Browsing by Subject "Klimaschutz"

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Agriculture as emission source and carbon sink : economic-ecological modelling for the EU-15
(2010) Blank, Daniel; Zeddies, Jürgen
The thesis develops and applies analytical tools to describe economic and ecological impacts of greenhouse gas mitigation strategies in European agriculture. Agriculture is widely perceived as emission source, but actually it can also act as emission sink by sequestration of atmospheric carbon to agricultural soils. Thereby, soil carbon pools potentially store twice as much carbon as contained in the atmosphere. In view of this circumstance, the study analysed agricultural emission sources and mitigation scenarios in the area of conservation tillage and bio-energy production. The analysis was within a mixed-integer programming model optimizing total gross margins of typical farms of NUTS-II-regions in the EU-15. For this micro-economic analysis high quality region specific cost estimates for main agricultural products were indispensible. Thereby a new approach was developed that draws European accountancy data and German engineering cost data. The first dataset comprises of up-to-date crop-unspecific cost data as indicated by European bookkeeping farms. The second comprises of crop specific cost data from German farms. Through a combination of both datasets crop specific estimates of production costs on regional level for the EU-15 evolved. Another study that starts from accountancy data to deduct product cost estimates is currently funded by the European Commission (Farm Accountancy Cost Estimation and Policy Analysis of European Agriculture). By monetarizing greenhouse gas emissions, the Kyoto-Protocol has increased the demand for economic-ecological models to analyse emission scenarios. The study model, EU-EFEM, integrates biophysical data to site-specifically simulate soil carbon dynamics in terms of the mitigation scenario ?conservational tillage?. This approach provides a level of detail that is significantly superior to the one achieved by soil emission factors specified only to global climate zones, a few soil types, and soil management alternatives like provided by the global standard work for the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions, the guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The biophysical data was integrated from the EPIC-model to which an interface was established. In the analysis of the agricultural sink function increased input of organic matter, crop rotational modifications, and conservational tillage were assessed. A first scenario that could be monitored relatively easily forces minimum shares of conservational tillage per farm. It was shown that all farms in the EU-15 could comply even with a forced share of 100%. But on average, shares exceeding 80% entail economic losses, basically because of the incompatibility of certain current crop rotations with conservational tillage. Against the average loss of 20 ?/ha in case of 100% of forced conservational tillage, stand single farms facing a loss of 350 ?/ha. Simultaneously soil carbon accumulation remained at marginal levels. In another scenario that directly forces soil carbon accumulation while leaving the choice of the appropriate means to farmers, an accumulation of 181 million tCO2e was achieved. This value corresponds to a forced accumulation of 1.0 t C/ha, a rate out of reach for 25 out of all analysed NUTS-II-regions. Mitigation costs are at 70 ?/tCO2e in this case, but at 10 ?/tCO2e only if only those regions are considered in which the minimum accumulation rates can be achieved. The latter is a competitive value compared to current values of EU traded emission rights. Policy, however, should withdraw from a regulation forcing minimum SOC-accumulation. Main reasons are the difficult monitoring, which would be required on site level, and the absence of a success guarantee on side of farmers for taken measures. Designing effective political instruments, the humus balance as stipulated in the Cross-Compliance regulation of the reformed AGENDA 2000 represents a prefect starting point. The study also analyzed agricultural biogas production with electricity recovery in a combined heat and power (CHP) unit and different (waste) heat utilization rates. European agriculture could increase annual profits by 1.6 to 9.2 billion ? depending mainly on waste heat utilization rate. In the best case, the contribution to climate change mitigation is 263 Mill tCO2e while realising a mitigation gain of 5 ?/tCO2e when excluding subsidies comprised in the feed-in tariff. Being an issue in any discussion about agricultural bio-energy production, the study also analyses the competition for agricultural land with food and feed production. Tapping the full agricultural biogas production potential, 28.7% of grassland and 18.5% of arable land would be bound, although the study constrains biogas production to co-fermentation with manure. The impacts of this competition on agricultural prices could not be analysed in this study, since the applied model is a farm model and not a market equilibrium model. By means of literature research, however, it was concluded that subsidies of biogas production should focus on promoting the fermentation of manure and the utilization of waste heat in order to limit area competition and not to promote the utilization of cultivated biomass.
