Abstract: Production of food crops on trace element-contaminated agricultural lands in the Campine region (Belgium) can be problematic as legal threshold values for safe use of these crops can be exceeded. Conventional sanitation of vast areas is too expensive and alternatives need to be investigated. Zea mays on a trace element-contaminated soil in the region showed an average yield of 53 ± 10 Mg fresh or 20 ± 3 Mg dry biomass ha−1. Whole plant Cd concentrations complied with legal threshold values for animal feed. Moreover, threshold values for use in anaerobic digestion were met. Biogas production potential did not differ between maize grown on contaminated and non-contaminated soils. Results suggested favorable perspectives for farmers to generate non-food crops profitably, although effective soil cleaning would be very slow. This demonstrates that a valuable and sustainable alternative use can be generated for moderately contaminated soils on which conventional agriculture is impaired.

Abstract: The increasing focus on circular economy at the level of governments and policy requires the development of appropriate indicators to effectively monitor the progress towards the circular economy. Currently two very different types of indicator areas are under development: (i) monitoring frameworks based on macro indicators that summarize the progress at (supra)national level, and (ii) micro indicators tailored towards assessing circularity at the level of products. It is not possible to obtain sufficiently direct feedback about the impact of policy interventions by either macro or micro indicators alone. In this paper, a conceptual approach is developed that aims to bridge the gap between the micro and macro level with meso level indicators, and thus ultimately deliver more direct feedback for policymakers, via the insertion of an extra level of meso indicators in between the macro and the micro level. These indicators have been extracted from a dedicated workshop that involved policy, sector and societal stakeholders. The aim of these indicators is to report on progress towards circular economy objectives based on the fulfillment of societal needs. In this way the consumption perspective is given a central position, and the role of circular business models is acknowledged. Following the development of the concept, the next steps towards tailored, flexible and agile monitoring frameworks for circular economy at (supra)national and regional level are outlined. The paper concludes with an illustrative example of the framework applied to the mobility system.

Abstract: Both landfill taxes and Enhanced Waste Management (EWM) practices can mitigate the scarcity issue of landfill capacity by respectively reducing landfilled waste volumes and valorising future waste streams. However, high landfill taxes might erode incentives for EWM, even though EWM creates value by valorising waste. Concentrating on Flanders (Belgium), the paper applies dynamic optimisation modelling techniques to analyse how landfill taxation and EWM can reinforce each other and how taxation schemes can be adjusted in order to foster sustainable and welfare maximising ways of processing future waste streams. Based on the Flemish simulation results, insights are offered that are generally applicable in international waste and resource management policy. As shown, the optimal Flemish landfill tax that optimises welfare in the no EWM scenario is higher than the one in the EWM scenario (93 against (sic)50/ton). This difference should create incentives for applying EWM and is driven by the positive external effects that are generated by EWM practices. In Flanders, as the current landfill tax is slightly lower than these optimal levels, the choice that can be made is to further increase taxation levels or show complete commitment to EWM. A first generally applicable insight that was found points to the fact that it is not necessarily the case that the higher the landfill tax, the more effective waste management improvements can be realised. Other insights are about providing sufficient incentives for applying EMW practices and formulating appropriate pleas in support of technological development. By these insights, this paper should provide relevant information that can assist in triggering the transition towards a resource efficient, circular economy in Europe. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: This paper analyzes how structural and institutional heterogeneity among irrigation cooperatives shapes the impact of membership on farmers' welfare in northern Ethiopia, using a novel heteroskedasticity-based identification strategy. More specifically, we estimate how cooperative characteristics influence members' income and poverty level. We find that stricter water use regulations have income-enhancing and poverty-reducing effects for farmers. We also find that farmers benefit more from membership in larger, younger, and bottom-up cooperatives initiated through grassroots collective action. Our findings have implications for irrigation development in Ethiopia and call for a better deliberation of organizational heterogeneity in cooperative impact studies

Abstract: Understanding communicational behavior of rangelands stakeholders is fundamental for effective development of rangeland management plans. This study aimed to understand differences between stakeholders relations among various actors involved in rangeland management using social network analysis (SNA). A survey was conducted on 334 stakeholders (89 extension agents, 110 researchers and 135 executive agents) in the Tehran province, Iran. Results showed that all the three groups of stakeholders are interested in making contact mainly within their own group. Furthermore, while the executive agents have shared the strongest technical and friendship relations with the two other groups, the extension agents established the strongest administrative interactions. The researchers, however, made a poor link especially with the extension agents. The study concluded that SNA could be an efficient tool to assess communicational behavior in rangeland management.

