This thesis investigates the cost of producing miscanthus in Ontario as an energy crop for the Ontario greenhouse industry. To determine the breakeven price of growing miscanthus an enterprise budget was developed and applied to three different life cycle scenarios to determine the effect of stand life on the breakeven price. The base case breakeven price of producing miscanthus ranged from $74.74/t to $80.22/t. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the effect of assumptions (stand yield, rhizome cost, harvest method and discount rate) on the breakeven price. Price of energy from miscanthus ranged from $2.87/GJ to $8.63/GJ with an average price of $5.51/GJ. The Ontario greenhouse industry`s willingness to pay for bioenergy from miscanthus is based on the prices of fuels currently in use. Ontario farmer‘s willingness to produce miscanthus is based on its profitability compared to other crops and the time it takes to pay off the initial investment.

The purpose of this study was to develop and demonstrate an analytical framework to filter technical and economic information regarding alternative agricultural enterprises in order to enable farmers to make more informed diversification and adjustment decisions. This is particularly important for areas that need to adjust the structure of income sources as a result of dramatic changes in market demand and/or agricultural policy. Tobacco producing regions are currently facing such a problem in the United States. These regions need to consider a wide range of alternatives to maintain or enhance income and standards of living. The problem involved both strategic economic decisions and operational economic decisions. The method used combined information in the ArcView Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with Linear Programming (LP). Part of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, served as a case study example. A GIS database including soils and climatic conditions of the study area was created. Soils belonging to land capability classes 1 to 4 were considered for agricultural purposes. Agronomic requirements for specific yield levels of the enterprises considered were tabulated. An ArcView GIS analysis was conducted based on soil map unit symbols. Soil depth, soil series, soil texture, slope, flood potential and average summer temperature were factors associated with yield. Natural drainage, pH, natural fertility, content of organic matter and annual rainfall were factors that served for enterprise budget adjustments. The output of ArcView GIS analysis is maps of physically viable enterprise boundaries or enterprise reference units and tables of attributes for each field. Marketing of agricultural products that have prices that fluctuate seasonally is feasible only within the period of time called the "market window". When average historical prices were above total costs, a market window was identified. The optimal enterprise mix was addressed by LP from a whole farm planning perspective based on the results of ArcView GIS analysis and other constraints, including crop rotations, and irrigation limits. Various levels of tobacco production, vegetable enterprise activity levels, and limits on irrigation were employed to generate, ten scenarios. Results include the optimal enterprise mix, net revenue (above variable costs), shadow prices and sensitivity analysis. It is shown that specialty crops are not likely to replace tobacco income, at least in the near term. Developing a diversified farm plan could help farmers to make a smooth transition to other alternatives. / Ph. D.

This study evaluates the economic feasibility of a biological control industry in Niger. Farmers in the Sahel region of Niger are vulnerable to high millet yield losses due to the millet head miner, and their pest control options are extremely limited. Researchers have begun to support small businesses which sell a beneficial insect (Habrobracon Hebetor) that is very effective in limiting millet yield losses due to the millet head miner. This study discusses a wide range of questions related to the economic prospects of these businesses using two main analytical methods, an economic feasibility assessment and an econometric analysis. The economic feasibility assessment provides budget analysis for the potential businesses and discusses business options for scaling, price setting, and organizing. A central question in this analysis is whether farmers can cooperatively purchase beneficial insects as a means of preventing free-riding. With free-riding as a prominent concern for businesses, this study also provides an econometric analysis of the factors that affect farmer's willingness-to-pay for beneficial insects. / Master of Science

