Sustainable Futures

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		The national bioenergy investment model: Technical documentation Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Working Paper 88 Author(s): Kemp-Benedict, E. Date: April 2012 Research Area(s): Sustainable Futures ; Bioenergy The National Bioenergy Investment Model is a scenario model that simulates the decisions of domestic and international investors on whether to invest in biofuel enterprises in a developing country. In the model, investors compare the profitability of different biofuel feedstock and fuel operations using a riskadjusted discount rate – taking market, currency, country and sector risks into account. Prices for biofuels and feedstocks are determined in part through exogenous international prices and in part through a dynamic, equilibrium-seeking price adjustment mechanism. The model is intended to be used within a participatory scenario exercise, and can be run interactively. More information Download PDF External Link
		Price and Quantity Trajectories: Second-order Dynamics arXiv:1204.3156v1 [q-fin.GN] Author(s): Kemp-Benedict, E. Date: April 2012 Research Area(s): Sustainable Futures In two previous papers the author developed a second-order price adjustment (tatonnement) process. This paper extends the approach to include both quantity and price adjustments. It demonstrates three results: a analogue to physical energy, called "activity", arises naturally in the model and is not conserved in general; price and quantity trajectories must either end at a local minimum of a scalar potential or circulate endlessly; and disturbances into a subspace of substitutable commodities decay over time. More information External Link
		The Tragedy of Maldistribution: Climate, Sustainability, and Equity Sustainability 4:3, 394-411; Special Issue: Sustainable Policy on Climate Equity Author(s): Stanton, E.A. Date: March 2012 Research Area(s): Climate Economics ; Sustainable Futures This essay is an initial exploration of the dimensions of the equity/sustainability linkage from the perspective of public goods analysis. Sustainability requires an abundance of public goods. Where these commons lack governance, sustainability is at risk. Equity is a critical component of sustainability that can itself be viewed as a public good, subject to deterioration (maldistribution) when left ungoverned. As is the case for so many forms of environmental degradation, the private benefits of maldistribution tend to overshadow the larger social costs, and the result is a degradation of equity. This article sketches out the analogy of equity as a public good and addresses equity's critical role as a component of sustainability in the case of climate change, with implications for climate policy. More information External Link
		Biomass in a Low-Carbon Economy: Resource Scarcity, Climate Change, and Business in a Finite World (Policy brief) SEI Policy Brief Author(s): Kemp-Benedict, E. ; Kartha, S. ; Fencl, A. Date: March 2012 Research Area(s): Sustainable Futures ; Climate Mitigation Policy This policy brief, based on a report produced through a partnership between the business leaders' initiative 3C (Combat Climate Change) and the Stockholm Environment Institute, gauges the availability of biomass for low-carbon energy and other uses in the context of sustainability and competing demands. It explores four scenarios for future biomass use, depending on the relative emphasis on climate change mitigation, agriculture, or both, and finds that while all of the scenarios require trade-offs, a "Sustainability Transition" that uses biomass for food, energy, industrial materials, and more could yield great benefits, helping address the urgent climate problem while spurring improvements in agriculture to boost food production and result in new agricultural products. More information Download PDF
		Biomass in a Low-Carbon Economy: Resource Scarcity, Climate Change, and Business in a Finite World SEI Project Report Author(s): Kemp-Benedict, E. ; Kartha, S. ; Fencl, A. Date: March 2012 Research Area(s): Sustainable Futures ; Climate Mitigation Policy This report, produced through a partnership between the business leaders' initiative 3C (Combat Climate Change) and the Stockholm Environment Institute, gauges the availability of biomass for low-carbon energy and other uses in the context of sustainability and competing demands. It explores four scenarios for future biomass use, depending on the relative emphasis on climate change mitigation, agriculture, or both, and finds that while all of the scenarios require trade-offs, a "Sustainability Transition" that uses biomass for food, energy, industrial materials, and more could yield great benefits, helping address the urgent climate problem while spurring improvements in agriculture to boost food production and result in new agricultural products. More information Download PDF