scholarly journals Environmental Economics for Environmental Protection

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1254-1266
Author(s):  
Ekko van Ierland ◽  
Corjan Brink ◽  
Leen Hordijk ◽  
Carolien Kroeze
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Economics ◽  
Common Property ◽  
Market Failure ◽  
Optimal Allocation ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Transboundary Air Pollution ◽  
Reduce Emissions

Environmental economics deals with the optimal allocation of production factors and correcting market failure in protecting the environment. Market failure occurs because of externalities, common property resources, and public goods. Environmental policy instruments include direct regulation, taxes/subsidies, tradable permits, deposit systems, voluntary agreements, and persuasion.Environmental policies usually focus on one pollutant or environmental issue but may have substantial impacts on other emissions and environmental problems. Neglecting these impacts will result in suboptimal policies. We present an integrated optimisation model for determining cost-effective strategies to simultaneously reduce emissions of several pollutants from several sources, allowing for interrelations between sources and abatement options. Our integrated approach in regard to acidifying compounds and greenhouse gases will be able to provide cost-effective policy options that will result in lower overall abatement costs.This paper shows that efficient emission reduction can be calculated, but we argue that, for transboundary air pollution and climate change, it is difficult to implement the socially optimal solution because strong incentives exist for “free-riding”. In order to implement efficient policies, international environmental agree-ments like the Gothenburg or the Kyoto Protocol are necessary to establish stable coalitions. The stability of these agreements depends on the distribution of costs and benefits over countries and on the redistribution of the gains of cooperation.

Integrated Multi-Robotic Assembly Planning for Improved Productivity

2011 ◽  
Vol 383-390 ◽  
pp. 6357-6362
Author(s):  
B.B. Choudhury ◽  
Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal
Keyword(s):  
Task Allocation ◽  
Optimal Allocation ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Robotic Assembly ◽  
Assembly Planning ◽  
Assembly Sequence ◽  
Optimum Result ◽  
Robot Systems ◽  
Assembly Sequence Generation

In product assembly, optimized sequence is a prerequisite for automated systems. The assembly process can be optimized through appropriate selection and allocation of the given tasks in a multi-device framework. These two discrete tasks need to be integrated to produce the optimum result and a cost effective system to cope with the needs of the system, the present work attempts to generate an automatic assembly sequence and seeks for optimal allocation of tasks amongst the available robots. Further, an effective task allocation approach considers the capabilities of the deployable robots. This paper presents an integrated approach for assembly sequence generation and task allocation for multi-robot systems by considering their capability in terms of time and space. An example of a 21 part drive assembly is given to illustrate the concept and procedure of the proposed methodology.

scholarly journals Economic Development Based on a Mathematical Model: An Optimal Solution Method for the Fuel Supply of International Road Transport Activity

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 2963
Author(s):  
Melinda Timea Fülöp ◽  
Miklós Gubán ◽  
György Kovács ◽  
Mihály Avornicului
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Market Competition ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Optimization Method ◽  
Optimal Decision ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Fuel Cost

Due to globalization and increased market competition, forwarding companies must focus on the optimization of their international transport activities and on cost reduction. The minimization of the amount and cost of fuel results in increased competition and profitability of the companies as well as the reduction of environmental damage. Nowadays, these aspects are particularly important. This research aims to develop a new optimization method for road freight transport costs in order to reduce the fuel costs and determine optimal fueling stations and to calculate the optimal quantity of fuel to refill. The mathematical method developed in this research has two phases. In the first phase the optimal, most cost-effective fuel station is determined based on the potential fuel stations. The specific fuel prices differ per fuel station, and the stations are located at different distances from the main transport way. The method developed in this study supports drivers’ decision-making regarding whether to refuel at a farther but cheaper fuel station or at a nearer but more expensive fuel station based on the more economical choice. Thereafter, it is necessary to determine the optimal fuel volume, i.e., the exact volume required including a safe amount to cover stochastic incidents (e.g., road closures). This aspect of the optimization method supports drivers’ optimal decision-making regarding optimal fuel stations and how much fuel to obtain in order to reduce the fuel cost. Therefore, the application of this new method instead of the recently applied ad-hoc individual decision-making of the drivers results in significant fuel cost savings. A case study confirmed the efficiency of the proposed method.

The Mae on Project: Using Acupuncture for Symptom Relief and Improved Quality of Life for People Living with Hiv and Aids in Rural Thailand

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Louie ◽  
Nopporn Pathanapornpandh ◽  
Unchalee Pultajuk ◽  
Robert Kaplan ◽  
Ian Hodgson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Symptom Relief ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Related Symptom ◽  
History Of ◽  
Living With Hiv

Acupuncture in combination with antiretroviral therapies is a potentially useful treatment for HIV-related symptom relief in resource-poor settings. Traditional Chinese medicine has a long history of being used to enhance immune function. In the setting of HIV, Chinese traditional medicine allows for symptom treatment without adding extra medications to a complex drug regime. This paper provides details of a project at Mae On Hospital in rural northern Thailand where allopathic/conventional treatments are used in tandem with acupuncture. A preliminary evaluation of the project suggests that an integrated approach to symptom relief is viewed positively by respondents receiving acupuncture, though further studies are required to confirm the association between acupuncture and symptom relief. The project also demonstrates the feasibility of developing a cost-effective acupuncture programme using local healthcare staff.

