IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v193y2022ics0921800921003372.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Targeted regulation of nitrogen loads: A national, cross-sectoral analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Konrad, Maria Theresia
  • Hansen, Line Block
  • Levin, Gregor
  • Blicher-Mathiesen, Gitte
  • Andersen, Hans Estrup
  • Martinsen, Louise
  • Hasler, Berit

Abstract

In Denmark, eutrophication of coastal areas is one of the major challenges in meeting the requirements from the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). This eutrophication is mainly a cause of excessive nitrogen loads from agricultural production, which can be reduced by implementing abatement measures. The cost-effectiveness of a land use policy may vary depending on the abatement measures used and where they are implemented. Taking account of the spatial heterogeneity of costs and effects in the choice of abatement measures significantly reduces the cost of meeting WFD targets. Targeting of regulation to identify least cost options to reduce nitrogen has for many years focused on agricultural abatement measures. However, the marginal costs of reductions in agriculture have now increased to an extent, where it has become relevant also to reconsider other sectors. We set out to compare nitrogen abatement measures across agriculture and waste water treatment at a national level, acknowledging heterogeneity in marginal costs across spatial location as well as differences in reduction requirements across catchments. In the analysis, we combine data on costs and effects of abatement measures at a fine spatial scale to estimate marginal costs within the two sectors at a national level for Denmark. The model minimizes the costs of meeting the specific required nitrogen load reduction targets for all catchments and finds the composition and spatial location of the optimal abatement effort. We find that waste water treatment abatement measures are only relevant in two coastal catchments, where they mainly serve as a supplement due to insufficient potential for agricultural land in rotation to provide all the N load reductions. Furthermore, we find that the pressure on agricultural land to reduce nutrient loads is very high in some catchments, implying that abatement measures such as land retirement where abatement costs are high enters the optimal solution due to their high level of effectiveness. Recommendations and average costs vary across catchments, indicating that results are not easily translated to generic national-level policy design.

