Browsing by Subject "environmental cost-benefit analysis"

The objective of this thesis was to study the social profitability of combustion technology in poultry manure management in the Leningrad region, Russia. The method was environmental cost-benefit analysis (ECBA), in which two combustion power plant scenarios and a reference scenario were considered. All scenarios would treat 94000 tons of manure annually over a project lifetime of 12 years. Scenario 1 (S1) is a combustion power plant that produces only thermal energy and scenario 2 (S2) is a combustion power plant that produces combined heat and power (CHP). Scenario 0 (S0) is a reference point to the power production scenarios and it assumes that the poultry manure would be disposed untreated by stockpiling or to lagoons, causing nutrient leaching to the surface waters. The final objective of the ECBA was to find out if the scenarios are socially profitable and which one is preferable. The ECBA showed that from the viewpoint of a private producer or investor and under the current market conditions and policy environment, the power plant scenarios were not profitable. However, when environmental benefits of the power plant scenarios were added to the calculations, both scenarios were found to be socially profitable. The social net present values (NPV) of S1 and S2 were EUR 21,2 million and EUR 8,2 million respectively. The reference scenario (S0) led to significant social costs, causing EUR 27,6 million losses to society over the scenarios lifetime. Thus according to the NPV criteria, S1 should be carried out, because it showed the highest NPV. For S0 and S1, the results held constant under all sensitivities, but for S2 several critical parameters were found, from which investment cost was the most significant. Implementation of economic policy instruments would improve the profitability of the scenarios and it would be beneficial to all parties that the main environmental impacts concern (e.g. Sweden and Finland). The nutrient load reduction benefits were the crucial factor that made the power plant scenarios socially profitable. The climate benefits from manure FBC were also significant although moderate if compared to the eutrophication benefits. If the future focus of policies is to reduce the nutrient loads from poultry manure in the Leningrad region, poultry manure combustion with FBC technology could be an effective way to meet that goal.