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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
1

Restructured district heating price models and their impact on district heating users

Song, Jingjing January 2017 (has links)
District heating (DH) is considered to be an efficient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective method for providing heat to buildings, since electricity is usually co-generated in biomass fuelled combined heat and power (CHP) plants. This gives it an important role in the mitigation of climate change. Swedish district heating companies are currently facing multiple challenges, and are in urgent need of new price models to increase transparency and maintain their competitiveness. This thesis describes a survey carried out to understand the structure of the present price models and subsequently proposes and compares two restructured price models with the most commonly used price model. This work also investigates the impact of restructured price models on users who would encounter a significant cost increase if the restructured price models were to be introduced. The district heating costs of different price models are compared with three alternative technical solutions. The results show that price models based on the consumption pattern of users can reflect district heating companies’ cost structure. Meanwhile, adopting a pricing strategy based on users’ consumption patterns increased the incentives to reduce the peak load. Consequently, users with high load factor (flat consecutive load curve) were able to reduce costs whereas users with low load factor (steep consecutive load curve) faced possible cost increases, when the load demand cost was changed to daily or hourly peak demand based methods. Further, the most economically preferable option for the invested district heating user was to combine district heating with direct electrical heating or with a ground source heat pump. / Fjärrvärme anses som ett effektivt, miljövänligt och kostnadseffektivt sätt för att leverera värme eftersom kraftvärme blir vanligare i fjärrvärmesystem, där elektricitet produceras tillsammans med värme. Den spelar en viktig roll i att begränsa klimatförändringen. Svenska fjärrvärme företag står inför flera utmaningar nu för tiden, och är i akut behov av nya prismodeller för att öka öppenheten och behålla konkurrenskraften. I denna avhandling, genomfördes en undersökning för att ta reda på strukturen av de nuvarande prismodellerna. Därefter föreslogs två omstrukturerade prismodeller, vars påverkan på kostnaden av fjärrvärme konsument analyserades jämför med den nuvarande modellen. Detta arbete undersökte också effekten av omstrukturerade prismodeller på konsument som skulle drabbas på signifikant kostnadsökning i samband med införande prismodeller. Kostnaden av fjärrvärme under olika prismodeller har också jämförts med tre olika tekniska lösningar. Resultatet visade att prismodeller som baserar sig på konsuments förbrukningsprofil kunde återspegla fjärrvärme företagens kostnadsstruktur; Samtidigt medförde prissättningsstrategi baserad på användarens förbrukningsprofil högre incitament för att minska spetseffekt. Följaktligen kommer att konsumenter med stabila konsumtionsprofiler att spara kostnader, medan konsumenter med spetsiga konsumtionsprofiler kommer att drabbas av kostnadsökning. Och för den investerade fjärrvärme konsument, den ekonomiska bättre val var att kombinera fjärrvärme med elpanna eller bergvärmepump.
2

The Impact of Bus Rapid Transit Implementation on Residential Property Values: A Case Study in Reno, NV

Ulloa, Steven Thomas 27 March 2015 (has links)
Since literature that evaluates the impacts that Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has on surrounding property values is limited, this research contributes to this research by investigating if proximity to a BRT station has an effect, either positive or negative, on residential housing values. Further, it investigates if the nature and extent of this effect varied during different stages of implementation of the BRT system and different housing market conditions. Fluctuations in sale prices were mitigated based on a six month moving median. Four hedonic price models were then used to evaluate the influence of independent variables on the dependent variable, adjusted sales price. Results indicated that properties that were in an area between 0.4 and 0.8 mile (network distance) away from a BRT station, possessed about a $5,000 premium in sales price during the bust and initial recovery of the real estate market that occurred between 2009 and 2013. Additional results also indicated that in areas where the percentage of households without access to a vehicle increased, sales prices on residential properties also increased. This study did not employ the use of spatial models and concludes that such models should be used in future research to account for spatial autocorrelation. Further, this research suggests that additional geographic variables should be used to evaluate how residents value accessibility to other transportation systems when compared to BRT.
3