Nonuse values of climate policy : an empirial study in Xinjiang and Beijing
(2013) Pelz, Sonna; Jing, Luo; Jiang Tong; Frör, Oliver; Ahlheim, Michael
Climate policy measures can be roughly subdivided into mitigation measures and adaptation measures. Mitigation policy aims at a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions with the overall goal of slowing down climate change and global warming. Since greenhouse gases like CO2, Methane etc. are global pollutants which have the same effect on world climate irrespective of where they are emitted mitigation policy creates benefits for people all over the world. Adaptation policy on the other hand does not seek to influence the world climate but, instead, is meant to reduce the negative consequences of climate change for a specific region. The benefits created by adaptation policy are, therefore, only of local importance while mitigation policy yields global benefits. This difference has, of course, consequences for the welfare economic appraisal of mitigation policy measures as compared to adaptation policy measures. Since the wellbeing of many more people worldwide is affected by mitigation measures than by adaptation measures the former will always appear more attractive in a cost-benefit analysis than the latter, at least from a global perspective. In this paper we want to show that adaption policy measures are often undervalued in cost-benefit analyses because only their so-called use values are considered, while the nonuse values they create are neglected. The use value of a commodity accrues from a direct utilization of that commodity. In an environmental context the use value of e.g. a beautiful landscape is felt by those people who visit this landscape. Beyond this use value the landscape might also have a value for people who never visit it but still enjoy the knowledge that in their country such a beautiful landscape exists and that endangered animals and plants are preserved there. This value that originates from the mere existence of a (market or environmental) good is often called its nonuse value because it is independent of a direct (and empirically observable) utilization of this good. If it can be shown that some adaptation policy measures in the context of climate policy create also nonuse values in addition to the use values this might lead to a new assessment of such measures and it might increase their chances of being approved in the political decision process. It is obvious that the systematic undervaluation of adaptation policy measures resulting from the neglect of the nonuse values they create might have the consequence that they are declined because they do not pass the cost-benefit test, though they create high nonuse values which are not considered in this test. Of course, the existence of nonuse values depends on the cultural background of the people affected by these measures and of the society they live in. Especially in an emerging country like China many people might still underestimate the importance of climate adaptation measures in comparison with economic policy measures triggering the economic growth of the country, especially if the adaptation measures are conducted in faraway regions of the country. In this study we test empirically the hypothesis that also in a growth-oriented economy like China non-materialistic values like the nonuse values of climate policy are perceived and respected by the population. This should especially hold for the better educated people living in big cities like Beijing. Therefore, we conduct a survey in Beijing where we ask people to assess a climate change adaptation project to be implemented in a faraway region, in this case in the Tarim basin in Xinjiang. In this survey we find that also Beijing citizens feel responsible for the environmental conditions in Xinjiang, especially under the impression of climate change. We find that they are even willing to contribute personally to financing a public project for the improvement of the living conditions in this remote (as viewed from Beijing) region. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: the next chapter focuses on the importance of nonuse values in environmental cost-benefit analyses; information concerning the impact of climate change on the Tarim area is provided in chapter three; the survey method and sampling procedure are introduced in chapter four; in chapter five results of the survey in Beijing are presented and analyzed, followed by some concluding remarks.
The potential of certification for climate change mitigation in the agri-food sector : a case study of carbon neutral certified coffee from Costa Rica
(2017) Birkenberg, Athena; Birner, Regina
Advancing economic, social and environmental sustainability in the agri-food sector is increasingly pursued by various actors along global value chains. One option to address sustainability concerns is to use voluntary sustainability standards and certifications/labels as market-based governance tools for self-regulation. Recently, the demand for particular climate standards and labels has increased, however little is known about their potential and challenges. Individual aspects of such voluntary sustainability certifications have been investigated, such as the effectiveness and impact of certifications or the purchasing decisions of consumers. However, a holistic and interdisciplinary approach by considering the complete value chain is rare and, thus challenges are overlooked and proposed solutions remain limited in scope. Moreover, LCA-based certifications addressing climate change mitigation present a new field of research. Against this background, this thesis aims to elicit the challenges and potential of sustainability certification in the agri-food sector. Taking the case of the world’s first carbon neutral certified coffee, the complete chain – from standard development to consumer choices – has been examined. This coffee is produced by Coopedota, a Costa Rican cooperative of small-scale farmers, and exported to a family-run specialty coffee roaster, Hochland Kaffee Hunzelmann GmbH, in Germany. In the case under consideration, a newly released and highly prescriptive standard for carbon neutrality, the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2060, has