosted the industrial tax base. One attractive form of investment is the construction of additional infrastructure in the form of sewage treatment capacity. Government officials in China widely believe that providing infrastructure is an important strategy to attract new industrial businesses and expand their tax base.”

Liu and Zhang’s method sheds new light on China’s system of city-level fiscal incentives, tying them to city-level outcomes. They find that cities react to higher value-added tax (VAT) sharing ratios by expanding sewage treatment capacity. During 2002 to 2008, a 10 percentage point increase in the VAT sharing ratio translated to 13.8 percent more growth in sewage treatment capacity.































by Antung Anthony Liu and Junjie Zhang
Resources For the Future (RFF) www.RFF.org
October 15, 2012;
Paper Published September, 2012

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

IKEA to Sell Only LED Lighting by 2016 - Survey Shows Americans Still in the Dark About LEDs

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20121001006043/en/IKEA-Sell-LED-Lighting-2016
Supporting the LED light revolution, IKEA will be converting its full lighting range to LED by 2016, meaning IKEA will sell only LED bulbs and LED lamps to enable millions of people to live a more sustainable life at home and save money on their energy bills. IKEA will be selling the LED bulbs at the lowest price on the market, thus making it affordable for the many people. Additionally, IKEA is changing more than one million light sources inside the IKEA stores to LED and other more efficient lighting. 
... 
“WWF is aiming for a 100% renewable energy future. In order to move away from our dependency on fossil fuels, we need to take advantage of all opportunities. Almost 20% of global electricity consumption comes from lighting, so shifting lighting to LED technology is a cost-effective way to get change at scale. IKEA converting its lighting range to LED will have a real impact in reducing energy use in many households," says Samantha Smith, leader of the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) Global Climate and Energy Initiative. 

This LED initiative follows past IKEA US leadership actions such as the phase out of plastic bags in 2007 and incandescent bulbs in 2010. 

IKEA ... recently gave LED lights to every one of the 130,000 IKEA coworkers across the globe,” comments Mike Ward, IKEA US President.

Today, there is a wide range of LED bulbs available at IKEA that enable customers to easily change old incandescent bulbs to LED without changing the lamp base. LED lighting is, until now, one of the best-kept secrets in home furnishing sustainability:
  • If one million people changed one bulb each into LED, this would in terms of CO2 emissions correspond to taking almost 6,700 cars off the road, or planting 17 million trees per year.
  • The total annual cost saving (including purchase price and energy consumption cost) of switching one incandescent 40W bulb to a corresponding LED bulb, is approximately $6.25 (5.3 Euro) on average.      
  • LED bulbs can last nearly 20 years. That’s about 20 times longer than a typical incandescent, 10 times longer than a typical halogen and twice as long as a typical CFL.
  • LED bulbs use substantially less power than incandescents or CFLs. Replacing existing lighting with LEDs can save between 50% and 90% of lighting energy costs.
  • LEDs can be used almost anywhere – in any room in the house or in any business. LED replacements are already available for many bulb types and can fit virtually all of your existing lamps.
  • A recently conducted survey of 6,000 consumers in China, Russia, Germany, UK, US and Sweden (July 2012*), showed that many are not aware of the benefits of LED; however 60% express an interest in LED as an energy saver, especially as energy bills generally rise and 20-25% of the electricity cost in the home comes from lighting. The survey was performed by YouGov for IKEA.
  • The U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that an increased adoption of LEDs over the next 15 years would:
    • Reduce electricity demands from lighting by 62 percent
    • Prevent 258 million metric tons of carbon emissions
    • Eliminate the need for 133 new power plants
IKEA Survey Results
New surveys from IKEA US reveal that Americans are starting to take steps to keep their homes more sustainable by using LED bulbs, but are still learning about the benefits of LED lights. Here are some of the IKEA survey findings:

Americans are Starting to See the (LED) Light
  • Slightly less than one-half of Americans (43%) have at least one LED bulb in their house (source: IKEA Global Study), compared to China (80%), Russia (65%) and Sweden (61%)
  • Knowledge Gap: only 27% of people know that these bulbs last 20 years (source: Wakefield Research)
  • Knowledge Gap: only one-third (34%) of Americans say LED lights provide similar lighting quality to incandescent bulbs (source: IKEA Global Study)
    • That’s compared to China (77%) and Russia (61%) (source: IKEA Global Study)

