benefit analysis of waterreuse projects文档格式.docx
《benefit analysis of waterreuse projects文档格式.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《benefit analysis of waterreuse projects文档格式.docx(18页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
,R.Sala-Garridob,2,
a
DepartmentofAppliedEconomicsII,UniversitatdeValencia,CampusdelsTarongers,46022Valencia,Spain
b
DepartmentofMathematicsforEconomics,UniversitatdeValencia,CampusdelsTarongers,46022Valencia,Spain
Received1December2010;
revised5July2011;
Accepted22July2011.Availableonline18August2011.
Abstract
Waterreuseisanemergingandpromisingnon-conventionalwaterresource.Feasibilitystudiesareessentialtoolsinthedecisionmakingprocessfortheimplementationofwater-reuseprojects.However,themethodsusedtoassesseconomicfeasibilitytendtofocusoninternalcosts,whileexternalimpactsarerelegatedtounsubstantiatedstatementsabouttheadvantagesofwaterreuse.Usingtheconceptofshadowpricesforundesirableoutputsofwaterreclamation,thecurrentstudydevelopedatheoreticalmethodologytoassessinternalandexternaleconomicimpacts.Theproposedmethodologicalapproachisappliedto13wastewatertreatmentplantsintheValenciaregionofSpainthatreuseeffluentforenvironmentalpurposes.Internalbenefitanalysesindicatedthatonlyaproportionofprojectswereeconomicallyviable,whilewhenexternalbenefitsareincorporatedallprojectswereeconomicallyviable.Inconclusion,theeconomicfeasibilityassessmentsofwater-reuseprojectsshouldquantitativelyevaluateeconomic,environmentalandresourceavailability.
Highlights
►theshadowpricemethodologyisapioneeringapproachtoquantifytheenvironmentalbenefitassociatedwithavoidingthedischargeofpollutants.►Thisapproachisbasedonthedirectionaldistancefunctionsandrepresentsanalternativetoconventionalmethodsofeconomicvaluation.►Themethodologyproposedinthispaperallowstheassessmentofexternaleconomicimpactsofwater-reuseprojects.►Theeconomicvaluationofexternalitiesisaveryrelevantissueinordertocarryoutrealisticfeasibilitystudiesofwater-reuseprojects.
Keywords:
Directionaldistancefunction;
Cost–benefitanalysis;
Economicfeasibility;
Environmentalbenefit;
Shadowprices;
Wastewaterreuse
ArticleOutline
∙1.Introduction
∙2.Methodologyforassessingthefeasibilityofwater-reuseprojects
∙
o2.1.Background
o2.2.Internalbenefit
o2.3.Externalbenefit
o2.4.Opportunitycost
∙3.Casestudy:
water-reuseprojectsintheValenciaRegion
∙4.Resultsanddiscussion
o4.1.Internalbenefit
o4.2.Externalbenefit
o4.3.Totalbenefit
∙5.Conclusions
∙Acknowledgments
∙References
1.Introduction
Europehaswitnessedgrowinglevelsofwaterstress,bothintermsofscarcityandthedeteriorationofquality.Thissituationhaspromptedmanymunicipalitiestoidentifymoreefficientusesofwaterresources,includingmorewidespreadacceptanceoftheuseofnon-conventionalwatersources(Bixioetal.,2006).Inthissense,waterreusehasemergedasthemostviablealternativesinceitperformstwokeyfunctions:
(i)increasingwatersupplyand(ii)reducingpollutionbydischarginglesswastewaterintotheenvironment(Hochstratetal.,2007).Thesearethereasonsforrecognitionofthegrowingimportanceofwaterreuseinareasthataresubjecttoharshconditionswithrespecttowaterstressorseasonalwaterdemand([Salgot,2008]and[Miller,2006]).
Feasibilitystudiesareessentialtoolsinthedecisionmakingprocessfortheimplementationofwastewater-reuseprojects(AQUAREC,2006).Themethodsthatarecommonlyappliedinthisareatypicallyshowsignificantbiastowardthestrictlytechnicalfield.Fortunately,inrecentdecadestherehasbeenrapidlyincreasingacknowledgmentintheneedtoimplement“sustainability”inwastewatermanagement(Limetal.,2008).Accordingtotheconceptofsustainabledevelopment,awater-reuseprojectmustcomplywithenvironmental,socio-culturalandeconomicneedstobedeemedsustainable(Balkemaetal.,2002).
Economicconsiderationsarethereforeofhighimportancewhenassessingthepotentialofwater-reuseprojects([Asano,1998]and[Asano,2007]).Furthermore,theWaterFrameworkDirective(WFD)assignssignificancetoeconomicanalysistoachievesuitablewaterresourcemanagement.However,economicfeasibilityofresearchonwastewaterregenerationandreuseremainstheleaststudiedcomponent.Inpart,thisisbecauseinternalandexternaleconomicimpactsofenvironmentalbasedprojectsshouldbeidentifiedandquantifiedwhenanalyzingeconomicfeasibility,suchasforwaterreuse(Molinos-Senanteetal.,2010).Whileinternalimpactsmaybeeasilytranslatedintomonetaryunits,externaleffects(orexternalities)arenotconsideredbythemarket,thusrequiringeconomicvaluationmethodsfortheirquantification.Asaresult,aseriesofstatementsabouttheadvantagesofwastewaterregenerationandreuseareoftenpresented,withoutsupportingeconomicquantification.Consequently,thetruebenefitsandcostsofmanyprojectsarenotproperlyevaluated(Seguí
2004).
