The Financing of Wastewater Treatment and the Balance of Payments for Water Services: Evidence from Municipalities in the Region of Valencia

Pollution from wastewater discharges requires the treatment of all wastewater to maintain water bodies in good condition, as well as the possibility of reusing this water. Thus, wastewater treatment is an activity that has developed significantly in the Region of Valencia and has significant costs, including energy, which represents the main economic cost and an important environmental cost. In this way, efficiency and adequate financing of this activity are essential to minimise our environmental impact. However, the main funding tool currently does not allow us to address this issue, so we have a wastewater treatment with a high environmental cost in the form of greenhouse gas emissions. This tool is part of the revenues of water services, so it is not entirely independent, but it also seeks to prevent households from paying too high a total price. This leads to a situation where changes are needed to improve the financing of the different water services, as the financial resources obtained are insufficient and do not allow the current environmental problems to be solved. The analysis shows the importance of an appropriate tariff structure, as well as the need to include aspects such as water pollution and energy costs in the wastewater treatment tariff.

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Eco-Efficiency of End-of-Pipe Systems: An Extended Environmental Cost Efficiency Framework for Wastewater Treatment

Water ◽

10.3390/w12020454 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 454 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Xinyue Zhao ◽

Chaofan Zhang ◽

Shunwen Bai

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Cost Efficiency ◽

Sewage Treatment ◽

Treatment Plant ◽

Economic Cost ◽

Environmental Cost ◽

Environmental Benefit ◽

Potential Growth ◽

Case Outcome ◽

Receiving Water

As a method for eco-efficiency analysis, environmental cost efficiency (ECE) indicators have been proposed for the end-of-pipe (EOP) systems that referred to the techniques achieving environmental benefit under economic cost. The wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) belongs to the EOP systems; however, few studies used the ECE indicators for the sustainability evaluation. Here, this study first proposed the following processes that had been excluded in the current ECE framework and thus limited the potential application in WWTP: (1) the direct impact of wastewater on receiving water, (2) the migration and transformation of water pollutants affected by the self-purification mechanisms of receiving water. To address the aforementioned processes, this study extended the framework of ECE indicators by means of incorporating the potential growth of microorganisms as the characterization state and integrating the water quality models with the characterization models. To investigate the applicability, a full-scale WWTP was selected as the study case and the eco-efficiency of the increasing levels of sewage treatment was evaluated. The case outcome showed that, with the extended ECE indicators, the analysis of eco-efficiency could be directly related to the specific locations and could determine the specific distance ranges within which the scenarios changing were considered efficient. Moreover, the eco-efficiency could be investigated under more concrete and flexible situations because the extended framework of ECE indicators was able to include more information, such as different types of receiving water or different environmental conditions of certain water body.

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Making Nautical Tourism Greener in the Mediterranean

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12166693 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (16) ◽

pp. 6693

Author(s):

Ani Trstenjak ◽

Saša Žiković ◽

Hoda Mansour

Keyword(s):

Energy Efficiency ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Financial Resources ◽

Energy Sources ◽

Energy Costs ◽

Financial Instruments ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Mediterranean Countries ◽

The Eu ◽

Lack Of Knowledge

We analyze the elements determining the sustainability of nautical tourism in selected Mediterranean countries (Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Italy and Turkey). The purpose of our research is to investigate the main obstacles to greater application of renewable energy sources (RES) as the basis for the sustainability of nautical tourism. The obtained results provide valuable information that can help companies and policy makers choose appropriate strategies to achieve the EU 2030 sustainability goals in this sector. Our survey among charter companies was conducted during 2018 on a sample of 51 respondents. We conclude that there is a serious lack of knowledge among nautical tourism respondents regarding the availability of financial instruments from EU funds intended for increasing energy efficiency and adoption of RES. Respondents were familiar with general measures to reduce energy costs but are not familiar with the measures and opportunities provided by available European funds. Our results confirm previous research indicating that significant savings in energy consumption can be achieved by using RES (especially photovoltaic (PV) modules) and that insufficient financial resources and lack of knowledge are the main obstacles to achieving higher adoption rates of RES and increasing energy efficiency in nautical tourism.

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Global Internal Recirculation Alternative Operation to Reduce Nitrogen and Ammonia Limit Violations and Pumping Energy Costs in Wastewater Treatment Plants

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr8121606 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 1606

Author(s):

Ignacio Santín ◽

Ramon Vilanova ◽

Carles Pedret ◽

Marian Barbu

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Flow Rate ◽

Biological Treatment ◽

Fuzzy Controller ◽

Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽

Nitrate Concentration ◽

Great Influence ◽

Energy Costs ◽

Recirculation Flow ◽

Operational Costs

The internal recirculation plays an important role in different areas of the biological treatment of wastewater treatment plants because it has a great influence on the concentration of pollutants, especially nutrients. A usual manipulation of the internal recirculation flow rate is based on the target of controlling the nitrate concentration in the last anoxic tank. This work proposes an alternative for the manipulation of the internal recirculation flow rate instead of nitrate control, with the objective of avoiding limit violations of nitrogen and ammonia concentrations and reducing operational costs. A fuzzy controller is proposed to achieve it based on the effects of the internal recirculation flow rate in different areas of the biological treatment. The proposed manipulation of the internal recirculation flow rate is compared to the application of the usual nitrate control in an already established and published operation strategy by using the internationally known benchmark simulation model no. 2 as a working scenario. The results show improvements with reductions of 59.40% in ammonia limit violations, 2.35% in total nitrogen limit violations, and 38% in pumping energy costs.