Abstract: Enhanced Landfill Mining is an innovative concept which allows the recovery of land, re-introduction of materials to the material cycles and recovery of energy from a considerably large stock of resources held in landfills. Plasma gasification is a viable candidate for combined energy and material valorization in the framework of Enhanced landfill Mining. Besides energy production, plasma gasification also delivers an environmentally stable vitrified residue called plasmastone, which can be converted into building materials. This paper presents an environmental and economic evaluation of the valorization of thermal treatment residues (plasmastone) in the context of Enhanced Landfill Mining. The most common valorization route, that is, the treatment of plasmastone via production of aggregates, is compared with two other possible, higher added value applications, which are inorganic polymer production and blended cement production. The evaluation is based on life cycle assessment and life cycle costing. The study suggests that the environmental and economic performances of the valorization routes depend mainly on the quality and quantity of the final products produced from a certain amount of plasmastone. The materials with the greatest contribution to potential global warming and to the net present value of the valorization scenarios are the process input materials of sodium silicate, sodium hydroxide and cement. The study concludes that the plasmastone valorization via inorganic polymer production yields higher environmental benefits, while the blended cement production provides higher economic profits. Plasmastone valorization via aggregates production does not yield economic or environmental benefits. Given the trade-off between environmental and economic performances, we conclude that the decisions regarding the selection of appropriate valorization routes should be made cautiously to obtain optimal environmental benefits and economic profits. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Environmentalists generally argue that ecological damage will (eventually) lead to declines in human well-being. From this perspective, the recent introduction of the “environmentalist's paradox” in BioScience by Raudsepp-Hearne and colleagues (2010) is particularly significant. In essence, Raudsepp-Hearne and colleagues (2010) claimed that although ecosystem services have been degraded, human well-being-paradoxically-has increased. In this article, we show that this debate is in fact rooted in a broader discussion on weak sustainability versus strong sustainability (the substitutability of human-made capital for natural capital). We warn against the reductive nature of focusing only on a stock flow framework in which a natural-capital stock produces ecosystem services. Concretely, we recommend a holistic approach in which the complexity, irreversibility, uncertainty, and ethical predicaments intrinsic to the natural environment and its connections to humanity are also considered.

Abstract: In the past decade, to improve crop production and productivity, Ethiopia has embarked on an ambitious irrigation farming expansion program and has introduced new large- and small-scale irrigation initiatives. However, in Ethiopia, poverty remains a challenge, and crop productivity per unit area of land is very low. Literature on the technical efficiency (TE) of large-scale and small-scale irrigation user farmers as compared to the non-user farmers in Ethiopia is also limited. Investigating smallholder farmers' TE level and its principal determinants is very important to increase crop production and productivity and to improve smallholder farmers' livelihood and food security. Using 1026 household-level cross-section data, this study adopts a technology flexible stochastic frontier approach to examine agricultural TE of large-scale irrigation users, small-scale irrigation users and non-user farmers in Ethiopia. The results indicate that, due to poor extension services and old-style agronomic practices, the mean TE of farmers is very low (44.33%), implying that there is a wider room for increasing crop production in the study areas through increasing the TE of smallholder farmers without additional investment in novel agricultural technologies. Results also show that large-scale irrigation user farmers (21.05%) are less technically efficient than small-scale irrigation user farmers (60.29%). However, improving irrigation infrastructure shifts the frontier up and has a positive impact on smallholder farmers' output.

Abstract: Since the introduction of the sustainability challenge, scientists disagree over the interpretation of the term sustainability. Weak and strong sustainability are the two main interpretations of sustainability, which are opposing each other. Some researchers stated that the interpretation of the term depends on the context; others disagree pointing out that it always implies the meaning of continuation. The term sustainability can be used as attribute, which adds a certain characteristic to the noun. If something can be attributed as being sustainable, it can also be unsustainable. The sustainability challenge consists of shifting from the current unsustainable towards a sustainable system. This paper outlines that the weak sustainability term is illegitimate, as it leads to a contradiction with the acknowledged assumption that the current state is unsustainable. This contradiction is revealed through an analysis of the occurrence of decoupling in agriculture: Agricultural land use could be decoupled from agricultural production, but only with the trade-off of massive increases in fertilizer, pesticide, energy and water usage. This paper outlines an inherent inconsistency within the ongoing discussion about the interpretation of sustainability. Through identifying the invalidity of the weak sustainability interpretation the focus can be shifted form the discourse to the sustainability challenge itself.

Abstract: The wide array of services provided by agricultural cooperatives for their members is often not considered in academic studies. Addressing this gap in the literature, our paper explores the wide array of services provided by agricultural cooperatives and how these extend beyond those they were initially intended to provide. We study the extent and characteristics of service portfolios from 511 agricultural cooperatives in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Results from two-limit Tobit models confirm that government and NGO-initiated cooperatives have a wide service portfolio compared to member-initiated cooperatives. In many of the studied cooperatives, the services they provide and their portfolios are more diverse than expected. Cooperatives seem to go beyond their focal areas of intervention. Also, those cooperatives that are more outward-oriented and where the chair has contact with other cooperatives or businesses, have a wider service portfolio. These results may help to explain the mixed findings on the impact of cooperative membership.

