Biofuel greenhouse gas (GHG)-reduction standards calculated via life-cycle assessment are shown to be biased, even when indirect land-use change is included, because they are based on physical GHG emissions and uptakes and on simple aggregates of balances. We offer a GHG-reduction standard for...

Optimal exploitation of renewable groundwater resources when extraction affects the probability of occurrence of an irreversible event is studied. The term irreversible signifies that the event occurrence renders the resource obsolete. It is found that uncertainty concerning the event occurrence...

When used in conjunction with surface water for irrigation, groundwater serves two roles: to increase water supply; and to mitigate fluctuations in the supply of water. The later is the buffer role. This paper identifies and evaluates the economic benefit associated with the buffer role of...

Uncertainty enters the dynamic tradeoffs of environmental and natural resource management in a variety of ways and forms. In this chapter we review the various sources of uncertainty, the methodologies developed to account for them and implications regarding management of environmental and...

This paper uses mechanism design theory to (i) propose a mechanism to price irrigation water when farmers are heterogeneous in their production technologies (adverse selection) and their individual water uses are unobserved (moral hazard) and (ii) discusses briefly when such a mechanism might be...

The economic value of energy storage to meet peak electricity demand is analyzed with an emphasis on the role of demand uncertainty. The concept of the stabilization value, which measures that part of the benefit of the storage project which is due solely to the stochastic demand components, is...

Irrigation water (including rainfall) that infiltrates the subsurface carries salts, pesticide and fertilizer residues, and other trace elements, thus causing a contamination of aquifers and soils. A similar situation occurs when irrigating with saline groundwater (aquifers containing saline...

The theory of stock uncertainty in the utilization of exhaustible resources is extended to renewable groundwater resources. A complete characterization of the exploitation process is presented, paying special attention to the formulation of the trasversality conditions. Exploration activities...