IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolet/v245y2024ics0165176524005330.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Technical efficiency of SO2 scrubbers with byproduct contracts

Author

Listed:
  • He, Qingxin
  • Lee, Jonathan M.

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of synthetic gypsum, a byproduct of sulfur dioxide (SO2) abatement, on the technical efficiency of SO2 scrubber technology. On average SO2 scrubbers are 60% efficient suggesting substantial emission reductions are possible by narrowing the efficiency gap. Gypsum marketability provides an economic incentive for improved power-plant operation of scrubbers with 8.8% average increases in technical efficiency. By contrast, we do not find any statistically significant evidence of innovative change in scrubbing technology.

Suggested Citation

  • He, Qingxin & Lee, Jonathan M., 2024. "Technical efficiency of SO2 scrubbers with byproduct contracts," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:245:y:2024:i:c:s0165176524005330
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112049
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176524005330
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112049?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Schmalensee & Robert N. Stavins, 2013. "The SO 2 Allowance Trading System: The Ironic History of a Grand Policy Experiment," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(1), pages 103-122, Winter.
    2. Hung-Jen Wang, 2002. "Heteroscedasticity and Non-Monotonic Efficiency Effects of a Stochastic Frontier Model," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 241-253, November.
    3. Lien, Gudbrand & Kumbhakar, Subal C. & Alem, Habtamu, 2018. "Endogeneity, heterogeneity, and determinants of inefficiency in Norwegian crop-producing farms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 53-61.
    4. Battese, George E. & Coelli, Tim J., 1988. "Prediction of firm-level technical efficiencies with a generalized frontier production function and panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 387-399, July.
    5. Lange Ian, 2009. "Evaluating Voluntary Measures with Treatment Spillovers: The Case of Coal Combustion Products Partnership," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-22, September.
    6. He, Qingxin & Lee, Jonathan M., 2014. "Additional market incentives for abatement: An analysis of flue-gas desulfurization by-products," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 370-393.
    7. Nicholas Z. Muller & Robert Mendelsohn, 2009. "Efficient Pollution Regulation: Getting the Prices Right," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(5), pages 1714-1739, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Habtamu Alem, 2021. "The Role of Technical Efficiency Achieving Sustainable Development: A Dynamic Analysis of Norwegian Dairy Farms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-11, February.
    2. Nathan D. DeLay & Nathanael M. Thompson & James R. Mintert, 2022. "Precision agriculture technology adoption and technical efficiency," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 195-219, February.
    3. Subal C. Kumbhakar & Christopher F. Parmeter & Valentin Zelenyuk, 2022. "Stochastic Frontier Analysis: Foundations and Advances I," Springer Books, in: Subhash C. Ray & Robert G. Chambers & Subal C. Kumbhakar (ed.), Handbook of Production Economics, chapter 8, pages 331-370, Springer.
    4. Muktar Geleto & Mohammed Essa, 2022. "Analysis of Red Pepper Production Risk Adjusted Technical Efficiency: The Case Of Lanfuro District In Siltie Zone, Southern Ethiopia," International Journal of Business and Management, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences, vol. 10(1), pages 30-58, May.
    5. Sabrina Auci & Laura Castellucci & Manuela Coromaldi, 2021. "How does public spending affect technical efficiency? Some evidence from 15 European countries," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 108-130, January.
    6. Muhammad Rizwan & Ping Qing & Abdul Saboor & Muhammad Amjed Iqbal & Adnan Nazir, 2020. "Production Risk and Competency among Categorized Rice Peasants: Cross-Sectional Evidence from an Emerging Country," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-15, May.
    7. Getu Hailu & B. James Deaton, 2016. "Agglomeration Effects in Ontario’s Dairy Farming," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 98(4), pages 1055-1073.
    8. Keller, Michael, 2020. "Wasted windfalls: Inefficiencies in health care spending in oil rich countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    9. Su, Hung-Chung & Kao, Ta-Wei (Daniel) & Linderman, Kevin, 2020. "Where in the supply chain network does ISO 9001 improve firm productivity?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 283(2), pages 530-540.
    10. Daniel Prudencio, 2023. "Productivity in Procurement Auctions of Pavement Contracts in Mexico," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 63-85, August.
    11. Tommy Lundgren & Mattias Vesterberg, 2024. "Efficiency in electricity distribution in Sweden and the effects of small-scale generation, electric vehicles and dynamic tariffs," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 121-137, October.
    12. Alem, Habtamu, 2020. "Performance of the Norwegian dairy farms: A dynamic stochastic approach," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(3), pages 263-271.
    13. Paul, Satya & Shankar, Sriram, 2018. "Modelling Efficiency Effects in a True Fixed Effects Stochastic Frontier," MPRA Paper 87437, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Young Hoon Lee, 2009. "Frontier Models and their Application to the Sports Industry," Working Papers 0903, Nam Duck-Woo Economic Research Institute, Sogang University (Former Research Institute for Market Economy), revised 2009.
    15. Hai-Dang Nguyen & Thanh Ngo & Tu DQ Le & Huong Ho & Hai T.H. Nguyen, 2019. "The Role of Knowledge in Sustainable Agriculture: Evidence from Rice Farms’ Technical Efficiency in Hanoi, Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-10, April.
    16. Jihad C. Elnaboulsi & Wassim Daher & Yiğit Sağlam, 2023. "Environmental taxation, information precision, and information sharing," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 25(2), pages 301-341, April.
    17. Burtraw, Dallas & Woerman, Matt, 2013. "Economic ideas for a complex climate policy regime," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 24-31.
    18. Tsionas, Mike G., 2024. "A generalized inefficiency model with input and output dependence," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 312(1), pages 315-323.
    19. Émilie Caldeira & Ali Compaore & Alou Adessé Dama & Mario Mansour & Grégoire Rota-Graziosi, 2019. "Effort fiscal en Afrique subsaharienne : les résultats d’une nouvelle base de données," Revue d’économie du développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 27(4), pages 5-51.
    20. Satya Paul & Sriram Shankar, 2020. "Estimating efficiency effects in a panel data stochastic frontier model," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 163-180, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Coal combustion byproducts; FGD gypsum; Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions; Scrubber; Technical efficiency; Innovation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation
    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
    • L78 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction - - - Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:245:y:2024:i:c:s0165176524005330. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolet .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.