Decision impact of stochastic price models in the petroleum industry

Hammond, Robert Kincaid 05 October 2011 (has links)
Stochastic price models have proven material to decision making in the oil industry when accurate valuations are important, but little consideration is given to their impact on decisions based on relative project rankings. Traditional industry economic analysis methods do not usually consider uncertainty in oil price, although the real options literature has shown that this practice underestimates the value of projects that have flexibility. Monetary budget constraints are not always the limiting constraints in decision making; there may be other constraints that limit the number of projects a company can undertake. We consider building a portfolio of upstream petroleum development projects to determine the relevance of stochastic price models to a decision for which accurate valuations may not be important. The results provide guidelines to determine when a stochastic price model should be used in economic analysis of petroleum projects. / text
4

Quality, pricing and the performance of the wheat industry in South Africa / Johannes Daniël van der Merwe

Van der Merwe, Johannes Daniël January 2015 (has links)
Statistics paint a picture of a wheat industry under severe pressure, with the number of hectares dedicated to wheat production that have decreased while imports notably increased since 1997. This has had a negative impact on the industry‘s global competitiveness. The direct and indirect linkages between wheat and wheat products, together with the benefits that the industry can bring to the economy in the form of heightened food security and employment opportunities, highlight the need for a competitive wheat industry in South Africa. Clearly, the underlying causes of the declining wheat production in South Africa need to be investigated and understood. The presence of strict wheat quality standards and the fact that one of the general characteristics of wheat is the defect of conversion (that is, yield declines as quality improves) help to explain why wheat production in South Africa has declined in recent years. This can also negatively affect prices received for produce because South African wheat prices are determined by the lowest import parity price and not by the specific quality of the wheat. The fact that market concentration has been observed in certain parts of the wheat industry in South Africa has raised concerns that this phenomenon could potentially have had a negative impact on the performance of the country‘s wheat production sector. Consequently, this study revolves around the following main questions: ―could the evident market concentration in the South African wheat industry influence the performance of the wheat production sector by prescribing certain quality standards which attract relatively low prices?‖, and if so, ―can the wheat quality standards and prices be held responsible for the decline in the industry‘s performance, and to what extent?‖ Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used in pursuit to answer these questions. The qualitative approach was used to describe the theoretical basis of performance, competitiveness and concentration. Three different quantitative approaches were employed to determine the current state of competitiveness (Relative Trade Advantage (RTA) method), the factors influencing it (hedonic price model) and the extent of such influence (dynamic linear model). From the RTA, it was clear that South Africa is the only country, compared to its trading partners, that has an uncompetitive unprocessed (production) wheat sector alongside a competitive semi-processed (flour) wheat sector. The hedonic price model supported the finding that the institutional environment of the wheat industry uses quality-related mechanisms such as the cultivar release criteria to influence the competitiveness of the wheat production sector. Four comparisons were developed to determine whether the strict qualities required for the release of new cultivars are justified. It was found that with all four of these comparisons, the strict prescribed wheat quality was not justified in terms of the quality and demand considerations. It was found that when prescribed wheat quality could be relaxed to accommodate market supply and demand, an estimated 12.8 percent increase in yields could have been realised equating to a loss of approximately R606 million in Net Farm Income (NFI) per annum. When increasing this percentage to 20 percent, it was seen that the effect on NFI per annum would be R920 million. This study therefore provides evidence as to why the performance of the wheat industry has been declining over the last two decades and also contributes to the development of a framework for policy and decision makers which will encourage more competition and a freer market in terms of quality standards. Further contributions of this study lies in the body of literature on competitive behaviour by showing how concentrated industries can use statutory bodies to manipulate markets for rent-seeking purposes. It further shows how these decisions impact on important aspects like the profits of role players in an industry. / PhD (Agriculture, Economics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015
5

Quality, pricing and the performance of the wheat industry in South Africa / Johannes Daniël van der Merwe

