Environmental Economics

A problem with pig poop energy mandates (PPEM)

Sometimes they are unrealistic:

A North Carolina program to turn pig waste into power has failed to produce results, meaning a state mandate to generate potentially thousands of megawatts of electricity from swine waste might not be met by a deadline two years from now.

As part of state energy law, electric power companies are required to generate nearly 0.1 percent of North Carolina's total retail electricity sales from swine waste by 2012.

But in the three years since a voluntary pilot program started, no registered swine farms have produced electricity.

...

In 2007, a state law banned construction of new lagoons and created a program in which power companies would pay for electricity generated by methane emitted from the waste.

...

One problem with the pilot program is that participating farms have to be served by public utilities to be eligible, said Keith Larick, a supervisor in the water quality division. According to a January report, of the 218 farms that showed interest, 170 of them were ineligible because they were served by electric membership corporations or municipal utilities.

Another large issue with the program is money ...

The North Carolina pork industry, the second largest in the country, has gone through tough economic times. Several pig producers filed for bankruptcy last year, putting workers out of jobs.

Right now, farmers don't have the money for extra equipment without the assistance of grants and other funding...

via www.newsobserver.com

Some good news from the 2010 Legislative Session

Most of the news was bad (i.e., 0% raises, tuition increases) but this one is good news:

Allow campuses to retain energy savings to reinvest in other energy projects.

In the past energy savings went back to the state so, other than the mandated savings (i.e., command and control), ASU had no further incentive to obtain additional energy efficiencies. I guess we can look forward to move energy projects on campus.

Affordable?

I can't wait to retire here! Some days I simply can't wait to retire!

Boone North Carolina is on the top ten list—and it’s a good list.  The Chicago Tribune has jointly published with US News & World Report its top ten list of affordable mountain communities to retire to, and Boone is number 3 nationally.  The report cites senior amenities, such as free public transportation—our AppalCart—good medical care, and just enough size to provide for other amenities.

Boone is behind Blacksburg, Virginia at number one, and Bend Oregon.  Only three of the cities, including Boone and Blacksburg, are on the east coast.  The Trib’s list:

1. Blacksburg, Va.

2. Bend, Ore.

3. Boone, N.C.

4. Bozeman, Mont.

5. Burlington, Vt.

6. Colorado Springs, Colo.

7. Fayetteville, Ark.

8. Post Falls, Idaho

9. Redding, Calif.

10. Salt Lake City

via www.goblueridge.net

Note that the "top 10" list, as reported by the local radio station, is in (almost) alphabetical order. Boone is actually listed 4th in the "10 best" slide show behind Redding, Blacksburg and Bend. And affordable? Ask the Fall 2010 crop of ASU assistant professors that question.

Krugman on who is to blame

He blames greed (ExxonMobil) and cowardice (McCain) but not economic impact:

Did reasonable concerns about the economic impact of climate legislation block action? No. It has always been funny, in a gallows humor sort of way, to watch conservatives who laud the limitless power and flexibility of markets turn around and insist that the economy would collapse if we were to put a price on carbon. All serious estimates suggest that we could phase in limits on greenhouse gas emissions with at most a small impact on the economy’s growth rate.

via www.nytimes.com

Drop your lines

Good news from NOAA:

NOAA has reopened 26,388 square miles of Gulf waters to commercial and recreational fishing on Thursday at 6:00 pm EDT. The reopening of a third of the overall closed area was announced after consultation with FDA and under a re-opening protocol agreed to by NOAA, the FDA, and the Gulf states. 

Since mid-June, NOAA data have shown no oil in the area, and United States Coast Guard observers flying over the area in the last 30 days have also not observed any oil. Additionally, trajectory models show the area is at a low risk for future exposure to oil, and fish caught in the area and tested by NOAA experts have shown no signs of contamination.

The gray area has been reopened.

I just downloaded data from an internet survey

We used Zoomerang and their panel. It was incredibly easy, the survey opened on a Friday afternoon and 842 responses were ready on the next Monday, especially compared to mail and telephone (which we are also doing -- the comparisons across survey mode should be most interesting). Below is a widget that can be used for display of results on webpages (I've also posted this at the bottom of the right hand column ... why? because I can). You might recognize this as a contingent valuation certainty follow-up question:

Quiet week last week

I'd like to say that I was busy doing these, but, actually, I served my jury duty. While that was fascinating (and sad) I'm hoping to get back to work and some tepid blogging today.

An all too common tragedy

Lobstermen are speaking out against a proposed ban on lobstering from Massachusetts to North Carolina, saying a bleak assessment of the stock's health is way off.

Dozens of lobstermen traveled to Warwick, R.I., for a meeting of the board that advises the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission on lobster rules.

The board is considering a five-year moratorium on lobstering south of Cape Cod to North Carolina to deal with a population crash. The region supplies about 7 percent of the Northeast's total catch. A final decision is expected later this year.

via news.yahoo.com

Apparently, CO2 is Green is, what's the word I'm looking for here, stupid, perhaps, but a little too personal, wrong, there that's the one.

Our results show an unexpected widespread tree growth decline in temperate and boreal forests due to warming induced stress but are also suggestive of additional stressors. Rising atmospheric CO2 levels during the past century resulted in consistent increases in water use efficiency, but this did not prevent growth decline. These findings challenge current predictions of increasing terrestrial carbon stocks under climate change scenarios.

via theenergycollective.com

Some insight into me

Each decade, on April 1 of the year that ends in a zero, the United States takes a census of its population.  The results affect the allocation of more than $400 billion in federal funding per year to local, state and tribal governments.  But a more important reason for the census is its political dimension.  It determines how many congresspersons each state sends to the House of Representatives.

The U.S. Constitution states that "the number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative."  In the early days, the number of representatives was increased as the population grew.  With a population of over 300 million, and the so-called divisor set at 30,000, the House of Representatives would now number about 10,000 members.  But in 1929 the size of the House was fixed at 435.  Accordingly the divisor has been adjusted and now stands at one representative for about 700,000 citizens.

The apportionment of seats has, however, presented a problem that has plagued the United States since its inception.  Invariably, the number of representatives that a state would be due according to the census, is a fractional number.  So, should a state that is due, say, 7.38 representatives, send 7 or 8 congresspersons to the Capitol?

via www.hnn.us

No point here really, just this is the kind of math problem that fascinates me.