Uncertainty in ecosystem services valuation and implications for assessing land use tradeoffs: An agricultural case study in the Minnesota River Basin

Abstract: Ecosystem services analysis can help recognize the full costs and benefits of land management decisions. Quantification and valuation of services can enhance policies and regulations and, if linked with payments or incentives, properly reward private decisions that yield public benefits. However, the field of ecosystem services research is relatively new and quantification and valuation remains highly uncertain. While there is significant uncertainty about the biophysical production of ecosystem services, there is additional uncertainty about the value of services. This paper explores how uncertainty associated with valuation of ecosystem services in agriculture affects the ranking of land use alternatives in terms of social net benefits. We compare the values of four land use scenarios in the Minnesota River Basin, USA, by combining a range of value estimates for these services with varying estimates for returns from agricultural production. Although variations in ecosystem service values are significant, fluctuations in agricultural returns more significantly determine how scenarios rank with regard to delivery of total value. This analysis suggests that addressing uncertainty in ecosystem service valuation is critical to accurately assessing tradeoffs in land use.

Highlights

► We model the provision and value of ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes
► Restoration of agricultural land increases non-market ecosystem services.
► Valuation uncertainty makes the estimated values of land restoration variable.
► Variability in market returns significantly influences land use scenario ranking.

Full-size image (99 K)
Fig. 1. Pre-settlement and 2001 LULC in the Minnesota River Basin.
Full-size image (25 K)
Fig. 2. Change from 2001 scenario in total net present value of alternative scenarios, assuming LOW agricultural returns.Ecosystem services values are: low = SCC of $27 w/2% increase & WTP of $60; medium = SCC of $106 w/2% increase & WTP of $131; high = SCC of $171 w/4% increase & WTP of $154.
Full-size image (25 K)
Fig. 3. Change from 2001 scenario in total net present value of alternative scenarios, assuming MEDIUM agricultural returns.Ecosystem services values are: low = SCC of $27 w/2% increase & WTP of $60; medium = SCC of $106 w/2% increase & WTP of $131; high = SCC of $171 w/4% increase & WTP of $154.
Full-size image (25 K)
Fig. 4. Change from 2001 scenario in total net present value of alternative scenarios, assuming HIGH agricultural returns. Same Ecosystem services values as above.
by Kris A. Johnsona, E-mail the corresponding author, Stephen Polaskyb, c, E-mail the corresponding author, Erik Nelsond E-mail the corresponding author, and Derric Penningtonb, E-mail the corresponding author 
a Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota Suite 325 1954 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA  Tel.: + 1 612 626 2167; fax: + 1 612 626 5555.
b Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, 1994 Buford Avenue St. Paul, MN 55108, USA 
c Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA 
d Natural Capital Project, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305‐5020, USA; Present address: Department of Economics, Bowdoin College, 9700 College Station, Brunswick, ME, 04011‐8497, USA
Ecological Economics via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com
Volume 79; July, 2012; Pages 71–79
Keywords: Ecosystem services; Uncertainty; Agricultural systems; Valuation; Scenarios

Monday, October 1, 2012

Organized Crime Trade Worth over US$30 Billion Responsible for up to 90% of Tropical Deforestation

Between 50 to 90 per cent of logging in key tropical countries of the Amazon basin, Central Africa and South East Asia is being carried out by organized crime threatening efforts to combat climate change, deforestation, conserve wildlife and eradicate poverty.

Globally, illegal logging now accounts for between 15 and 30 per cent of the overall trade, according to a new report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and INTERPOL.

Forests worldwide bind Carbon Dioxide and store it -  known as Green Carbon - and help mitigate climate change. However deforestation, largely of tropical rainforests, is responsible for an estimated 17 per cent of all man-made emissions - 50 per cent more than that from ships, aviation and land transport combined.

The Rapid Response Report entitled "Green Carbon: Black Trade" says that the illegal trade, worth between US$30-100 billion annually, hampers the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) initiative - one of the principal tools for catalyzing positive environmental change, sustainable development, job creation and reducing emissions.

