scholarly journals The Influence of Wind Energy and Biogas on Farmland Prices

Land ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olena Myrna ◽  
Martin Odening ◽  
Matthias Ritter

In the context of the rapid development of renewable energy in Germany in the last decade, and increased concerns regarding its potential impacts on farmland prices, this paper investigates the impact of wind energy and biogas production on agricultural land purchasing prices. To quantify the possible impact of the cumulative capacity of wind turbines and biogas plants on arable land prices in Saxony-Anhalt, we estimate a community-based and a transaction-based model using spatial econometrics and ordinary least squares. Based on data from 2007 to 2016, our analysis shows that a higher cumulative capacity of wind turbines in communities leads to higher farmland transaction prices, though the effect is very small: if the average cumulative capacity of wind turbines per community doubles, we expect that farmland prices per hectare increase by 0.4%. Plots that are directly affected by a wind turbine or part of a regional development plan, however, experience strong price increases.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 444
Author(s):  
Xucai Zhang ◽  
Yeran Sun ◽  
Ting On Chan ◽  
Ying Huang ◽  
Anyao Zheng ◽  
...  

Urban vibrancy contributes towards a successful city and high-quality life for people as one of its vital elements. Therefore, the association between service facilities and vibrancy is crucial for urban managers to understand and improve city construction. Moreover, the rapid development of information and communications technology (ICT) allows researchers to easily and quickly collect a large volume of real-time data generated by people in daily life. In this study, against the background of emerging multi-source big data, we utilized Tencent location data as a proxy for 24-h vibrancy and adopted point-of-interest (POI) data to represent service facilities. An analysis framework integrated with ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) models is proposed to explore the spatiotemporal relationships between urban vibrancy and POI-based variables. Empirical results show that (1) spatiotemporal variations exist in the impact of service facilities on urban vibrancy across Guangzhou, China; and (2) GTWR models exhibit a higher degree of explanatory capacity on vibrancy than the OLS models. In addition, our results can assist urban planners to understand spatiotemporal patterns of urban vibrancy in a refined resolution, and to optimize the resource allocation and functional configuration of the city.


2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob R. Fooks ◽  
Kent D. Messer ◽  
Joshua M. Duke ◽  
Janet B. Johnson ◽  
Tongzhe Li ◽  
...  

This study uses an experiment where ferry passengers are sold hotel room “views” to evaluate the impact of wind turbines views on tourists’ vacation experience. Participants purchase a chance for a weekend hotel stay. Information about the hotel rooms was limited to the quality of the hotel and its distance from a large wind turbine, as well as whether or not a particular room would have a view of the turbine. While there was generally a negative effect of turbine views, this did not hold across all participants, and did not seem to be effected by distance or hotel quality.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-64
Author(s):  
Almobarak Falak ◽  
Lidia A. Mezhova

Central Chernozem is one of the largest agricultural regions in Russia. As a result of the long period of natural resources use the anthropogenic load on agricultural lands is increasing. The result of agricultural nature management is the increase of land degradation processes. Voronezh Region has a high agro-climatic potential, most of the territory is occupied by agricultural land, arable land prevails among them. Soil degradation is the most acute problem. There is a need to assess the impact of agricultural natural resources use on land resources of the region. Modular coefficients for assessment of geochemical impact of agriculture and animal husbandry on agricultural systems are proposed. The developed factor is a tool for identification of negative land use processes and environmental problems. The article deals with the issues of ecologically oriented, scientifically grounded strategy of agricultural nature management. Ecological approach to assessment of soil quality in the future will develop a strategy for balanced land use. The article has a scientific and practical character and is aimed at the development of methods of ecological assessment of soil quality. The proposed methodological approach identifies destructive processes in soils. For ecologically oriented strategy of development of regions it is important to define maximum allowable agricultural loads for preservation of sustainable environment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Aziz Bahtiar Rifa’i ◽  
Fadjar Hari Mardiansjah

This study examines the impact of agricultural land use change into a petroleum mining area to farmers’ socioeconomic conditions around petroleum mining project area in Gayam District of Kabupaten Bojonegoro. The analyses used a mix method, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative approach is used to determine the impact of agricultural land use change on the social and economic aspects with the respondent farmers were supported with a scoring method to determine the condition of socioeconomic vulnerability of farmers, while the qualitative approach carried out through in-depth interviews to some informants who have been affected by the project. The results shows that the presence of the petroleum mining industry has not had a positive impact yet on the farmers’ socioeconomic conditions. By the 700 hectares of agricultural land conversion, the agricultural production capacity of the area tends to decrease, including by the decreasing of the productivity of some agricultural land in a radius of 500 m from the fenceof the mining area as they are affected by the fence’s spotlight. The farmers' income also tends to decrease because of the decreasing of their working hours as the big loss of agricultural land in the area. As a result, many farmers should work outside of the area to search replacement of the arable land. These situations lead to a moderate condition of social and economic vulnerability for the farmers, especially for those who still have sufficient assets to meet the needs of their economic. 