Abstract: The distribution of livestock grazing is a key principle of range management. This study examines pastoralists perceptions of the factors that affect the distribution of livestock in the rangelands of the Neqab region of the Kashmar County in north-east Iran. Data were collected from the pastoralists on their perceptions of the managerial, biological and physical factors that influences the distribution of livestock, using both qualitative and quantitative assessments. Results showed that, the perception of the majority of pastoralists was that the distribution of livestock was average or good in the study area. It was perceived that the experience of herders and the size of the rangeland were the main factors influencing the distribution of livestock. Regression analyses showed that it was perceived that managerial factors had a more important role than biological and physical factors in the distribution of livestock and the proper use of the rangelands in north-east Iran.

Abstract: An important issue in biodiversity valuation is gaining a better understanding of how biodiversity conservation affects economic activities and human welfare. Quantifying the economic benefits of biodiversity for human well-being is not straightforward. Here, we expand the ecosystem service cascade by (i) attributing a methodology to the different steps of the cascade to assess the effects of changes in functional group diversity on economic activities; (ii) including multiple attributes for defining functional diversity and (iii) integrating a dynamic ecological model simulating complex interactions and feedbacks between species with an economic model assessing the effects of changes in functional group diversity for gross revenues. The stepwise methodological framework integrates a production function approach with a market price-based approach in order to investigate the indirect use value of functional group diversity based on the ecological role of species in the ecosystem. The methodology is applied to estimate the relationship between the gross economic value of Chinook salmon (Pacific Northwest, United States) and the diversity of freshwater macroinvertebrates. The results of our analysis emphasize the importance of biological diversity for sustaining ecosystem goods and services. The analysis provides a tractable framework for quantitatively exploring the economic consequences of changes in functional group diversity.

Abstract: European policy states that by 2020 at least 20% of final energy consumption should come from renewable energy sources. Biomass as a renewable energy source cannot be disregarded in order to attain this target. In this study a macro screening approach is developed to determine potential locations for biomass valorization in a specified region. The approach consists of five steps: (1) criteria determination, (2) data gathering, (3) weight assignment, (4) final score, (5) spatial representation. The resulting outcome provides a first well balanced scan of the possibilities for energy production using regional biomass. This way policy makers and investors can be supported and motivated to study the possibilities of building energy production plants at specific locations in more detail, which can be described as a 'micro-screening'. In our case study the approach is applied to determine the potentially interesting locations to establish a biomass project. The region has been limited to the forty-four communities in the province of Limburg (Belgium). The macro screening approach has shown to be very effective since the amount of interesting locations has been reduced drastically. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Demand response (DR) can aid with grid integration of renewables, ensuring security of supply, and reducing generation costs. However, not enough is known about how residential customers’ perceptions of DR shape their response to such programs. This paper offers a deeper understanding of – and reveals the heterogeneity in – this relationship by conducting a quantile regression analysis of a Belgian DR trial, combining data on response with information on household attitudes towards smart appliances. Results overall suggest that improving response requires subtle shifts in electricity consumption behaviour, which can be achieved through changes in user perceptions. Specifically, if customers are inclined to be flexible, a stronger perception of smart appliances as being beneficial can greatly improve response. With those who are less flexible, the cost of smart appliances is a bigger concern. Thus, when designing DR programs, policymakers should aim to promote modest behaviour changes – so as to minimise inconvenience – in customers, by improving awareness on the benefits of smart appliances. Uptake of such DR programs may be improved by explaining the financial benefits or offering incentives to less flexible population segments. Lastly, improving response among older population segments will require a deeper investigation into their concerns.

Abstract: In spite of global actions, biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate. Despite the need for objectively comparable monetary standards to include biodiversity arguments in policymaking, research on the relationship between species diversity and its valuation from a societal perspective is still scarce. In this paper, a methodological framework for the valuation of natural predators based on their ecological role in the agroecosystem is introduced. The framework integrates a dynamic ecological model simulating interactions between species with an economic model, thereby quantifying the effect of reduced numbers of natural predators on the net farm income. The model attributes an objective monetary value to increased species diversity through the changes in the provisioning of a marketable good. Results indicate that the loss of three predators could decrease net farm income with 88.86 ha− 1 to 2186.5 ha− 1. For the pear production sector in Flanders in 2011, this constitutes to an indirect use value of 0,68 million for one predator and 16.63 million for the presence of three predators. The aim is to provide a justification for the argument for biodiversity conservation, based on the ecological function of species, through the delivery of comparable monetary standards.