With the increase in organized criminal activity, INTERPOL has also noted associated crimes such as murder, violence and atrocities against indigenous forest dwellers.

The report concludes that without an internationally coordinated enforcement effort, illegal loggers and cartels will continue to shift operations from one haven to another to pursue their profitable trade at the expense of the environment, local economies and even the lives of indigenous peoples.

US Energy Subsidies: Effects on Energy Markets and Carbon Dioxide Emissions

http://tinyurl.com/9psx7ww
From 2005 through 2009, the US government spent nearly $100 billion on about 60 different subsidies that were directed at increasing energy production, subsidizing energy consumption, or increasing energy efficiency. New research shows that over that same period, US expenditures shifted from energy subsidies that resulted in increased CO2 emissions toward those that resulted in reducing CO2 emissions.

In a new report, US Energy Subsidies: Effects on Energy Markets and Carbon Dioxide Emissions, RFF’s Maura Allaire and Stephen P.A. Brown model US energy markets to examine these effects, looking at both energy-related spending programs and tax provisions.

The authors find that in 2005, the net effect of US government energy subsidies was to increase US CO2 emissions by 53.1 million metric tons—about 0.9 percent of the country’s energy-related CO2 emissions that the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated for that year. In 2009, the net effect of US government subsidies was to reduce US CO2 emissions by 38.0 million metric tons—about 0.7 percent of the 5.4 billion metric tons of US energy-related CO2 emissions that the EIA estimated for that year.

Subsidies that increased CO2 emissions include tax provisions for fossil fuel companies, assistance for low-income housing cooling and heating, and the alcohol fuels excise tax. Subsidies that reduced CO2 emissions include programs such as the home weatherization program, tax credits for energy efficient home improvements and renewable energy production, and loan guarantees for energy efficient improvements.

Allaire and Brown conclude that if the energy-related subsidies that increased CO2 emissions had been eliminated, US government expenditures would have been an average of $12 billion less per year and U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions would have been an average of about 1.0 percent lower over the 2005 through 2009 period.

Coal Stacks
Resources For the Future (RFF) www.RFF.org
September 6, 2012

Residents' behaviors, attitudes, and willingness to pay for recycling e-waste in Macau

Abstract: Large quantities of e-waste are presently being generated in Macau, but since recycling facilities and laws on e-waste still need to be developed, most e-waste cannot currently be properly treated. Moreover, little is known about residents' behaviors, attitudes, and their willingness to pay (WTP) for recycling e-waste. These issues are discussed in this study, based on a questionnaire survey on household electronic product usage. In 2010, “Life span completed” was the primary reason respondents abandoned their electronic products, accounting for about 37.97% of responses; the main disposal methods of e-waste in Macau were “Retailers retrieve from consumer” and “Sale to a recycling corporation.” While having little understanding of e-waste disposal issues, most residents were still willing to hand their e-waste into the government for centralized collection. In addition, the respondents gave “telephone reservation” as their preferred collection method. Finally, the residents' WTP in Macau was estimated by the logistic regression method. It was found that education level, age and household income were the significant factors affecting residents' WTP. The monthly mean WTP was 20.03MOP (2.50 US dollar) per household, and the annual WTP was approximately 40,185,067 MOP (5,023,133 US dollar) for all of Macau. The results of our study can help managers develop more effective environmental management policies for e-waste disposal.

Highlights

► Behaviors, attitudes, and WTP on recycling e-waste in Macau were firstly analyzed.
► Most e-waste in Macau flowed into informal sectors, and wasn't treated properly.
► Education Level, Age and Household Income were significant factors affecting WTP.
► Total annual value of WTP was approximately 40 million MOP for all of Macau.
Full-size image (63 K)
E-Waste flow chart
by Qingbin Songa, Zhishi Wanga, E-mail the corresponding author, Jinhui Lib 
a Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China 
b School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Volume 106; 15 September 2012; Pages 8–16
Keywords: e-waste; Behaviors and attitudes; WTP; Questionnaire survey; Macau

An Electric Carmaker Struggles as Its Production Lags

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/questions-about-electric-cars-as-a-manufacturer-struggles/
As Tesla Motors, a maker of electric cars, burns through cash and misses production targets, it is turning to investors and taxpayers for extra financial help.