Van der Merwe, Johannes Daniël January 2015 (has links)
Statistics paint a picture of a wheat industry under severe pressure, with the number of hectares dedicated to wheat production that have decreased while imports notably increased since 1997. This has had a negative impact on the industry‘s global competitiveness. The direct and indirect linkages between wheat and wheat products, together with the benefits that the industry can bring to the economy in the form of heightened food security and employment opportunities, highlight the need for a competitive wheat industry in South Africa. Clearly, the underlying causes of the declining wheat production in South Africa need to be investigated and understood. The presence of strict wheat quality standards and the fact that one of the general characteristics of wheat is the defect of conversion (that is, yield declines as quality improves) help to explain why wheat production in South Africa has declined in recent years. This can also negatively affect prices received for produce because South African wheat prices are determined by the lowest import parity price and not by the specific quality of the wheat. The fact that market concentration has been observed in certain parts of the wheat industry in South Africa has raised concerns that this phenomenon could potentially have had a negative impact on the performance of the country‘s wheat production sector. Consequently, this study revolves around the following main questions: ―could the evident market concentration in the South African wheat industry influence the performance of the wheat production sector by prescribing certain quality standards which attract relatively low prices?‖, and if so, ―can the wheat quality standards and prices be held responsible for the decline in the industry‘s performance, and to what extent?‖ Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used in pursuit to answer these questions. The qualitative approach was used to describe the theoretical basis of performance, competitiveness and concentration. Three different quantitative approaches were employed to determine the current state of competitiveness (Relative Trade Advantage (RTA) method), the factors influencing it (hedonic price model) and the extent of such influence (dynamic linear model). From the RTA, it was clear that South Africa is the only country, compared to its trading partners, that has an uncompetitive unprocessed (production) wheat sector alongside a competitive semi-processed (flour) wheat sector. The hedonic price model supported the finding that the institutional environment of the wheat industry uses quality-related mechanisms such as the cultivar release criteria to influence the competitiveness of the wheat production sector. Four comparisons were developed to determine whether the strict qualities required for the release of new cultivars are justified. It was found that with all four of these comparisons, the strict prescribed wheat quality was not justified in terms of the quality and demand considerations. It was found that when prescribed wheat quality could be relaxed to accommodate market supply and demand, an estimated 12.8 percent increase in yields could have been realised equating to a loss of approximately R606 million in Net Farm Income (NFI) per annum. When increasing this percentage to 20 percent, it was seen that the effect on NFI per annum would be R920 million. This study therefore provides evidence as to why the performance of the wheat industry has been declining over the last two decades and also contributes to the development of a framework for policy and decision makers which will encourage more competition and a freer market in terms of quality standards. Further contributions of this study lies in the body of literature on competitive behaviour by showing how concentrated industries can use statutory bodies to manipulate markets for rent-seeking purposes. It further shows how these decisions impact on important aspects like the profits of role players in an industry. / PhD (Agriculture, Economics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015
6

Amenity Value and Home Prices: An Examination of the Effects of the Ridge, Slope, and Hillside Protection Taskforce in Knox County, Tennessee

Chadourne, Matthew Honeywell 01 August 2011 (has links)
This thesis concerns two topics related to policy effects of hillside and ridgeline development in Knox County, TN and attempts to quantify the values of different aspects of forest land in the area, particularly how the amenity values of forest land affect the prices of surrounding houses. The first essay conducts a cost-benefit analysis to determine the willingness of individual landowners for reforestation given explicitly stated costs and benefits of reforestation. A sequence of hedonic models was used to estimate differences in non-use values attributable to deforested and to forested areas, allowing the establishment of an overall price-distance relationship between the amenity values attributable to both areas and their proximities to housing locations. The results showed that the benefits from reforestation were greater than the opportunity costs of barren/grassland replaced and the houses with the greatest gains from reforestation were within one mile of the target site. Amenity value benefits for reforestation vary between sites but the sites with the greatest gains were those with the largest area, the lowest land cost, and the most houses within one mile. The second essay examined the effects of forest views on house prices and also the effect that the economy had on consumers’ value of those views. This study applied a sales hedonic model to two time periods with markedly different economic climates, the housing boom of 2002-2006 and the recession of 2008. Amenity value gains from forest views were then mapped out for the county for both periods to find those areas that had the highest gains in both periods. The results showed that while the views of forest land increase house values in both periods, the average marginal implicit price gain decreased over 13 percent from the boom period to the recession. Maps of the value gains highlighted the south-western, eastern and northern parts of the county, which contain high income suburban communities, with consistent value gains in excess of $70 per acre.
7

NATIONAL SCALE IMPACT OF THE STOCKHOLM ROYAL SEAPORT PROJECT : Demand Response and Load-shift for Swedish Apartment Customers

