Question

Analysis Questions

1)If you were a real-world sustainability policy professional, how would you go about conducting a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis? What specific information would you need?

2)What are some other impacts that solar farms might have on ecosystems?

3) Based on a cost-benefit analysis which option has the better net benefits (benefits-costs)?

4) What are some other impacts that solar farms might have on ecosystems?

5)The City of Cranston’s Mayor supports more development of solar farms in the western part of Cranston while many residents and city council members disapprove of locating solar farms on agricultural land.

The mayor has a choice of introducing a command and control strategy or an economic inventive strategy.

The command and control strategy would rezone the land as commercial rather than agricultural and change the natural resource elements of the Master Plan to allow for farmland change into solar panels. Solar farms would be considered an “allowable use”.

A second choice would be to provide economic incentives like tax breaks for companies that want to build solar panels on agricultural land. The residents and council members would prefer to have higher taxes on solar farms, if allowed at all, and tax breaks for agricultural farmers.

6)Could there be alternative economic incentives or regulations for other locaitons of solar panels? Brainstorm some potential design solutions to decrease the reliance on agricultural land for solar panels.

Answer 1

1.

A cost benefit analysis is an essential tool that aids in making business decisions regarding a project proposal based not only on the traditional method of taking the costs involved but also considering other costs like the costs incurred by the society as a result of the project proposed to be undertaken.

The professional, conducting a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis would need to make a list of all the relevant costs-benefits that would be incurred due to the project, both private costs-benefits and social costs-benefits. While it may be easier to identify the private costs and benefits , it would become complicated to assess the external costs -benefits that occur to the society at large more so since the effects are far fetching , for example , a factory can cause pollution levels to rise in all nearby county areas and not just the county in vicinity.

It becomes more tougher to assess these social costs-benefits monetarily, since the impact is not clear and involves human lives which cannot be monetarily valued.

In case of projects involving ten years or more the cost-benefit assessment must necessarily take into account the long term consequences of such a project. Where the capital expenditure is high.

In case the value of the benefits is greater than that of costs then it becomes easier to arrive at a decision while in case the value of costs is more than the benefits the appraisal needs to be re examined.

Ideally a professional would need extensive information regarding the proposal –the proposed costs and the benefits to the firm as well as the costs that would be borne by the society—stakeholders, at large who would be directly or indirectly impacted by the project.

2.

Solar energy has been a great source of environment friendly renewable energy and it is put to much use , especially in the wake of the growing pressure on the conventional sources of energy and the wide spread energy crisis.

The solar -farm technique reduces the amount of pollution that are caused by the conventional sources of energy. The solar energy does not release any toxic gases as opposed to its more popular energy substitutes and hence is a readily acceptable energy source.

Essentially ‘sustainability in development is the most important goal but the ultimate goal is that of preservation of environment .

However the solar farms can cause severe ‘heat effect’, that harms the biodiversity in and around the farms. They are not conducive to the living environment around.

The farms require large tracts of land and this may lead to an opportunity cost regarding decisions about the usage of land—the basic point being land is fixed in supply and hence has to be put to use in a economical manner.

3.

An option that has lesser costs –especially the external costs and greater benefits –external –to the society , is the option that has better net benefits. It is important to make an estimate of costs involved –an estimate of all private costs involved separately and an estimate of all social costs involved separately to assess the ‘cost’ part of the analysis.

In a similar manner the benefits have to be assessed—the private and the social separately, and the final result has to be analysed to accurately assess the net benefits of the proposed project.

4.

Solar energy has been a great source of eco friendly renewable energy and it is put to much use , especially in the wake of the growing pressure on the conventional sources of energy and the wide spread energy crisis.

The solar -farm technique reduces the amount of pollution that are caused by the conventional sources of energy. The solar energy does not release any toxic gases as opposed to its more popular energy substitutes and hence is a readily acceptable energy source.

Essentially ‘sustainability in development is the most important goal but the ultimate goal is that of preservation of environment .

However the solar farms can cause severe ‘heat effect’, that harms the biodiversity in and around the farms. They are not conducive to the living environment around.

The farms require large tracts of land and this may lead to an opportunity cost regarding decisions about the usage of land—the basic point being land is fixed in supply and hence has to be put to use in a economical manner.

6.

6. The alternative solution for locating solar farms would be in lands that are situated away from the city of Cranston, especially the waste lands that may have been subjected to over grazing.

Another remote possibility is to utilize the desert lands or dry lands , if they are available as solar farms.

The lands that have poor soil and unsuitable for cultivation , or the lands near to a power plant can be utilized to set up the solar farms. Geographically , the areas that have been subjected to repeated soil erosion are typically useful for such purposes.