Assessing the Economic Viability of the Mechanized Removal of Understory Beech during a Shelterwood Harvest

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josh Weyrens ◽  
Rene Germain
Keyword(s):  
Return On Investment ◽  
Pulp Mill ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Beech Bark Disease ◽  
Daily Production ◽  
High Resolution Data ◽  
Timber Sale ◽  
The Cost

Abstract Beech bark disease is a pathogenic complex that has been spreading throughout the American beech’s range since the 1800s. A litany of negative consequences have manifested from the infestation of this disease, many of which deteriorate the ecological functions of forestland. This case study sought to analyze the cost structure for removing a recalcitrant beech understory via mechanized shelterwood harvesting. High-resolution data regarding the day-to-day operation of harvesting equipment was collected using daily production journals. Interviews were conducted with the logging company owner and maintenance supervisor to gather additional information required to calculate machine costs, overhead, job specific costs, and trucking costs. The yield from this harvest was 527 metric tonnes of sawtimber and 4,893 tonnes of clean chips. The total harvesting cost equated to $4,651/ha, with the cost attributed to removing beech at $204/ha. Despite the additional cost of beech removal, the logger generated a total profit of $5,965 and a return on investment of 7.5%, allowing us to conclude that mechanized harvesting can be a viable beech removal strategy given the forest stocking and market conditions that are in place. Study Implications This study breaks down the various costs associated with cutting, skidding, landing, and transporting wood products from a mechanized harvesting operation designed to remediate the effects of beech bark disease. The beech remediation harvest was economically viable for both the landowner and the logger because the timber sale included some valuable hardwood sawtimber, and the harvest system was capable of generating clean chips for a pulp mill with the low-grade hardwood. Furthermore, the landowner’s willingness to accept lower sawtimber stumpage revenues allowed the logger to make a profit and return-on-investment on the job. Had the timber sale been limited to only hardwood pulpwood or fuel chips, the operation would not have been economically viable without the landowner paying for the operation, which, based on our analysis, would be approximately $200/ha.

Return on Invesment (ROI) of Software Product: A Systematic Literature Review

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-57
Author(s):  
Rizqa Raaiqa Bintana ◽  
Putri Aisyiyah Rakhma Devi ◽  
Umi Laili Yuhana
Keyword(s):  
Return On Investment ◽  
Assessment Criteria ◽  
Software Product ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Rational Consideration ◽  
Actual Return ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Investment Models ◽  
The Impact

The quality of the software can be measured by its return on investment. Factors which may affect the return on investment (ROI) is the tangible factors (such as the cost) dan intangible factors (such as the impact of software to the users or stakeholder). The factor of the software itself are assessed through reviewing, testing, process audit, and performance of software. This paper discusses the consideration of return on investment (ROI) assessment criteria derived from the software and its users. These criteria indicate that the approach may support a rational consideration of all relevant criteria when evaluating software, and shows examples of actual return on investment models. Conducted an analysis of the assessment criteria that affect the return on investment if these criteria have a disproportionate effort that resulted in a return on investment of a software decreased. Index Terms - Assessment criteria, Quality assurance, Return on Investment, Software product

Effects and Risks of Distance Learning in Higher Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 61-73
Author(s):  
Yu. M. Tsygalov
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
First Results ◽  
Spread Of Infection ◽  
The Cost

The forced work of Russian universities remotely in the context of the pandemic (COVID-19) has generated a lot of discussion about the benefits of the new form of education. The first results were summed up and reports were presented, the materials of which showed that the main goal of online education — the prevention of the spread of infection, - has been achieved. Against this background, proposals and publications have appeared substantiating the effectiveness of the massive introduction of distance learning in Russia, including in higher education. However, the assessment of such training by the population and students in publications and in social networks was predominantly negative and showed that the number of emerging problems exceeds the possible benefits of the new educational technology. Based on the analysis of the materials of publications and personal experience of teaching online, the potential benefits and problems of distance learning in higher education in Russia are considered. It is proposed to consider the effects separately for the suppliers of new technology (government, universities) and consumers (students, teachers, society). It is substantiated that the massive introduction of online education allows not only to reduce the negative consequences of epidemics, but also to reduce budgetary funding for universities, optimize the age composition of teachers, and reduce the cost of maintaining educational buildings. However, there will be a leveling / averaging of the quality of education, and responsibility for the quality of training will shift from the state/universities to students. The critical shortcomings of online education are the low degree of readiness of the digital infrastructure, the lack of a mechanism for identifying and monitoring the work of students, information security problems, and the lack of trust in such training of the population. The massive use of online education creates a number of risks for the country, the most critical of which is the destruction of the higher education system and a drop in the effectiveness of personnel training. The consequences of this risk realization are not compensated by any possible budget savings.