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / This work proposes a methodology for feasibility study of the distribution of natural gas to remote areas without access through a backbone pipeline. In recent years, one can observe a strong increase in the participation of natural gas as input in energy supply all around the world, including Brazil. The State of CearÃ, in the Northeastern Brazil, shows nowadays a natural gas supply superavit of about four million cubic meters per day. Present natural gas distribution in Cearà State occurs only in Fortaleza Metropolitan area. Although there are in the State many important urban development poles with significant potential to consume natural gas they cannot count yet with necessary supply equipments of that power input as gas pipeline. This is an important problem because wood fuel is largely used in the countryside notwithstanding its damage to the environment. All over the world the attendance of secondary markets with natural gas has been supported by trucks or trains lines as a first step before implementing a pipeline. This work aims to propose and apply a methodology to find the economic and logistics feasibility to distribute natural gas to remote regions. Such a methodology makes use of discrete choice demand forecasting technique using both revealed and stated preference data as well as the capacity facility location problem modelling and conventional indicators of economic feasibility. A case study is discussed involving the CRAJUBAR region of Cearà State. The work aims to contribute in identification of scenarios in which one can have feasible situations of energy input substitution. / Esta dissertaÃÃo propÃe uma metodologia para estudo de viabilidade da distribuiÃÃo secundÃria de gÃs natural em regiÃes afastadas de redes primÃrias de gasodutos. Diante da seguranÃa de fornecimento do gÃs natural apresentada atualmente no paÃs e no Mundo, a sua participaÃÃo na matriz energÃtica vem se intensificando nos Ãltimos anos. O Estado do Cearà apresenta superavit na oferta equivalente a quatro milhÃes de metros cÃbicos por dia de gÃs. Atualmente, a distribuiÃÃo do gÃs natural, nesse Estado, à realizada apenas na RegiÃo Metropolitana de Fortaleza, sendo que no interior se encontram importantes polos de desenvolvimento, como a RegiÃo do CRAJUBAR com uma base industrial com potencial de consumo de gÃs natural, que poderia levar à substituiÃÃo do uso principalmente de lenha no processo produtivo das empresas e, tambÃm, poderia propiciar a interiorizaÃÃo do uso do energÃtico em regiÃes ainda nÃo atendida por gasodutos. O atendimento aos consumidores de gÃs natural tem ocorrido por meio da utilizaÃÃo de distribuiÃÃo secundÃria (gasoduto virtual) indutora de mercado. Assim o objetivo deste estudo reside em propor e aplicar uma metodologia de determinaÃÃo da viabilidade da distribuiÃÃo secundÃria do gÃs natural para regiÃes nÃo atendidas por gasodutos, instrumentada pelo uso de tÃcnicas de previsÃo de demanda, de otimizaÃÃo de custos e de planilha eletrÃnica na determinaÃÃo da viabilidade econÃmica. O trabalho busca contribuir na identificaÃÃo de cenÃrios viÃveis de substituiÃÃo energÃtica para o uso do gÃs natural na regiÃo em estudo.

Feasibility studies concerning decision-making for various types of items to be used in a small hydropower scheme is important for estimating the energy generation, the approximate cost of the project, and the required budget allocation. A computer program named RETScreen, which is commonly used in the North Americas, is capable of evaluating the energy generation, investment and maintenance costs for small hydro-projects. This thesis is based on application of this program to the Turkish practice. To this end, energy and cost equations dealing with energy generation and cost estimation of various items, such as costs of turbines, generators, installation of energy equipment, transmission line, etc., will be applied according to the common practice currently used in Turkey. A case study is performed to illustrate the use of this program. With the use of this program, it may be possible to perform quick successive runs to assess economic feasibility of several alternatives.

The appraisal or the feasibility of an engineering venture or an investment relies on the estimation of the analysis parameters, which usually occur in the future. All such estimates have an element of uncertainty which needs to be acknowledged. Traditional methods of engineering economic or discounted cash flow analysis, for example, net present value, benefit/cost ratio, internal rate of return and payback period, do not take into account the uncertainty associated with the analysis parameters. To this end, the present study proposes a number of evaluation methodologies in order to deal with the inherent uncertainty. The present study uses second-order moment thinking to determine the expected value and the variance of feasibility measures, net present value, benefit/cost ratio, internal rate of return and payback period. A venture???s feasibility is defined in this study as the probability of the total benefit exceeding the total cost, the probability of the internal rate of return being greater than a specified interest rate, or the probability of the payback period being less than a specified time period. However, the determination of the variance of these measures requires the estimation of the correlation coefficients between the benefits and costs. The task of estimating correlation coefficients is difficult without making certain assumptions. An examination of the degree of correlation is presented which can be used for guidance in feasibility studies. The present study also gives a theoretical formulation for feasibility for single and multiple ventures and supports this with representative results based on case studies. Such a formulation resolves which combination of ventures is best from a viewpoint of feasibility. Additionally, venture appraisal is modelled as a system with Markov properties. When analysis parameters such as the interest rate, benefits and costs are defined as states, with the associated transition probabilities from one period of time to another, Markov chains can be used to estimate a venture???s feasibility. This provides further insight into the influence of variability in the analysis parameters, and provides the solution to the problem of the determination of the optimal policy, which maximises the expected net present value or the venture's feasibility over its life span. Markov chains provide further insights into the effect of the inter-temporal correlation coefficients on the variance of the net present value. When each state is taken to represent a different value of inter-temporal correlation coefficient, and consequently a different variance, it is possible to evaluate the venture's expected variance and the variance of the variance of the net present value, according to the transition probabilities associated with each state.