been adopted since 2011. PAS 2060 is the first independent international standard for carbon neutrality that provides a common definition and a recognized method that is based on a life cycle assessment (LCA). To achieve carbon neutrality, the respective greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are compiled, before continuous reduction activities are executed and the residual GHG emissions are offset by purchasing carbon credits. Costa Rica is relevant because it is actively pursuing carbon neutrality at the national level and the case of Coopedota serves as a pioneer in this field. In this thesis, an interdisciplinary case study approach is used to investigate in a holistic manner the challenges of carbon neutral certification in the agri-food sector. The study is guided by a conceptual framework developed from relevant literature on voluntary sustainability standards. The three specific objectives of the thesis are: (1) identify the success factors that made the carbon neutral certification in Coopedota possible and understanding the major challenges related to the standards implementation; (2) estimate the potential of on-farm carbon sequestration to compensate for the coffee carbon footprint and reduce carbon offsetting; and (3) estimate the willingness to pay for a carbon neutral label among German consumers of specialty coffee. This thesis contains three main chapters in addition to a general introduction and discussion. The first chapter addresses existing knowledge gaps regarding the role of social network dynamics, actor characteristics and linkages for successful pioneering in sustainable development, and investigates the challenges of implementing PAS 2060 by Coopedota. Qualitative research methods, such as in-depth interviews, participatory social network and process mapping as well as field observations were applied. The study found the prior achievements of the cooperative (e.g. compliance to ISO norms) and a ‘fertile ground’ in terms of ongoing climate change mitigation policies, as important factors for the successful implementation of the standard. Further success factors were a strong central and visionary actor and a diverse network of supporting actors from science, business and politics. The main challenges in implementing the carbon neutral certification were the acquirement of reliable farm data and the advertisement and communication of a carbon neutral label. The second chapter focuses on the problem that biogenic carbon sequestration is rarely considered in LCA-based standards. To estimate the annual potential of biogenic carbon accounting in coffee-agroforestry systems (CAFS) a literature review was conducted and the carbon sequestration based on a carbon inventory at the coffee farms was modeled. The results of a 20-year simulation show that on average, CAFS at Coopedota can compensate the carbon footprint of coffee by approximately 160% annually. Simultaneously, a trade-off between carbon sequestration and productivity at reduced inputs appears, which should be minimized. In the third chapter a marginal willingness to pay (WTP) of € 1.70 for a carbon neutral label was identified on a 250g package of specialty coffee by a discrete choice experiment among German consumers. Yet this marginal WTP was lower than the marginal WTP among the same consumers for direct trade claims or a Fair Trade certificate. Direct trade claims refer to the situation where direct trade relations exist; however, they are not certified and only declared by the retailer, as in the case of the family-run coffee roaster Hochland Kaffee Hunzelmann GmbH. Moreover, a positive synergistic effect was discovered for the combination of the carbon neutral label with direct trade claims. However, a public awareness on the contribution of agriculture to climate change is missing, as is the familiarity of the public with carbon concepts. Concluding, LCA-based certification for carbon neutrality can be a promising market-based tool for the agri-food sector to mitigate climate change. Such certification holds promise because it addresses recent demands for climate relevant information on agri-food products, while benefitting producers, the environment and consumers alike. Examples of these benefits include a potential increase in resource use efficiency, identification and minimization of GHG emission hot spots and trustworthiness among consumers due to the prescriptive nature of the standards. Additionally, the interdisciplinary case study approach enabled the identification of multi-faceted challenges and recommendations. One recommendation is that an agricultural perspective needs to be integrated into the standard by, for example, enabling the accounting of biogenic carbon sequestration. Such carbon accounting would prevent criticism of carbon offsetting and foster synergies between climate change mitigation, sustainability, and resilience. Particularly in the case of higher carbon prices, carbon accounting would be economically interesting but further research is needed to provide a robust dataset to enable it. Independent from a potential premium price for the label, access to capital and governmental support programs, especially for smallholders in less developed countries, can foster the implementation of greener technologies and allow stakeholders to benefit from increased efficiencies. The findings of this thesis indicate that coupling a carbon standard with existing sustainability standards, which use similar datasets, could ease the acquirement of reliable farm data on GHG emissions and reduce costs. Moreover, a coupling of standards could ensure additional sustainability practices, beyond the climate aspect, as already associated by consumers. This study also indicates that to establish markets for carbon neutral products, consumers first have to be aware of the extent of the agri-food sector’s contribution to climate change and consumer responsibility in tackling this problem through their purchasing behavior. This thesis further illustrates the importance of innovators in advancing development goals. Taking action on climate change mitigation and shaping a more sustainable agri-food sector requires strong initiatives and visionaries on the ground, as exemplified by the pioneering case of Coopedota.