Suggested Citation

  • Konrad, Maria Theresia & Hansen, Line Block & Levin, Gregor & Blicher-Mathiesen, Gitte & Andersen, Hans Estrup & Martinsen, Louise & Hasler, Berit, 2022. "Targeted regulation of nitrogen loads: A national, cross-sectoral analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:193:y:2022:i:c:s0921800921003372
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107278
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800921003372
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107278?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. Hongli Feng & Manoj Jha & Phil Gassman, 2009. "The Allocation of Nutrient Load Reduction across a Watershed: Assessing Delivery Coefficients as an Implementation Tool," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 31(1), pages 183-204.
    2. Sergey S. Rabotyagov & Adriana M. Valcu & Catherine L. Kling, 2014. "Reversing Property Rights: Practice-Based Approaches for Controlling Agricultural Nonpoint-source Water Pollution When Emissions Aggregate Nonlinearly," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(2), pages 397-419.
    3. Sami Hautakangas & Markku Ollikainen, 2019. "Nutrient Trading Between Wastewater Treatment Plants in the Baltic Sea Region," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(2), pages 533-556, June.
    4. Martin-Ortega, Julia & Perni, Angel & Jackson-Blake, Leah & Balana, Bedru B. & Mckee, Annie & Dunn, Sarah & Helliwell, Rachel & Psaltopoulos, Demetris & Skuras, Dimitris & Cooksley, Susan & Slee, Bill, 2015. "A transdisciplinary approach to the economic analysis of the European Water Framework Directive," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 34-45.
    5. Bekele, Elias G. & Lant, Christopher L. & Soman, Sethuram & Misgna, Girmay, 2013. "The evolution and empirical estimation of ecological-economic production possibilities frontiers," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 1-9.
    6. Balana, Bedru Babulo & Vinten, Andy & Slee, Bill, 2011. "A review on cost-effectiveness analysis of agri-environmental measures related to the EU WFD: Key issues, methods, and applications," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 1021-1031, April.
    7. Rabotyagov, Sergey S. & Campbell, Todd & Jha, Manoj & Gassman, Philip W. & Arnold, Jeffrey G. & Kurkalova, Lyubov A. & Secchi, Silvia & Feng, Hongli & Kling, Catherine L., 2010. "Least Cost Control of Agricultural Nutrient Contributions to the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone," Staff General Research Papers Archive 31319, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    8. Maria Theresia Konrad & Hans Estrup Andersen & Steen Gyldenkœrne & Mette Termansen, 2017. "Synergies and Trade-offs in Spatially Targeted Water Quality and Climate Change Mitigation Policies," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 93(2), pages 309-327.
    9. Drechsler, Martin & Wätzold, Frank, 2020. "Biodiversity conservation in a dynamic world may lead to inefficiencies due to lock-in effects and path dependence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    10. Aftab, Ashar & Hanley, Nick & Baiocchi, Giovanni, 2017. "Transferability of Policies to Control Agricultural Nonpoint Pollution in Relatively Similar Catchments," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 11-21.
    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. Valatin, G. & Ovando, P. & Abildtrup, J. & Accastello, C. & Andreucci, M.B. & Chikalanov, A. & El Mokaddem, A. & Garcia, S. & Gonzalez-Sanchis, M. & Gordillo, F. & Kayacan, B. & Little, D. & Lyubenova, 2022. "Approaches to cost-effectiveness of payments for tree planting and forest management for water quality services," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    2. Schönhart, Martin & Trautvetter, Helene & Parajka, Juraj & Blaschke, Alfred Paul & Hepp, Gerold & Kirchner, Mathias & Mitter, Hermine & Schmid, Erwin & Strenn, Birgit & Zessner, Matthias, 2018. "Modelled impacts of policies and climate change on land use and water quality in Austria," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 500-514.
    3. Grenestam, Erik & Nordin, Martin, 2018. "Estimating the impact of agri-environmental payments on nutrient runoff using a unique combination of data," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 388-398.
    4. Valcu, Adriana & Rabotyagov, Sergey S. & Kling, Catherine L., 2013. "Flexible Practice-Based Approaches For Controlling Multiple Agricultural Nonpoint-Source Water Pollution," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150450, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Catherine L. Kling & Yiannis Panagopoulos & Adriana Valcu-Lisman & Philip W. Gassman & Sergey Rabotyagov & Todd Campbell & Mike White & Jeffrey G. Arnold & Raghavan Srinivasan & Manoj Jha & Jeff Richa, 2014. "Land Use Model Integrating Agriculture and the Environment (LUMINATE): Linkages between Agricultural Land Use, Local Water Quality and Hypoxic Concerns in the Gulf of Mexico Basin," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 14-wp546, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    6. Whittaker, Gerald & Färe, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna & Barnhart, Bradley & Bostian, Moriah & Mueller-Warrant, George & Griffith, Stephen, 2017. "Spatial targeting of agri-environmental policy using bilevel evolutionary optimization," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 66(PA), pages 15-27.
    7. Nainggolan, Doan & Hasler, Berit & Andersen, Hans E. & Gyldenkærne, Steen & Termansen, Mette, 2018. "Water Quality Management and Climate Change Mitigation: Cost-effectiveness of Joint Implementation in the Baltic Sea Region," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 12-26.
    8. Shr, Yau-Huo (Jimmy) & Zhang, Wendong, 2024. "Omitted downstream attributes and the benefits of nutrient reductions: Implications for choice experiments," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    9. Filippelli, Raphael & Termansen, Mette & Hasan, Syezlin & Hasler, Berit & Hansen, Line & Smart, James C.R., 2022. "Water quality trading markets – Integrating land and marine based measures under a smart market approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    10. Liang Liu & Cong Feng & Hongwei Zhang & Xuehua Zhang, 2015. "Game Analysis and Simulation of the River Basin Sustainable Development Strategy Integrating Water Emission Trading," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-21, April.
    11. Barbara Langlois & Vincent Martinet, 2023. "Defining cost-effective ways to improve ecosystem services provision in agroecosystems," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 104(2), pages 123-165, June.
    12. Hongxing Liu & Wendong Zhang & Elena Irwin & Jeffrey Kast & Noel Aloysius & Jay Martin & Margaret Kalcic, 2020. "Best Management Practices and Nutrient Reduction: An Integrated Economic-Hydrologic Model of the Western Lake Erie Basin," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 96(4), pages 510-530.
    13. Zhang, Wei, 2015. "Costs of a Practice-Based Air Quality Regulation: Dairy Farms in the San Joaquin Valley," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205304, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Sidemo-Holm, William & Smith, Henrik G. & Brady, Mark V., 2018. "Improving agricultural pollution abatement through result-based payment schemes," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 209-219.
    15. Rolfe, John & Windle, Jill & McCosker, Kevin & Northey, Adam, 2018. "Assessing cost-effectiveness when environmental benefits are bundled: agricultural water management in Great Barrier Reef catchments," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 62(3), July.
    16. Warziniack, Travis & Sims, Charles & Haas, Jessica, 2019. "Fire and the joint production of ecosystem services: A spatial-dynamic optimization approach," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-1.
    17. Cyril Bourgeois & Nosra Ben-Fradj & Mélissa Clodic & Pierre-Alain Jayet, 2011. "How cost-effective is a mixed policy targeting the management of three pollutants from N-fertilizers," Working Papers 2011/03, INRA, Economie Publique.
    18. Konrad, Maria Theresia & Nielsen, Helle Ørsted & Pedersen, Anders Branth & Elofsson, Katarina, 2019. "Drivers of Farmers' Investments in Nutrient Abatement Technologies in Five Baltic Sea Countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 91-100.
    19. Qianwen Yu & Zehao Sun & Junyuan Shen & Xia Xu & Xiangnan Chen, 2023. "Interactive Allocation of Water Pollutant Initial Emission Rights in a Basin under Total Amount Control: A Leader-Follower Hierarchical Decision Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-25, January.
    20. repec:bla:canjag:v:58:y:2010:i:s1:p:411-431 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Ward, Frank A., 2023. "Innovations for the Water Resource Economics Curriculum: Training the Next Generation," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 5(3), September.

    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:ecolec:v:193:y:2022:i:c:s0921800921003372. 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/ecolecon .

    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.