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-75
Author(s):  
Elena Belova ◽  
Yuliya Rozenfeld

The subject of the study presented in this article is the economic relations arising due to the progress of the urbanization that leads to changes in agricultural production. For a long time in Russia a reduction of agricultural land, arable land and crops takes place. One reason for this is the global progress of urbanization. Changes in agricultural land use occur across the country however this process is uneven in different regions. Among all regions Moscow and Moscow region significantly stand out. The study showed that in the more urbanized regions of the country reduction of the agricultural land and changes in agricultural land use are greater than in less urbanized ones.


Author(s):  
David McGrain ◽  
Gerald M. Angle ◽  
Jay P. Wilhelm ◽  
Emily D. Pertl ◽  
James E. Smith

The recent rise in fuel costs and global warming concerns have re-invigorated the search for alternative energy sources. Harnessing energy from the wind is a logical alternative; however the cost and efficiency of current wind turbines is a limiting factor. The use of an augmented Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) may become the superior choice to the more common Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs) that are usually associated with the harvesting of wind energy. HAWTs operate on the same principles as large airplane propellers, while VAWTs operate on lift and/or drag principles like an airplane wing or a sail on a boat. VAWTs are currently being investigated for use with circulation control to increase their potential power output. In this paper, two topics will be presented, a comparison between VAWTs and HAWTs for rotor diameter versus key turbine aspects and the impact of VAWTs on environmental concerns, such as bat and bird populations. The Center for Industrial Research Applications (CIRA) at West Virginia University (WVU) is currently developing a concept utilizing circulation control to increase the lift to drag ratio, maximizing the beneficial forces on the VAWT blade, allowing for improved wind energy production. For the comparison between VAWTs and HAWTs, there are currently 14 companies with a total of 34 wind turbines variations representing VAWTs and 11 companies with a total of 40 wind turbines representing HAWTs. Trend studies of VAWT and HAWT diameters to cut-in-speed, rated velocity, max velocity, power output (<100 kW), and power output (≥100 kW) were created to show the potential of VAWTs. A growing concern with wind energy is the impact on bat and bird populations. It is currently believed that VAWTs reduce the impact of wind energy by altering the interaction with the wind. If these benefits can be proven, then not only are VAWTs potentially more economical, but even more eco-friendly.


Author(s):  
D. P. Sidarenko ◽  

Purpose: to study the indicators of melt water runoff from arable land of various compaction and to assess its quantitative and qualitative characteristics based on long-term data. Materials and methods. Studies of the intensity of melt water runoff were carried out in the Azov zone of Rostov region in the period 1964–2018 by a number of researchers, including the author of the article. Results. The runoff indicators for a 55-year period are characterized by significant fluctuations. Analysis of long-term data revealed that the indicator of melt water runoff rate from loose arable land for the period 1964–2018 averaged 9.0 mm/year and on compacted arable land averaged 17.5 mm/year. On loose arable land, the maximum runoff rate for a 55-year period is 25.3 mm, on compacted arable land it is 47.3 mm. As a result of the analysis of the data, it was revealed that the average water reserve in snow on the surface of the fall-plowed land is 43.7 mm, and 48.7 mm on the winter wheat sowing. In general, for two agrophonies, the runoff indicator for the period 1964–2018 was most often characterized as weak and very weak only on loose arable land. Calculations of statistical indicators of runoff data revealed that they are not uniform, for example, the coefficient of runoff variation from loose arable land was 115.4 %, and from compacted arable land 70.4 %, with a coefficient of variation above 33 %, the aggregate is considered heterogeneous. Rostov region, having a large agricultural potential, is experiencing significant problems from the impact of negative natural processes, among which one of the first places belongs to erosion processes. Conclusions. In the course of generalization of long-term data on melt water runoff from arable land of varying degrees of compaction, indicators that made it possible to plot the flow availability curves were obtained. The use of the results obtained makes it possible to predict the occurrence of runoff of various intensities and thereby prevent its negative impact on agricultural land with the minimal material costs.