Gebro, Per January 2013 (has links)
The Swedish electrical power system faces many challenges. Stricter environmental and economic demands require a more efficient use of both the transmission and distribution grids as well as the production capabilities. Since the Swedish national demand of electricity is fluctuating, the system has always been dimensioned to meet the periods of high demand, resulting in a low utilization of the system. To meet these challenges, the concept of a “Smart Grid” has been phrased. One of the most important goals of a Smart Grid is to enable end-consumers to participate more actively in the energy market. One way to do this is through “load-shifting” where consumption (or loads) are moved from hours of high demand (peak hours) to hours of low demand (off-peak hours). Load-shifting is a part of a set of intentional consumption modifications denoted “Demand Response” (DR) and is deemed to be one of the most important tools of the Smart Grid. In Sweden, a Smart Grid project called the Stockholm Royal Seaport (SRS) project is currently taking place. The project have phrased a hypotheses regarding load-shifting called the “Active customer” scenario, in which a customer load-shifts 5-15 % of his electricity consumption. To facilitate this scenario, the SRS project uses an end-consumer price model for electricity, called the SRS price model, as well as technological and market solutions not yet available on a national scale.   This study investigates what impact the results from the SRS pilot project might have if implemented for private apartment end-consumers on a Swedish national scale. The study is divided into three parts. The first part investigates the challenges of a national scale implementation of private apartment end-consumer DR and the SRS price model. The second part investigates what the impact would be if the entire Swedish private apartment end-consumer sector where to act in accordance with the Active customer scenario. The third part consists of a sensitivity analysis. Four challenges for a national private apartment end-consumer load-shift implementation have been elicited. They are; the lack of easily moveable loads in a foreseeable future, the heterogeneous cost of distribution, the suggested price models low peak to off-peak price ratio and the comparatively small cost of electricity of the private apartment end-consumers. The SRS price model is deemed to give a clear economic incentive for load-shift of private apartment end-consumer without electric heating. However, the incentive might be considered too weak with yearly savings of 48-165 SEK for a 15 % load-shift, depending on apartment consumption. This corresponds to yearly savings of 124 to 429 million SEK for the entire customer segment. These challenges are deemed to be of a non-technical character, but rather of a marketing and communication nature. The impact of a fully implemented national private apartment end-consumer load-shift in accordance with the Active customer scenario and the SRS price model is deemed to be beneficial from an overall power system point of view. However, the impact on the private apartment end-consumer national demand is small in comparison with other plausible system developments, such as energy demand reductions due to more efficient lighting solutions. The sensitivity analysis of private apartment end-consumer cost savings when acting in accordance with the Active customer scenario indicates that the percentage savings may increase in the future when considering more volatile prices for electric energy or the implementation of a time differentiated energy tax.
8

Application of real options to valuation and decision making in the petroleum E&P industry

Xu, Liying, 1962- 17 July 2012 (has links)
This study is to establish a binomial lattice method to apply real options theory to valuation and decision making in the petroleum exploration and production industry with a specific focus on the switching time from primary to water flooding oil recovery. First, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) historical oil price evolution in the past 25 years is studied and modeled with the geometric Brownian motion (GBM) and one-factor mean reversion price models to capture the oil price uncertainty. Second, to conduct real options evaluation, specific reservoir simulations are designed and oil production profile for primary and water flooding oil recovery for a synthetic onshore oil reservoir is generated using UTCHEM reservoir simulator. Third, a cash flow model from producing the oil reservoir is created with a concessionary fiscal system. Finally, the binomial lattice real options evaluation method is established to value the project with flexibility in the switching time from primary to water flooding oil recovery under uncertain oil prices. The research reaches seven conclusions: 1) for the GBM price model, the assumptions of constant drift rate and constant volatility do not hold for WTI historical oil price; 2) one-factor mean reversion price model is a better model to fit the historical WTI oil prices than the GBM model; 3) the evolution of historical WTI oil prices from January 2, 1986 to May 28, 2010 was according to three price regimes with different long run prices; 4) the established real options evaluation method can be used to identify the best time to switch from primary to water flooding oil recovery using stochastic oil prices; 5) with the mean reversion oil price model and the most updated cost data, the real options evaluation method finds that the water flooding switching time is earlier than the traditional net present value (NPV) optimizing method; 6) the real options evaluation results reveals that most of time water flooding should start when oil price is high, and should not start when oil price is low; and 7) water flooding switching time is sensitive to oil price model to be used and to the investment and operating costs. / text
9

Kategorisering av byggnader i Gävles fjärrvärmenät utifrån dess effektsignaturer : En fallstudie

