IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v6y2014i1p267-282d31891.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nonparametric Forecasting for Biochar Utilization in Poyang Lake Eco-Economic Zone in China

Author

Listed:
  • Meng-Shiuh Chang

    (School of Public Finance and Taxation, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Chih-Chun Kung

    (Institute of Poyang Lake Eco-economics, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang 330013, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

Agriculture is the least profitable industry in China. However, even with large financial subsidies from the government, farmers’ living standards have had no significant impact so far due to the historical, geographical, climatic factors. The study examines and quantifies the net economic and environmental benefits by utilizing biochar as a soil amendment in eleven counties in the Poyang Lake Eco-Economic Zone. A nonparametric kernel regression model is employed to estimate the relation between the scaled environmental and economic factors, which are determined as regression variables. In addition, the partial linear and single index regression models are used for comparison. In terms of evaluations of mean squared errors, the kernel estimator, exceeding the other estimators, is employed to forecast benefits of using biochar under various scenarios. The results indicate that biochar utilization can potentially increase farmers’ income if rice is planted and the net economic benefits can be achieved up to ¥114,900. The net economic benefits are higher when the pyrolysis plant is built in the south of Poyang Lake Eco-Economic Zone than when it is built in the north as the southern land is relatively barren, and biochar can save more costs on irrigation and fertilizer use.

Suggested Citation

  • Meng-Shiuh Chang & Chih-Chun Kung, 2014. "Nonparametric Forecasting for Biochar Utilization in Poyang Lake Eco-Economic Zone in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-16, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:1:p:267-282:d:31891
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/6/1/267/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/6/1/267/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johannes Lehmann & John Gaunt & Marco Rondon, 2006. "Bio-char Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems – A Review," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 395-419, March.
    2. Johannes Lehmann, 2007. "A handful of carbon," Nature, Nature, vol. 447(7141), pages 143-144, May.
    3. Qi Li & Jeffrey Scott Racine, 2006. "Nonparametric Econometrics: Theory and Practice," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 8355.
    4. Ben C. French, 1960. "Some Considerations in Estimating Assembly Cost Functions for Agricultural Processing Operations," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 42(4), pages 767-778.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tao Wu & Yuelong Wang, 2015. "Did the Establishment of Poyang Lake Eco-Economic Zone Increase Agricultural Labor Productivity in Jiangxi Province, China?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Wenbo Chen & Gerrit J. Carsjens & Lihong Zhao & Haifeng Li, 2014. "A Spatial Optimization Model for Sustainable Land Use at Regional Level in China: A Case Study for Poyang Lake Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-21, December.

    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. Kung, Chih-Chun & McCarl, Bruce A. & Cao, Xiaoyong, 2013. "Economics of pyrolysis-based energy production and biochar utilization: A case study in Taiwan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 317-323.
    2. Kung, Chih-Chun & Zhang, Liguo & Kong, Fanbin, 2016. "How government subsidy leads to sustainable bioenergy development," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 275-284.
    3. Kung, Chih-Chun & Fei, Chengcheng J. & McCarl, Bruce A. & Fan, Xinxin, 2022. "A review of biopower and mitigation potential of competing pyrolysis methods," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    4. Huang, Yawen & Tao, Bo & Lal, Rattan & Lorenz, Klaus & Jacinthe, Pierre-Andre & Shrestha, Raj K. & Bai, Xiongxiong & Singh, Maninder P. & Lindsey, Laura E. & Ren, Wei, 2023. "A global synthesis of biochar's sustainability in climate-smart agriculture - Evidence from field and laboratory experiments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    5. Zhang, Zhikun & Zhu, Zongyuan & Shen, Boxiong & Liu, Lina, 2019. "Insights into biochar and hydrochar production and applications: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 581-598.
    6. Jayanta Layek & Rumi Narzari & Samarendra Hazarika & Anup Das & Krishnappa Rangappa & Shidayaichenbi Devi & Arumugam Balusamy & Saurav Saha & Sandip Mandal & Ramkrushna Gandhiji Idapuganti & Subhash B, 2022. "Prospects of Biochar for Sustainable Agriculture and Carbon Sequestration: An Overview for Eastern Himalayas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-19, May.
    7. Mathews, John A., 2008. "Carbon-negative biofuels," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 940-945, March.
    8. Feng, Qunjie & Lin, Yunqin, 2017. "Integrated processes of anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis for higher bioenergy recovery from lignocellulosic biomass: A brief review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1272-1287.
    9. Chih-Chun Kung & Meng-Shiuh Chang, 2015. "Effect of Agricultural Feedstock to Energy Conversion Rate on Bioenergy and GHG Emissions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-15, May.
    10. Kung, Chih-Chun & Mu, Jianhong E., 2019. "Prospect of China's renewable energy development from pyrolysis and biochar applications under climate change," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Sarah A. Doydora & Miguel L. Cabrera & Keshav C. Das & Julia W. Gaskin & Leticia S. Sonon & William P. Miller, 2011. "Release of Nitrogen and Phosphorus from Poultry Litter Amended with Acidified Biochar," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-12, May.
    12. Juan Luis Aguirre & Sergio González-Egido & María González-Lucas & Francisco Miguel González-Pernas, 2023. "Medium-Term Effects and Economic Analysis of Biochar Application in Three Mediterranean Crops," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-18, May.
    13. Kung, Chih-Chun & Zhang, Ning, 2015. "Renewable energy from pyrolysis using crops and agricultural residuals: An economic and environmental evaluation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P2), pages 1532-1544.
    14. Laine, Jorge, 2012. "Perspective of the preparation of agrichars using fossil hydrocarbon coke," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(8), pages 5597-5602.
    15. Brennan, Liam & Owende, Philip, 2010. "Biofuels from microalgae--A review of technologies for production, processing, and extractions of biofuels and co-products," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 557-577, February.
    16. Song, Biao & Almatrafi, Eydhah & Tan, Xiaofei & Luo, Songhao & Xiong, Weiping & Zhou, Chengyun & Qin, Meng & Liu, Yang & Cheng, Min & Zeng, Guangming & Gong, Jilai, 2022. "Biochar-based agricultural soil management: An application-dependent strategy for contributing to carbon neutrality," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    17. Akhtar, Saqib Saleem & Andersen, Mathias Neumann & Liu, Fulai, 2015. "Residual effects of biochar on improving growth, physiology and yield of wheat under salt stress," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 61-68.
    18. Chih-Chun Kung & Hualin Xie & Tao Wu & Shih-Chih Chen, 2014. "Biofuel for Energy Security: An Examination on Pyrolysis Systems with Emissions from Fertilizer and Land-Use Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-18, January.
    19. Yang, Qing & Han, Fei & Chen, Yingquan & Yang, Haiping & Chen, Hanping, 2016. "Greenhouse gas emissions of a biomass-based pyrolysis plant in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1580-1590.
    20. Chih-Chun Kung & Bruce A. McCarl & Chi-Chung Chen & Xiaoyong Cao, 2014. "Environmental Impact and Energy Production: Evaluation of Biochar Application on Taiwanese Set-Aside Land," Energy & Environment, , vol. 25(1), pages 13-39, February.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:1:p:267-282:d:31891. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.