scholarly journals Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance of n-Type Bi2Se3 Nanosheets through Sn Doping

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1827
Author(s):  
Mengyao Li ◽  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Ting Zhang ◽  
Yong Zuo ◽  
Ke Xiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Figure Of Merit ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Hot Press ◽  
Processing Technologies ◽  
Sn Doping ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Alternative Materials ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Low Grade Heat

The cost-effective conversion of low-grade heat into electricity using thermoelectric devices requires developing alternative materials and material processing technologies able to reduce the currently high device manufacturing costs. In this direction, thermoelectric materials that do not rely on rare or toxic elements such as tellurium or lead need to be produced using high-throughput technologies not involving high temperatures and long processes. Bi2Se3 is an obvious possible Te-free alternative to Bi2Te3 for ambient temperature thermoelectric applications, but its performance is still low for practical applications, and additional efforts toward finding proper dopants are required. Here, we report a scalable method to produce Bi2Se3 nanosheets at low synthesis temperatures. We studied the influence of different dopants on the thermoelectric properties of this material. Among the elements tested, we demonstrated that Sn doping resulted in the best performance. Sn incorporation resulted in a significant improvement to the Bi2Se3 Seebeck coefficient and a reduction in the thermal conductivity in the direction of the hot-press axis, resulting in an overall 60% improvement in the thermoelectric figure of merit of Bi2Se3.

Influence of Temperature Fields on the Quality of Dried Wood Products

2021 ◽  
Vol 1038 ◽  
pp. 336-344
Author(s):  
Olena Pinchevska ◽  
Andriy Spirochkin ◽  
Denys Zavialov ◽  
Rostislav Oliynyk
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
Temperature Fields ◽  
Drying Process ◽  
Wood Moisture ◽  
Adequate Model ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
White Spots ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Wood Heating

The reasons of white spots appearance in the middle of oak timber are determined. These white spots reduce the cost of the lamina made of oak timbers - the front covering of floorboards. It is proposed to intensify the drying process by using oscillating drying schedules to avoid this defect. A method for calculating the duration of such drying is proposed. This method includes the peculiarities of heating and cooling periods kinetics of oak timbers with 25 mm and 30 mm thickness. The inexpediency of using the oscillation of the drying agent parameters in the range of wood moisture content below 20% has been established. An adequate model for calculating wood temperature and air humidity during wood heating and cooling periods has been developed using heat and mass transfer criteria and experimentally determined oak wood moisture conductivity coefficient. Based on the results of theoretical and experimental studies oscillating drying schedules of different thickness oak timbers are offered. Tests of the proposed schedules in industrial conditions showed no discoloration of the central layers of European oak (Quercus robur) timbers. The drying process duration was reduced by 1.5–2.4 times and energy consumption were reduced by 1.53 times.

scholarly journals Modelling key market impacts and land allocation for biofuel production and forestry

2006 ◽  
Vol 2006 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
A. Korobeinikov ◽  
P. Read ◽  
A. Parshotam ◽  
J. Lermit
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
Biofuel Production ◽  
Fuel Wood ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Levels ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

It has been suggested that the large scale use of biofuel, that is, fuel derived from biological materials, especially in combination with reforestation of large areas, can lead to a low-cost reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. In this paper, a model of three markets: fuel, wood products, and land are considered with the aim of evaluating the impact of large scale biofuel production and forestry on these markets, and to estimate the cost of a policy aimed at the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is shown that the costs are lower than had been previously expected.

scholarly journals The cost-effectiveness and return-on-investment of a combined social and physical environmental intervention in office employees

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 384-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. van Dongen ◽  
J. K. Coffeng ◽  
M. F. van Wier ◽  
C. R. L. Boot ◽  
I. J. M. Hendriksen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Return On Investment ◽  
Environmental Intervention ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Office Employees

Conceptual Model of the Subject of Circular Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 17-27
Author(s):  
Roman Ivanov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Economic Behavior ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Wave Nature ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Methodological Principles ◽  
The Cost