Tillman, Joacim January 2018 (has links)
Gävle Energi har nyligen implementerat en ny prismodell till fjärrvärmen med en säsongsprismodell som kom 2018 och en kapacitetsprismodell som kommer 2019. Den nya prismodellen ska återspegla kostnaden för att producera fjärrvärmen samt belöna kunder som utför effektiviseringsåtgärder. Kapacitetsprismodellen, som denna studie fokuserar på, kommer att baseras på anläggningens energibehov vid -10 grader. Då kapacitetspriset är samma för samtliga kunder så kommer priset kunden betalar att återspegla hur stort energibehov byggnaden har vid -10 grader. I denna studie har det undersökts om en uppskattning kan utföras för att ta reda på hur stort energibehov en nyansluten kunds byggnad behöver vid -10 grader utifrån tidigare anslutna kunder. Signaturer för 115 tidigare anslutna kunder med byggnader byggda från 2000 – 2018 användes vid denna studie. Byggnaderna kategoriserades för att kunna jämföra energibehovet för varje kund med en liknande byggnad. Utifrån detta skapades uppvärmningssignaturer för varje enskild byggnad, vilka sammanställdes i diagram uppdelade på varje byggnadskategori. Med detta var tanken att en standardsignatur kunde skapas för varje kategori för att sedan kunna använda denna signatur vid kapacitetsberäkning av en ny kunds byggnad. Då resultatet inte blev som tänkt kunde dessa standardsignaturer dock inte skapas, utan en djupare analys för varje byggnad ser ut att behöva utföras. Hade en standardsignatur skapats utifrån befintliga resultat hade ett felaktigt energibehov tilldelats kunder med hög respektive låg energianvändning. Två olika metoder användes för att beräkna energibehovet bakom uppvärmningssignaturerna, dels med boarean för byggnaderna, dels med omslutande arean då tanken var att den omslutande arean skulle ge ett bättre resultat. Användningen av den omslutande arean vid framtagandet av signaturerna visade sig dock inte vara av bättre användning då resultaten varierade för mycket. / Gävle Energi have recently implemented a new price model for district heating with a seasonal depended price model that came in 2018 and a capacity pricing model that will be implemented 2019. The new price model is supposed to reflect the cost to produce the district heating and to reward customers who preform efficiency measures to their buildings. The capacity pricing model, on which this study is focused on, will be based on the buildings energy demand at -10 degrees. Since the capacity price is the same for all customers, the price the customer pays instead will reflect the amount of energy demand the building needs at -10 degrees. In this study it will be investigated whether an estimate can be made to find out how big of an energy demand a newly connected customer’s building needs at -10 degrees from previously connected customers. Signatures from 115 previously connected customers with buildings build from 2000 – 2018 were used in this study. The building was then categorized to compare the energy demand for each customer with a similar building. Based on this, signatures were created for each individual building and then put together in a common chart for each category. With this, the idea was that a standard signature could be created for each category to the use this signature when calculating the capacity for a customer’s building. As the result was not as intended, these standard signatures could not be created without preforming a deeper analysis of each building. If a standard signature had been created with these results, an unfair capacity had been awarded to customers with a high and low energy consumption. Different analyzes were used to calculate the different energy demands for the creation of the signatures, partly with the housing area of the buildings and the surrounding area with the thoughts that the surrounding area would provide the study with a better result. However, the use of the surrounding area in the development of the signatures did not provide to be of better use as the results varied too much.
10

Evaluating the Economic Impact of Recreational Charter Fishing in Florida Using Hedonic Price and Economic Impact Analysis

Asadi, Mehrnoosh 06 July 2016 (has links)
Florida is the “Fishing Capital of the World”. With 3.1 million recreational anglers and total recreational fishing-related expenditures of $5 billion in 2011, Florida ranked first in the nation. Given the large benefits of recreational fishing in Florida, assessing the preferences of anglers is critical for sustaining the substantial benefits obtained from recreational fishing in Florida. The objective of this study is to estimate the value of fishing attributes using data on recreational fishing services offered by guides and outfitters. Hedonic price models are applied to estimate the implicit prices of fishing trip attributes and features. The estimated total economic impacts suggest that recreational fishing activities have added $151.19 million value to the economy of Florida and generated $69.73 million in total output. The results can be used by state and national policymakers for future policy design and management of this unique ecosystem service to ensure a sustainable economy.

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