On Tuesday, Tesla announced plans to sell five million shares to raise cash. The federal government agreed earlier to waive some conditions of a $465 million loan, easing pressure on the company over the next couple of quarters. The moves raised questions about the long-term viability of the company.

In recent months, Tesla has been ramping up production of its main vehicle, a high-performance sedan called the Model S that goes from zero to 60 miles per hour in 4.4 seconds. Tesla has started rolling out the first cars, but was four to five weeks behind on delivering the vehicles to customers. In the meantime, it is consuming cash at a rapid rate and cut its revenue forecast on Tuesday. 
...
Under the new terms of the loan, Tesla received extra time to make a future payment, and will not have to pass a test this quarter that compares short-term assets with short-term liabilities.  But ... by the end of October, Tesla must submit a plan for early repayment of the loan.

The company has fully drawn down the government loan.  Its share price fell $3, or 10 percent on Tuesday, to $27.66 a share, down from a 12-month high of $38.01 in April.
...
Mr. Ahuja said that he expected Tesla’s operations to produce positive cash flows soon. In the first six months of this year, Tesla showed a cash drain of $111 million.
...
Some early customers who have received their Model S cars are extremely pleased.
...
Roadster 2.5
Buyers are paying a hefty sum to reserve the Model S. The deposit on the basic model, which sells for about $57,400 before tax credits, is $5,000. Souped-up versions require larger deposits.

Such payments have been a big source of cash for the company. At the end of June, Tesla was holding $133.4 million of reservation payments....
... 
The New York Times www.NYTimes.com
September 25, 2012
FOR FULL STORY GO TO:
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/questions-about-electric-cars-as-a-manufacturer-struggles/

RO concentrate minimization by electrodialysis: Techno-economic analysis and environmental concerns

Abstract:This paper presents a systematic techno-economical analysis and an environmental impact evaluation of a reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate treatment process using electrodialysis (ED) in view of environmental management of brine discharges. The concentrate originates from a secondary effluent treated by RO. Without any treatment, the concentrate would have to be discharged; this is compared in this study to the costs and benefits of an effective treatment method in a pilot scale ED plant. A technical analysis was done both on lab scale and pilot scale for the determination of operational and maintenance costs for the ED installation at the required conditions of process performance and safety. Subsequently, an economical analysis was done to calculate the cost of the different parts of the ED system. It was shown that an operational cost of 0.19 EUR m−3 can be achieved, assuming that the ED concentrate is to decarbonated at pH 6.0 to prevent membrane scaling. Finally, environmental impact issues were calculated and discussed for the overall system. Results imply that if renewable energy is applied for the ED power source, CO2 emission from membrane processes can be much less than from the conventional treatment methods.

Highlights

► Lab scale ED can be used to demonstrate pilot ED.
► A linear correlation with applied current/flow rate predicts salt removal.
► Environmental impact was calculated (CO2/H2 emission, salt and organics discharge.
Full-size image (37 K)

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of (a) current wastewater treatment and infiltration process (WWTP and Torreele, respectively), (b) proposed ED process for recycling of RO concentrate.

a Department of Chemical Engineering, Laboratory for Applied Physical Chemistry and Environmental Technology, KU Leuven, W. de Croylaan 46, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium 
b Department of Industrial Sciences and Technology, Katholieke Hogeschool Brugge-Oostende, Associated to the KU Leuven as Faculty of Industrial Sciences, Zeedijk 101, B-8400 Oostende, Belgium 
c Department of Industrial Engineering, Laboratory for Chemical Process Technology, KaHo St.-Lieven, Associated to the KU Leuven as Faculty of Industrial Sciences, Technologie Campus, Gebroeders Desmetstraat 1, B-9000 Gent, Belgium 
d Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, Centre for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 23, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium 
Volume 107; 30 September 2012; Pages 28–36
Keywords: Techno-economical analysis; Electrodialysis; RO concentrate; Environmental impact