Harnessing waste-to-energy potential in developing countries: a case study of rural Ghana.

This study examines factors that define a suitable waste-to-energy (WTE) technology and identifies an appropriate WTE technology that can be deployed to improve waste management in rural areas. Observations, questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data from waste management experts at Atwima Kwanwoma District and the residents in Kwanwoma township in Ghana. This study established that the following major factors define a suitable WTE technology for the Kwanwoma township: the initial capital or set-up costs, feedstock type, required plant size, and required input volume. The study also revealed that sanitary landfill with gas capture is the most suitable WTE technology for the Kwanwoma township based on the least set-up costs and scalability. The study provides the next steps for government action on WTE technology at the township, district, and national levels.

The impact of natural disasters on China's macroeconomy.

This study attempts to construct an econometric model using China's natural disaster losses and macro-industry development data from 1980 to 2017 to explore the macroeconomic fluctuations caused by natural disasters. The structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) and the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) models are employed in estimating the impact of natural disasters on China's macroeconomy and how the disasters specifically affect the three sectors of the economy: primary, secondary, and tertiary. This study concludes that even though natural disasters in China do not significantly affect the overall real GDP, they have adverse impacts on the production in the primary industry, causing a sudden reduction in the means of production in the market and directly affecting various industries, but the impact on the secondary and tertiary industries is weak. This study also shows that the effect of natural disasters on the primary sector reduced significantly following industry restructuring after China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The impact of natural disasters on the primary industry could be reduced by adjusting the industrial structure to deal with macroeconomic shocks caused by natural disasters in order to promote macroeconomic stability of both regional and national economies. Finally, national aid policy should focus on the primary industry since that sector is significantly affected by natural disasters shocks.

Securitization product design for China's environmental pollution liability insurance.

The environmental catastrophic accidents in China over the last three decades have triggered implementation of myriad policies by the government to help abate environmental pollution in the country. Consequently, research into environmental pollution liability insurance and how that can stimulate economic growth and the development of financial market in China is worthwhile. This study attempts to design a financial derivative for China's environmental pollution liability insurance to offer strong financial support for significant compensation towards potential catastrophic environmental loss exposures, especially losses from the chemical industry. Assuming the risk-free interest rate is 4%, the market portfolio expected return is 12%; the financial asset beta coefficient is 0.5, by using the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and cash flow analysis; the principal risk bond yields 9.4%, single-period and two-period prices are 103.85 and 111.58, respectively; the principal partial-risk bond yields 10.09%, single-period and two-period prices are 103.85 and 111.58, respectively; and the principal risk-free bond yields 8.94%, single-period and two-period prices are 107.99 and 115.83, respectively. This loss exposure transfer framework transfers the catastrophic risks of environmental pollution from the traditional insurance and reinsurance markets to the capital market. This strengthens the underwriting capacity of environmental pollution liability insurance companies, mitigates the compensation risks of insurers and reinsurers, and provides a new channel to transfer the risks of environmental pollution.