The following report is conducted as a feasibility study, aimed to objectively uncover the advantages and challenges of increasing the amount of small scale solar power in Sri Lanka. The demand for electricity in Sri Lanka has been steadily increasing the last few years and there is an urgent need to find new ways of generating electricity. To not further increase the already high dependency of foreign oil and to decrease the impact on the environment, a transition from traditional combustion of fossil fuel to new renewable energy is required. The report shows that there exists substantial potential for generating solar energy in Sri Lanka. Calculations show that an investment in a photovoltaic system can be economically favourable and that the investment often is paid back within a few years. Current regulations and electricity pricing increases the economic incitement for high electricity consumers to invest in small scale solar power. Furthermore, the report demonstrates that there are likely no technical obstacles of increasing small scale solar power at this period. In contrary, the report shows that small scale solar power in general decreases line losses, voltage drops, and the peak demand of electricity. At present, it is probably not the lack of economic incitement but rather socio-economic factors that limit the development of small scale solar power. Sri Lanka is still a relatively poor country and the long years of civil war have prevented development and wealth. Lack of funds and a high ratio of low-income earners are probably the main reason for the slow development

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-01-24Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:40:28Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 ribeiro_fas_dr_jabo.pdf: 3652769 bytes, checksum: 742e4d337bf26ccccbeec554afcc164d (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) / O presente estudo tem o objetivo de avaliar a viabilidade técnica e econômica do policultivo do peixe ornamental acará-bandeira Pterophyllum scalare e do camarão-marinho Litopenaeus vannamei em viveiros em sistema semi-intensivo de produção. Os dois primeiros capítulos apresentam um panorama do aquarismo e da aquicultura ornamental e da situação da aquicultura no estado do Rio Grande do Norte e o potencial para o policultivo com espécies ornamentais e camarão. Foram realizados dois experimentos no Setor de Aquicultura da UFERSA, o primeiro comparou as duas espécies produzidas em monocultivo e em policultivo e o segundo avaliou o policultivo de ambas, com os peixes sendo produzidos em gaiolas de 1m3 ou soltos em viveiros de 15m2. Os resultados do primeiro estudo indicam que a presença de camarões no viveiro prejudicou o desempenho dos peixes, mas o desempenho do camarão não foi afetado pela presença do peixe, indicando que o policultivo pode ser realizado pelo carcinicultor sem prejuízos. Os resultados do segundo experimento permitem concluir que a melhor estratégia de produção para o policultivo é produzir os peixes em gaiolas e os camarões soltos, pois as duas espécies apresentam melhor desempenho nesta situação / This study aims at evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of polyculturing the ornamental fish Freshwater Angelfish Pterophyllum scalare and Pacific White shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei in a semi-intensive system in earthen ponds. Chapter I and II presents a general overview of aquarium keeping and ornamental aquaculture and the state of aquaculture at Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil, justifying the potential of the proposed system. Two experiments were performed in the Laboratory of Aquaculture of the Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido - UFERSA. The first trial (Chapter III) compared both species produced in mono and polyculture and the second (Chapter IV) compared the polyculture with fish produced caged and uncaged. Both experiments were performed in 15 m2 ponds. First trial results show that Angelfish was negatively affected by the presence of L. vannamei, but the inverse was not true, so the polyculture can be adopted by the shrimp producer without prejudice. The second trial shows the best strategy is to produce both species polycultured with caged fish, as both species are benefited with that