Nevertheless,thereisgrowinginterestinthemonetaryvaluationoftheseexternalities.Forexample,thecost–benefitanalysis(CBA)ofGodfreyetal.(2009)withrespecttoasystemofgreywaterreuseinIndia.Themonetaryvaluesofexternalbenefitsandcosts,intermsoftheenvironmentandhealth,werederivedbyusingscientificreferences([NorthandGriffin,1993],[HanleyandSpash,1993],[Field,1997],[CurryandWeiss,1993]and[HuttonandHaller,2004]).Theauthorsusedconventionaleconomicmethods,suchashedonicvaluationandcontingentvaluation.Incomparison,Seguí
etal.(2009)usedtravelcoststodeterminetheenvironmentalbenefitsarisingfromwastewaterreuseforawetlandrestorationproject.Furthermore,ChenandWang(2009)proposedanetbenefitvaluemodelforcost–benefitevaluationofwater-reuseprojectsinaresidentialareaofChina.ThebenefitsrelatingtotheenvironmentwerecalculatedbyapplyingamathematicalequationdevelopedbytheChineseMinistryofEnvironmentalProtection.
Theconceptofdirectionaldistancefunctionhasbeensuggested([Fä
reetal.,1993],[Fä
reetal.,2001]and[Fä
reetal.,2006])asanalternativetoconventionalmethodsofeconomicvaluation(statedpreferencemethods).Thisconceptaimstocalculateshadowpricevalueofundesirableoutputsarisingfromproductiveactivitiesthathavenomarketvalue.Thismethodisderivedfroma“costsproductionperspective”,whichcontraststotheusualmethodsthatarelinkedtoa“demandperspective”(Diaz-BalteiroandRomero,2008).
Theadvantagesofthedirectionaldistanceapproachincludethefollowing:
(i)shadowpricesmaybeusedtodeterminehowmuchincomewouldbegainedifsomeoftheresourceswereprivatized;
(ii)authoritiesmayusetheinformationprovidedbyshadowpricestosetratesforusingenvironmentalservices,ortocomparecurrentrateswiththemarginalrevenuegenerated(Fä
reetal.,2001);
(iii)thismethodologymayhelpsocietyunderstandthebenefitsgeneratedasaresultofenvironmentalimprovementprograms;
and(iv)shadowpricemodelsmayoffereconomistsfurtherinsightsintoestimatedmeasuresofwillingnesstopayproducedbyalternativemodelssuchasthecontingentvaluationmethod,orcapitalizationmethods(Fä
reetal.,2001).Furthermore,shadowpricequantificationisrelativelyinexpensivewhencomparedtosurveyingprocesses.
Withtheaimtointegrateeconomicandenvironmentalaspectsinthedesignandimplementationofwastewater-reuseprojects,thecurrentstudypresentsamethodtoassesstheeconomicfeasibilityofwater-reuseprojectstakingbothinternalandexternalimpactsintoconsideration.Thiswasachievedbyusingtheconceptofshadowpricesofundesirableoutputsarisingfromthewaterregenerationprocess.Theproposedmethodologicalapproachissubsequentlyusedtoassesstheeconomicfeasibilityofvariouswastewater-reuseprojectsforenvironmentalpurposesintheValenciaregionontheMediterraneancoastofSpain.
2.Methodologyforassessingthefeasibilityofwater-reuseprojects
2.1.Background
Economicfeasibilitystudiesofwastewater-reuseprojectsshouldbecompletedbyusingconventionalmethodologiesofeconomicanalysis,suchascost–benefitanalysis(CBA)(vanderBruggenetal.,2009).AccordingtoSeguí
(2004)andHerná
ndezetal.(2006),totalbenefitiscalculatedbyconsideringinternalbenefit,externalbenefit,andopportunitycost,asshowninEquation
(1).
(1)BT=BI+BE−OCwhereBTisthetotalbenefit(totalincomeminustotalcosts);
BIistheinternalbenefit(internalincomeminusinternalcosts);
BEistheexternalbenefit(positiveexternalitiesminusnegativeexternalities);
andOCistheopportunitycost.CBAoriginatesfromthepremisethataprojectisonlyeconomicallyfeasibleifallincomesexceedtheaggregatecosts.Inotherwords,accordingtoEquation
(1)iftheBT>
0,wherebythebestoptionoffersthehighesttotalbenefit.
2.2.Internalbenefit
Internalimpactsaredirectlylinkedwiththeprocessofwastewaterregeneration,andsubsequentreuse.Theinternalbenefitrepresentsthedifferencebetweeninternalincomeandinternalcosts.Internalincomeincludesrevenuesfromthesaleofregeneratedwaterandotherrecoveredsub-products.Ifreclaimedwaterisusedinagriculture,thenitrogenandphosphoruscontentsinwaterofferasavinginfertilizercosts.Alternatively,ifreclaimedwaterisintendedforenvironmentalpurposes,thesenutrientsmayberecoveredduringwastewatertreatmentandsubsequentlysoldforotheruses.Internalcostsaretheresultofthesumofinves