Is the profitability of Canadian tiestall farms associated with their performance on an animal welfare assessment?

In order for dairy producers to comply with animal welfare recommendations, financial investments may be required. In Canada, a new dairy animal care assessment program is currently being implemented under the proAction Initiative to determine the extent to which certain aspects of the Code of Practice are being followed and to assess the care and well-being of dairy cattle on farm. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the association between meeting the proAction animal-based and the electric trainer placement criteria and certain aspects of productivity and profitability on tiestall dairy farms. The results of a previous on-farm cow comfort assessment conducted on 100 Canadian tiestall farms were used to simulate the results of a part of the proAction Animal Care assessment on these farms. Each farm's productivity and profitability data were retrieved from the regional dairy herd improvement associations. Univariable and multivariable linear regressions were used to evaluate the associations between meeting these proAction criteria and the farms' average yearly: corrected milk production, somatic cell count (SCC), calving interval, number of breedings/cow, culling rate, prevalence of cows in third or higher lactation, and margins per cow and per kilogram of quota calculated over replacement costs. The association between milk production and the proAction lameness criterion was moderated through an interaction with the milk production genetic index which resulted in an increase in milk production per year with increasing genetic index that was steeper in farms that met the proAction lameness criterion compared with farms that did not. Meeting the proAction body condition score criterion was associated with reduced SCC and meeting the proAction electric trainer placement criterion was associated with SCC through an interaction with the farms' average SCC genetic index. The increase in SCC with increasing SCC genetic index was milder in farms that met this criterion compared with farms that did not. Farms that met the proAction electric trainer placement criterion had 4.6% more cows in their third or greater lactation. These results suggest that some associations exist between the productivity of Canadian tiestall farms and meeting several parameters of the proAction Animal Care assessment. Meeting these criteria is unlikely to impose any economic burden to the dairy industry as a whole.     

Techno-economics of novel refueling stations based on ammonia-to-hydrogen route and SOFC technology

This paper presents the economic assessment of novel refueling stations, in which through advanced and high efficiency technologies, the polygeneration of more energy services like hydrogen, electricity and heat is carried out on-site.The architecture of these polygeneration plants is realized with a modular structure, organized in more sections.The primary energy source is ammonia that represents an interesting fuel for producing more energy streams. The ammonia feeds directly the SOFC that is able to co-generate simultaneously electricity and hydrogen by coupling a high efficiency energy system with hydrogen chemical storage.Two system configurations have been proposed considering different design concepts: in the first case (Concept_1) the plant is sized for producing 100 kg/day of hydrogen and the power section is sized also for self-sustaining the plant electric power consumption, while in the second one (Concept_2) the plant is sized for producing 100 kg/day of hydrogen and the power section is sized for self-sustaining the plant electric power consumption and for generating 50 kW for the DC fast charging.The economic analysis has been carried out in the current and target scenarios, by evaluating, the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH), the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), the Profitability Index (PI), Internal rate of Return (IRR) and the Discounted Payback Period (DPP).Results have highlighted that the values of the LCOH, for the proposed configurations and economic scenarios, are in the range 6–10 €/kg and the values of the LCOE range from 0.447 €/kWh to 0.242 €/kWh.In terms of PI and IRR, the best performance is achieved in the Concept_1 for the current scenario (1.89 and 8.0%, respectively). On the contrary, in the target scenario, thanks to a drastic costs reduction the co-production of hydrogen and electricity as useful outputs, becomes the best choice from all economic indexes and parameters considered.     

The extent that certain dairy farmer attitudes and behaviors are associated with farm business profitability

The way in which farm managers' attitudes, personality, behavior, values, and sociodemographic characteristics influence farm business performance is, at best, only partially understood. The study reported here expands on this understanding by analyzing the attitudes and personal attributes of 80 dairy farmers in Great Britain in relation to the profitability over 3 yr of their farm businesses. Business goals, temperament, purchasing behavior, and having a growth mindset toward the business were found to be associated with profitability. A linear regression model consisting of 5 variables related to the above was presented that predicts 34% of the observed variation in profitability. Each of these variables were questions related to the participants' personal attitudes or beliefs. Other assessed variables, such as specific husbandry behaviors or practices, or management practices and sociodemographic characteristics, did not warrant inclusion in the final model. These results uniquely contribute to understanding how the attitudes, personality, behaviors, and attributes of dairy farmers are associated with, and thus likely to influence, the profitability of their farm businesses.     