The article deals with certain issues of the introduction and functioning of the circular economy, the introduction of which allows you to obtain positive environmental, economic and social effects. It is noted that it is characterized by the emergence of synergistic effects in the conditions of development of ecological and economic systems, which create conditions for their advancement towards a state of sustainable development. A model of the subject of a circular economy in the context of sustainable development, which reflects the transformative essence, wave nature and cyclical nature of economic processes within the framework of the wave-particle concept of the formation of economic behavior, is proposed and analyzed. The model is formulated in accordance with the methodological principles of describing material flows, which are based on the phenomenological assumption that their kinetics is isomorphic to the dynamics of a continuous medium. The presented construct was named “economic dipole”. The model is built in the state space, the coordinates of which characterize the quantitative and qualitative indicators of the studied subject. The model reflects the self-organizing nature of the management of a circular economy entity, the balance between production and consumption and cyclical movement within the framework of such a circular economy business model as resource recovery. It minimizes the cost of resources by increasing the efficiency of production through reverse flows. The adequacy and information content of the model was checked by analyzing the fields of speed and motivation, the connection of which in the context of sustainable development is represented by the equation of maintaining overall motivation, which consists of a motivating and compensating component. It is shown that the subject of the circular economy is more motivated for sustainable development and overcoming the negative consequences of production than for maintaining the existing state, which reflects the key positive effects of introducing a circular economy.

Development of Animal Fibres Composites for Construction Applications

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Alfocea-Roig ◽  
Sergio Huete-Hernandez ◽  
Alex Maldonado-Alameda ◽  
Jessica Giro-Paloma ◽  
Josep Maria Chimenos-Ribera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Industrial Process ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Environmental Consequences ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Competitive Prices ◽  
New Material ◽  
The Cost

Climate change has become one of the world’s leading threats. Currently, the construction industry has a high environmental footprint. For this reason, the scientific and technological sector is looking for new materials to reduce the environmental consequences of this division. It is well known that the valorisation of different by-products can contribute to the reduction of the energy global consumption and CO2 emissions. Magnesium Phosphate Cement (MPC) can be obtained by using Low Grade Magnesium Oxide (LG-MgO) as a by-product from the industrial process of magnesite calcination. In this research, a Sustainable MPC (Sust-MPC) for different construction purposes is developed by using LG-MgO along with monopotassium phosphate KH2PO4 (MKP) as raw materials. The increasing use of synthetic fibres in clothing, as well as China’s competitive prices on Animal Fibres (AF) market, have led to a commercial interest fibre decrease for wool-like AF in Spain. This study aims to formulate a Sust-MPC cement with Animal Fibre (AF) to reduce the cost of the new material (Sust-MPC-AF) and to increase the thermal insulation, allowing the use of Sust-MPC-AF in several potential applications. Besides, it should be emphasized that the final pH of Sust-MPC is neutral, which allows containing natural fibres. To develop Sust-MPC-AF, some properties such as thermal conductivity, density, Modulus of Elasticity (MoE), flexural strength, and economic cost were evaluated using the Design of Experiments (DoE). The DoE studies allowed obtaining a model for further optimization considering minimum thermal conductivity and cost dosages. The formulation 30L-25EW presents the minimum conductivity (λ=0.140 W·m-1·K-1). Therefore, two optimal dosages (36L-25EW and 24L-22EW) are obtained by considering mixing variables such as AF/Cement ratio (AF/C) and AF/Extra Water ratio (AF/EW).

What is the return on investment for laboratory medicine? The antidote to silo budgeting in diagnostics

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Christopher P Price ◽  
Patrick McGinley ◽  
Andrew St John
Keyword(s):  
Return On Investment ◽  
Care Pathway ◽  
Laboratory Medicine ◽  
Value Proposition ◽  
Clinical Process ◽  
A Value ◽  
Laboratory Services ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Test Result

Procuring and managing diagnostic services, such as laboratory medicine, is generally based on cost and activity. Improving productivity of laboratory services therefore tends to focus on reducing the cost per test. However, this approach fails to recognise the impact of the test result on the other stakeholders involved in delivering care to the patient across the care pathway. Any assessment of the return on investment from a diagnostic service therefore needs to be undertaken together with a value proposition established for the service. This will enable the clinical, process and economic impact for all stakeholders to be assessed, which can then be used to develop an implementation plan that ensures the expectations of all stakeholders can be addressed.

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