Author(s):  
Kirill Teslenok ◽  
Anton Mushtaykin ◽  
Sergey Teslenok

The article highlights the stages of work during which the impact of individual terrain properties on arable farming was identified. The possibility of using digital elevation models (DEM) to identify those characteristics that can have a significant impact on such lands was studied. Findings have been made about the relationship between these features and the sites, and their place among other arable land features has been determined. The initial step was to select the baseline data for the area under study and obtain it in the form we needed. Here, techniques for automated DEM acquisition are being developed. At the next stage, individual terrain characteristics, complexity of their acquisition and ranking by importance for this methodology were considered and analyzed. At the final stage the analysis of agricultural lands, their connection with the relief and its characteristics was carried out, practical conclusions were drawn and recommendations were made based on them. It should be noted that the study area — the Vindrei River basin — is very illustrative for showing the advantages of the technology being developed. Its territory is occupied both by extensive agricultural land and forest areas. During the development of the methodology it was important to demonstrate the possibilities of using the technology in the field of nature management and improving economic efficiency of the area.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Carvalho ◽  
Alona Armstrong ◽  
Mark Ashby ◽  
Belinda Howell ◽  
Hannah Montag ◽  
...  

<p>According to the latest IPCC report, 70 to 85% of electricity generation worldwide will need to come from renewable sources of energy by 2050 if countries are to meet internationally agreed greenhouse gas emissions targets. In the rush to decarbonise energy supplies to meet such targets, solar parks (SPs) have proliferated around the world, with uncertain implications for the biodiversity and ecosystem service (ES) provision of hosting ecosystems. SPs necessitate significant land-use change that could disproportionately affect the local environment compared to other low-carbon sources.</p><p>In Britain, SPs are commonly built on intensive arable land and managed as grasslands. This offers both risks and opportunities for ecosystem health, yet evidence for assessing ecosystem consequences is scarce. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand how net environmental gains can be integrated into land-use change for solar energy development to address the current biodiversity and climate crises.</p><p>We used vegetation data from over 70 SPs and 50 countryside survey plots (1 km<sup>2</sup>) in England and Wales to assess the effects of land-use change for SPs on plant diversity and ES provision. We assessed ten habitat indicator variables (e.g., species richness, larval food plants, forage grasses, bird food plants) associated to functionally important plant species that have the potential to enhance ecosystem service delivery.</p><p>SPs showed higher diversity of habitat indicator species than arable land and improved grasslands, with vegetation between solar arrays showing higher numbers of species important for ES provision (e.g., N-fixing species important for nutrient cycling) than vegetation under solar panels. Overall, the diversity of habitat indicator species seemed highly dependent on former land-use, showing SPs have the potential to enhance ecosystem services provision if built on degraded agricultural land.</p><p>Developing this understanding will enable optimisation of SP design and management to ensure delivery of ecosystem co-benefits from this growing land-use.</p>


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Kozak ◽  
Rafał Pudełko

Agricultural land abandonment is a process observed in most European countries. In Poland and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, it was initiated with the political transformation of the 1990s. Currently, in Poland, it concerns over 2 million ha of arable land. Such a large acreage constitutes a resource of land that can be directly restored to agricultural production or perform environmental functions. A new concept for management of fallow/abandoned areas is to start producing biomass for the bioeconomy purposes. Production of perennial crops, especially on poorer soils, requires an appropriate assessment of soil conditions. Therefore, it has become crucial to answer the question: What is the real impact of the fallowing process on soil, and is it possible to return it to production at all? For this purpose, on the selected fallowed land that met the marginality criteria defined under the project, physicochemical tests of soil properties were carried out, and subsequently, the results were compared with those of the neighboring agricultural land and with the soil valuation of the fallow land, which was conducted during its past agricultural use. The work was mainly aimed at analyzing the impact of long-term fallowing on soil pH, carbon sequestration and nutrient content, e.g., phosphorus and potassium. The result of the work is a positive assessment of the possibility of restoring fallowed land for agricultural production, including the production of biomass for non-agricultural purposes. Among the studied types of fallow plots, the fields where goldenrod (Solidago L.—invasive species) appeared were indicated as the areas most affected by soil degradation.


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