The Systems/Integrated Approach to Quality and Cost-Effective Care

1990 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah A. Finkelstein ◽  
Susan Frissell
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Effective Care

OPTIMAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND RENEWABLE ENERGY INVESTMENT: EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXAS ELECTRICITY MARKET

2016 ◽  
Vol 07 (04) ◽  
pp. 1650010 ◽  
Author(s):  
WICHSINEE WIBULPOLPRASERT
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Electricity Market ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Welfare Gain ◽  
Energy Investment ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
The Status

Renewable electricity subsidies have been popular policy instruments to combat climate change because of their ability to offset emissions. This paper studies the long-run welfare benefits of optimizing the design of the existing renewable energy subsidy (the status quo) in the presence of heterogeneity in the offset emissions. In particular, I measure the welfare gain from differentiating renewable subsidies across location and time to reflect the environmental benefits from emissions offset in the context of wind energy in the Texas electricity market. I find that the welfare gain from differentiation is small compared to the gain already achieved under the status quo subsidy. In contrast, the optimal emissions tax yields much larger welfare gain because it engages in other cost-effective emissions abatement channels that renewable energy subsidies do not: namely, demand conservation and cross-plant fuel substitution.

Monitoring and Verification

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jørgen Wettestad
Keyword(s):  
Emissions Trading ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Building Trust ◽  
Transboundary Air Pollution ◽  
Wild Fauna ◽  
The North ◽  
International Environmental Politics ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Flexible Mechanisms

Good monitoring and verification of practices in international institutions are important in building trust between and among cooperating parties, and in strengthening wider societal confidence. This article investigates the increasing use of flexibility mechanisms and related challenges to monitoring and verification. There is a clear movement towards the use of flexible mechanisms, particularly emissions trading, as central environmental policy instruments, both at the domestic and international levels. This article examines global and regional regimes and institutions, as well as pollution and resource-management regimes. The data are drawn from ‘atmospheric’ regimes such as the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, the ozone layer regime, and the climate change regime. The article also considers examples from other regimes such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the North Sea cooperation. In the field of international environmental politics, there are good reasons to look closely at the European Union.

Configuration Design: An Integrated Approach Using Grammars

1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda C. Schmidt ◽  
Jonathan Cagan
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Configuration Design ◽  
Levels Of Abstraction ◽  
Component Selection ◽  
Successful Design ◽  
Design Generation ◽  
Selection Tasks ◽  
Optimal Configurations ◽  
Different Levels

Abstract A computational approach to design that integrates conceptual design, configuration design, and catalog component selection tasks overcomes some of the barriers to successful design automation. FFREADA is a design generation and optimization algorithm featuring hierarchical ordering of grammar based-design generation processes at different levels of abstraction. FFREADA is used to design hand-held, power drills and to develop an appropriate objective function for design optimization. The drill grammar expresses a vast space of design states that are not limited to any particular functional architecture or component configuration. (The algorithm’s optimization runs operate in a space which exceeds 20249 designs.) Good drill designs, those with values within 1% of the optimal solution, are found in minutes by sampling less than 0.15% of the design states. Optimal configurations are found for drills with three different torque requirements.

Why Carbon Pricing Is Appealing

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Barry G. Rabe
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Carbon Price ◽  
The United States ◽  
Carbon Taxes ◽  
Excise Taxes ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
Reduce Emissions ◽  
Direct Tax

The use of taxes to elevate the price of popular commodities in order to reduce consumption and risks related to use did not originate with carbon taxes. Excise taxes on tobacco have been used aggressively by governments in the United States and beyond in recent decades to achieve significant reductions in smoking. Fossil fuel use has long been deemed by diverse economists as a viable target for a sequel, leading to innumerable reports and scholarly arguments making the case for a carbon price. This can take the form of either a direct tax on the carbon content of fossil fuels or a cap-and-trade system that allows for purchase of rights to release emissions at a price. Both are thought to offer effective paths to reduce emissions in a cost-effective manner.

scholarly journals From Waste to Multi-Hybrid Layering of High Carbon Steel to Improve Corrosion Resistance: An In-Depth Analysis Using EPMA and AFM Techniques

Surfaces ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilson Handoko ◽  
Farshid Pahlevani ◽  
Yin Yao ◽  
Karen Privat ◽  
Veena Sahajwalla
Keyword(s):  
Corrosion Resistance ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Steel Substrate ◽  
High Carbon Steel ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Single Step ◽  
Composition Analysis ◽  
Shredder Residue ◽  
Depth Analysis

Corrosion resistance of steel has attracted substantial interest for manufacturing applications to reduce costs corresponding to part failures, unexpected maintenance, and shortening lifespan. Meanwhile, millions of tonnes of slag, non-recyclable glass, and automotive shredder residue (ASR) are discarded into landfills every year, polluting the environment. Combining these two major issues, we delivered an alternative solution to enhance corrosion resistance of high-C steel. In this research, utilisation of these wastes (which were chemically bonded into steel substrate) as sources for production of multi-hybrid layering—including the multi-phase ceramic layer, the carbide layer, and the selective diffusion layer—was successfully achieved by single step surface modification technology. High-resolution topographical imaging by SEM and chemical composition analysis in micron-volume by electron probe micro analyser (EPMA) were performed. Nano-characterisation by atomic force microscopy (AFM) using the PeakForce quantitative nanomechanical mapping (PF-QNM) method was conducted to define Young’s modulus value of each phase in detail. Results revealed improvement of corrosion resistance by 39% and a significantly increased hardness of 13.58 GPa. This integrated approach is prominent for economic and environmental sustainability, consolidating industry demands for more profits, producing durable, steel components in a cost effective way to reduce dependency on new resources, and minimising negative impacts to the environment from disposal of wastes to the landfills.

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