Capital Costs

Reykjavik Energy, in cooperation with four academic institutions, is testing carbon capture and storage (CCS) through mineral carbonation at the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant. The goal of the work, launched in 2007, is to test in situ sequestration of CO2 and mimic the natural carbon mineralization process that contributes to the global carbon cycle. The Hellisheidi site provides both a suitable basalt storage site as well as a stream of nearly pure CO 2 from a parallel pilot project. This paper, drawing from earlier research, aims to re-evaluate the costs associated to the CarbFix method for this specific site. The pilot program, along with its known costs and operations, is scaled to higher flow rates of CO2. The findings indicate that at low CO2 flow rates the project is heavily weighted in capital costs while higher CO2 flow rates are subject to the variable costs such as electricity and water. In light of this, research should continue to assess the water and energy requirements for the system. The CarbFix technology employed elsewhere would undoubtedly encounter large CO2 point sources and will then be sensitive to these variable costs. The profitability assessment, over a 30-year life, shows for the higher flow rates, adequate returns on investment under the existing trading prices.

This paper proposes a performance and cost measurement system that integrates the Economic Value Added criteria (EVA) with Process Based Costing (PBC). The EVA-PBC methodology allows us to implement the EVA management logic non only at the firm level, but also at lower levels of the organization. We discuss the role of EVA-PBC methodology in bringing strategy back into financial performance measures.

Today, Brazil has the second longest highway network under private concessions in the world. This paper analyzes Brazil's experience under the two first phases of the federal road concession program, and highlights some of the program's strengths and areas for further development. Despite the unfolding world financial and economic crisis, the potential for further private participation in the sector appears very good. This paper essentially argues that it may be time for Brazil to revamp its current models for private participation in the sector, which may soon reach their limit in terms of being able to meet efficiently the needs of a growing economy. In summary, Brazil could: 1) diversify its toll road model to allow for more innovative public-private partnership structures; 2) update its toll regulatory and contractual framework to overcome some of the design problems that have led to relatively inefficient tolling; 3) consolidate the institutional framework for road conc...

The implemented technologies for sewage sludge processing are still very limited in Egypt. Unfortunately, dealing with the produced sludge is mainly given to the drying process through natural drying beds neglecting quality of the dried sludge. The undertaken work is devoted to provide a design proposal for a typical wastewater treatment plant suitable for the small communities on a very limited area of land compared to that required to construct the conventional treatment plant that serves the same population. The proposed sewage treatment plant is certainly beneficial in reducing the capital costs by 26%, in addition to about 20% reduction in the running costs. On the other hand, electricity generated from energy produced by anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge reduces the electrical power requirements from the main grid network to about 27% in the proposed wastewater treatment plant.

This study posits that in order to gain a better understanding of existing and potential users of electricity in rural areas of Peru, the National Survey on Energy Consumption Households in Rural Areas conducted a survey in seven regions: North Coastal regions, Central and South Andean regions North, Central and South America and the Amazon region. The survey provided data on rural residential energy use and costs for the same, the use of electricity in decentralized rural households. The survey also provided information for an analysis of the economic benefits of electricity use in areas of rural Peru. Finally, data were analyzed to provide implications for further development of policies for rural electrification in Peru. It is important to appreciate that the document represents the situation regarding rural electrification in Peru, in the period 2005-2006. The main conclusion of the survey is that rural households in Peru have the desire, willingness and ability to pay for signi...

Reykjavik Energy, in cooperation with four academic institutions, is testing carbon capture and storage (CCS) through mineral carbonation at the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant. The goal of the work, launched in 2007, is to test in situ sequestration of CO2 and mimic the natural carbon mineralization process that contributes to the global carbon cycle. The Hellisheidi site provides both a

Today, Brazil has the second longest highway network under private concessions in the world. This paper analyzes Brazil's experience under the two first phases of the federal road concession program, and highlights some of the program's strengths and areas for further development. Despite the unfolding world financial and economic crisis, the potential for further private participation in the sector appears very good. This paper essentially argues that it may be time for Brazil to revamp its current models for private participation in the sector, which may soon reach their limit in terms of being able to meet efficiently the needs of a growing economy. In summary, Brazil could: 1) diversify its toll road model to allow for more innovative public-private partnership structures; 2) update its toll regulatory and contractual framework to overcome some of the design problems that have led to relatively inefficient tolling; 3) consolidate the institutional framework for road conc...

By any measure, Bangladesh stands out among low-income countries in bringing safe drinking water within reach of nearly all its population. Much of this can be attributed to the availability of low-cost technologies such as handpump tubewells (HTW), as well as the efforts of the government to field them. That they serve the needs of rural households well is apparent from the explosion of demand for handpumps in the past 15 years; more than two thirds of all handpumps are obtained outside of government distribution programs. The market has responded to this demand; HTWs are locally manufactured and widely available, as are services to install and maintain them. In addition, new sources of credit have emerged to enable poor households to purchase a HTW. Consequently the Government is being advised by development partners to reduce or withdraw subsidies for new HTWs in shallow water table (SWT) areas, potentially affecting approximately 70 percent of the country. To begin to explore th...

A firm’s weighted average cost of capital is an integral component in capital budgeting decisions and in assessment of the firm’s enterprise and equity value. Estimation of the cost of equity is a key component in determining the overall cost of capital. The calculation of the cost of equity for U.S. based corporations is relatively straightforward and is most often estimated as a function of the U.S. risk-free rate, the firm’s beta value, and an estimate of the average risk premium associated with equity investments compared to risk free assets. Since U.S. financial markets are fairly liquid and reasonably efficient, estimates of the required input variables are relatively reliable. In contrast, the estimation of equity capital costs for corporations based in emerging markets presents many challenges. Emerging markets are often characterized by additional risks including political risks and the risks associated with operating in markets that are less liquid and transparent than mat...

ABSTRACT The necessity to support the rapidly growing high speed broadband services requires the use of latest technologies and quality of service (QoS) control techniques. Two such technologies include Fourth Generation (4G) wireless and New Generation Passive Optical Networks (NG PON). 4G communication technology encompasses both wireless and cellular systems, which aims to provide real-time voice, video and Internet services to the end user with high QoS. Moreover, it offers high throughput and supports mobility. A passive optical network (PON) is a reliable back haul technology, which can provide high bandwidth and is highly cost effective. The combination of 4G with NG-PON creates an access network that is cost efficient, reliable, flexible as well as facilitating mobility and ubiquity. However, this integration has many challenges such as maintaining the QoS of whole network. In this paper, we propose the NG PON as an alternative solution for the point to point fiber in the 4G centralized co-ordinated Multi-Point (COMP) transmission and reception. This architecture is for joint transmission downlink COMP which benefits from the broadcasting transmission in the downlink of PON. Moreover, it serves both fixed and mobile stations. The simulation compares the capital cost of using NG PON against point to point fibre in COMP architecture. The results reveal that up to 80 percent cost reduction can be achieved by using the proposed solution.

Recent trends in soft commodity prices and expected increases in demand for food, fiber, and fuel has led to a revival of interest in agricultural production and agrarian structure. Earlier, evidence of superior economic performance of owner-operated farms and the drawbacks of a highly unequal distribution of land assets provided the basis for near-unanimous support of smallholder-based strategies as the most effective way of expanding agricultural production. Now, influential voices argue that increasing returns to scale in agricultural production – partly resulting