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Borrowing Agreement with Slovak Republic

Policy Papers ◽

10.5089/9781498337861.007 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2010 (10) ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

International Monetary Fund ◽

Slovak Republic ◽

Balance Of Payments ◽

Financial Resources ◽

Policy Paper ◽

The International Monetary Fund

In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund, and with a view to supporting the Fund's ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, the Slovak Republic agrees to lend to the Fund an SDR-denominated amount up to the equivalent of EUR 440 million, on the terms and conditions set in this policy paper.

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Implementation of the Joint Management Action Plan on Bank-Fund Collaboration

Policy Papers ◽

10.5089/9781498337793.007 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2010 (16) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

International Monetary Fund ◽

Action Plan ◽

Balance Of Payments ◽

Financial Resources ◽

Joint Management ◽

The International Monetary Fund

In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund (the “Fund”), and with a view to supporting the Fund’s ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, the Swedish Riksbank (“Riksbank”) agrees to lend to the Fund an SDRdenominated amount up to the equivalent of EUR 2.47 billion, on the terms and conditions set out in this paper.

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Borrowing Agreement with the Bank of Slovenia

Policy Papers ◽

10.5089/9781498337069.007 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2010 (101) ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

International Monetary Fund ◽

Balance Of Payments ◽

Financial Resources ◽

The International Monetary Fund

In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund (the “Fund”), and with a view to supporting the Fund’s ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, the Bank of Slovenia agrees to lend to the Fund an SDR-denominated amount up to the equivalent of EUR 280 million, on the terms and conditions set out in this paper.

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Borrowing Agreement with the Government of the United Kingdom

Policy Papers ◽

10.5089/9781498335560.007 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 09 ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

International Monetary Fund ◽

Balance Of Payments ◽

Financial Resources ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

The Government ◽

The International Monetary Fund

In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund, and with a view to supporting the Fund’s ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, the Government of the United Kingdom, acting through Her Majesty's Treasury, agrees to lend to the Fund up to the equivalent of SDR 9.92 billion.

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Borrowing Agreement Between Deutsche Bundesbank and the International Monetary Fund

Policy Papers ◽

10.5089/9781498335522.007 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 09 ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

International Monetary Fund ◽

Balance Of Payments ◽

Financial Resources ◽

Deutsche Bundesbank ◽

The International Monetary Fund

In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund, and with a view to supporting the Fund’s ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, Deutsche Bundesbank agrees to lend to the Fund an SDR-denominated amount up to the equivalent of EUR 15 billion.

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Borrowing Agreement with the Government of France

Policy Papers ◽

10.5089/9781498335768.007 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 09 ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

International Monetary Fund ◽

Balance Of Payments ◽

Financial Resources ◽

The Government ◽

The International Monetary Fund

In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund , and with a view to supporting the Fund’s ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, France agrees to lend to the Fund an SDR-denominated amount up to the equivalent of EUR 11.06 billion, on the terms and conditions set out in this report.

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The cost of music

Popular Music ◽

10.1017/s0261143019000552 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 43-65 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Matt Brennan ◽

Kyle Devine

Keyword(s):

Economic Cost ◽

The United States ◽

Environmental Cost ◽

Recording Industry ◽

Recorded Music ◽

The Us ◽

Human Costs ◽

Audio Files ◽

The One ◽

The Cost

AbstractWhat is the cost of music in the so-called Anthropocene? We approach this question by focusing on the case of sound-recording formats. We consider the cost of recorded music through two overlapping lenses: economic cost, on the one hand, and environmental cost, on the other. The article begins by discussing how the price of records has changed from the late 19th to the 21st century and across the seven most economically significant playback formats: phonograph cylinder, gramophone disc, vinyl LP, cassette tape, compact disc, digital audio files on hard drive, and streaming from the cloud. Our case study territory is the United States, and we chart the gradual decline in the price of recorded music up to the present. We then examine the environmental and human costs of music by looking at what recordings are made out of, where those materials come from, and what happens to them when they are disposed of. Despite what rhetorics of digital dematerialisation tell us, we show that the labour conditions in the digital electronics and IT industries are as inhumane as ever, while the amount of greenhouse gases released by the US recording industry could actually be higher today than at the height of any previous format. We conclude by asking the obvious (but by no means straightforward) question: what are musicians and fans to do?

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