Orientador: João Batista Kochenborger Fernandes / Banca: Teresa Cristina Ribeiro Dias Koberstein / Banca: Fernando André Salles / Banca: Fabiana Pilarski / Banca: Elisabeth Criscuolo Urbinati / Resumo: O presente estudo tem o objetivo de avaliar a viabilidade técnica e econômica do policultivo do peixe ornamental acará-bandeira Pterophyllum scalare e do camarão-marinho Litopenaeus vannamei em viveiros em sistema semi-intensivo de produção. Os dois primeiros capítulos apresentam um panorama do aquarismo e da aquicultura ornamental e da situação da aquicultura no estado do Rio Grande do Norte e o potencial para o policultivo com espécies ornamentais e camarão. Foram realizados dois experimentos no Setor de Aquicultura da UFERSA, o primeiro comparou as duas espécies produzidas em monocultivo e em policultivo e o segundo avaliou o policultivo de ambas, com os peixes sendo produzidos em gaiolas de 1m3 ou soltos em viveiros de 15m2. Os resultados do primeiro estudo indicam que a presença de camarões no viveiro prejudicou o desempenho dos peixes, mas o desempenho do camarão não foi afetado pela presença do peixe, indicando que o policultivo pode ser realizado pelo carcinicultor sem prejuízos. Os resultados do segundo experimento permitem concluir que a melhor estratégia de produção para o policultivo é produzir os peixes em gaiolas e os camarões soltos, pois as duas espécies apresentam melhor desempenho nesta situação / Abstract: This study aims at evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of polyculturing the ornamental fish Freshwater Angelfish Pterophyllum scalare and Pacific White shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei in a semi-intensive system in earthen ponds. Chapter I and II presents a general overview of aquarium keeping and ornamental aquaculture and the state of aquaculture at Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil, justifying the potential of the proposed system. Two experiments were performed in the Laboratory of Aquaculture of the Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido - UFERSA. The first trial (Chapter III) compared both species produced in mono and polyculture and the second (Chapter IV) compared the polyculture with fish produced caged and uncaged. Both experiments were performed in 15 m2 ponds. First trial results show that Angelfish was negatively affected by the presence of L. vannamei, but the inverse was not true, so the polyculture can be adopted by the shrimp producer without prejudice. The second trial shows the best strategy is to produce both species polycultured with caged fish, as both species are benefited with that / Doutor

The main objective of this study is to develop a methodology which can be used to assess the economic potential for combined heat and power (CHP) systems to be employed in an effort to offset a portion or all of the conventionally supplied power and thermal energy at industrial manufacturing facilities. A methodology is developed which determines the economic considerations of proposed industrial CHP projects once the system configuration is specified. This methodology is then applied to a number of different industrial facilities in a parametric analysis in order to demonstrate how it can be used to assess the potential for success for CHP at industrial sites for a wide range of manufacturing processes. Many of the methodology inputs, such as facility operational hours, facility thermal load, etc. are then varied in order to determine how they affect the economic considerations of the corresponding project. Conclusions are subsequently made as to how each of these parameters can be indicative of project success before employing the methodology. This study focuses on industrial sites in the Southeast U.S., which historically have relatively low utility usage rates. The Southeast U.S. also lacks adequate policy applicable to CHP systems, such as net metering and interconnection standards rules, when compared to the rest of the country. It is for this reason that the methodology developed in this research assumes that a base load CHP system is the most economically viable CHP option and the current status of policy applicable to CHP at industrial facilities located in the Southeast U.S. is also investigated. The results of the parametric analysis are modified to determine if improved economics can be attained if the associated facilities engage in net metering programs. As a result, suggested net metering rates that can positively affect the economic considerations of industrial CHP projects in the Southeast U.S. are realized. Finally, a simple tool based on the methodology presented in this research was developed and can be used to calculate the project economics of an industrial facility CHP system.