磷石膏转化制硫酸铵的发展前景分析

分析指出硫酸铵产品在中国肥料、工业及出口应用领域均存在持续增长的消费空间;传统产业及烟气脱硫副产硫酸铵产能的增长难于满足消费增长的需要;磷石膏转化制硫酸铵具有产能扩展空间大的优势;国内磷石膏转化制硫酸铵的产业化技术基本成熟,副产碳酸钙渣的较佳用途是作酸性土壤改良剂。定量分析了产品售价对项目可接受氨价及需补贴资金的影响,给出了有补贴和无补贴资金时使项目经济可行的产品售价。指出磷石膏转化制硫酸铵在有条件的高浓磷复肥企业会有较好的发展前景。     

Solar energy storage in German households: profitability,load changes and flexibility

The developments of battery storage technology together with photovoltaic (PV) roof-top systems might lead to far-reaching changes in the electricity demand structures and flexibility of households. The implications are supposed to affect the generation mix of utilities, distribution grid utilization, and electricity price. Using a techno-economic optimization model of a household system, we endogenously dimension PV system and stationary battery storage (SBS). The results of the reference scenario show positive net present values (NPV) for PV systems of approx. 500–1,800 EUR/kW_p and NPV for SBS of approx. 150–500 EUR/kWh. Main influences are the demand of the households, self-consumption rates, investment costs, and electricity prices. We integrate electric vehicles (EV) with different charging strategies and find increasing NPV of the PV system and self-consumption of approx. 70%. With further declining system prices for solar energy storage and increasing electricity prices, PV systems and SBS can be profitable in Germany from 2018 on even without a guaranteed feed-in tariff or subsidies. Grid utilization substantially changes by households with EV and PV-SBS. We discuss effects of different incentives and electricity tariff options (e. g. load limits or additional demand charges). Concluding, solar energy storage systems will bring substantial changes to electricity sales.     

煤炭企业资本、资产结构匹配性与盈利能力关系研究

盈利能力是衡量企业经营能力的重要指标之一,资产、资本结构直接影响企业的盈利能力。我国是当今世界上第一产煤大国,煤炭产量占世界的50%以上,煤炭行业在我国第二产业中占有举足轻重的地位。在供给侧改革深化过程中,煤炭行业的工作重点是去产能及产业优化升级,从煤炭企业层面而言,协调资产、资本结构匹配性与盈利能力的关系是长远优质发展的关键。本文以此为切入点,抽样选取2006-2016年我国20家煤炭上市公司为样本进行实证分析,研究发现：流动比率、长期资产适合率与煤炭企业盈利能力成正相关,资产负债率与煤炭企业盈利能力负相关。     

Farm-specific economic value of automatic lameness detection systems in dairy cattle: From concepts to operational simulations

Although prototypes of automatic lameness detection systems for dairy cattle exist, information about their economic value is lacking. In this paper, a conceptual and operational framework for simulating the farm-specific economic value of automatic lameness detection systems was developed and tested on 4 system types: walkover pressure plates, walkover pressure mats, camera systems, and accelerometers. The conceptual framework maps essential factors that determine economic value (e.g., lameness prevalence, incidence and duration, lameness costs, detection performance, and their relationships). The operational simulation model links treatment costs and avoided losses with detection results and farm-specific information, such as herd size and lameness status. Results show that detection performance, herd size, discount rate, and system lifespan have a large influence on economic value. In addition, lameness prevalence influences the economic value, stressing the importance of an adequate prior estimation of the on-farm prevalence. The simulations provide first estimates for the upper limits for purchase prices of automatic detection systems. The framework allowed for identification of knowledge gaps obstructing more accurate economic value estimation. These include insights in cost reductions due to early detection and treatment, and links between specific lameness causes and their related losses. Because this model provides insight in the trade-offs between automatic detection systems' performance and investment price, it is a valuable tool to guide future research and developments.     

提高减压渣油掺炼率对重油催化裂化装置消耗与效益的影响

中国石油化工股份有限公司济南分公司两套重油催化裂化装置近年来效益一直比较好，但同时又表现出成本高、消耗大的特点，其原因是由其特殊的重油催化裂化高减压渣油掺炼率工艺路线所决定的，高掺炼率虽然增加了能耗和催化剂等原材料的消耗，但更降低了原料成本，再加上产品结构的改善，从而保证了利润最大化的终极目标。     

Profitability of grazing versus mechanical forage harvesting on New York dairy farms

The profitability of rotational grazing versus mechanical harvesting of forages was estimated using data from 237 nongrazing and 57 grazing farms participating in the New York farm business summary program in the year 2000. The objective was to perform an empirical comparison of the profitability of grazing versus mechanical forage harvesting systems. A regression analysis technique that controls for treatment selection bias is used to determine the impact of grazing on the rate of return on assets. This is accomplished by joint maximum likelihood estimation of a probit adoption function and a profit function. The results indicate that treatment selection does not have an important impact on the estimate of the profitability of grazing. There were wide ranges and overlap of profitability among herds using the two systems. However, other things equal, farmers utilizing grazing systems were at least if not more profitable than farmers not using grazing systems. After controlling for the factors influencing the decision to graze, we found that herd size, rate of milk production per cow, and prices received for milk have a strong positive impact on profitability. Farmers who perceive potential lifestyle benefits that might be obtained by implementing a grazing system likely do not have to pay an income penalty for adopting a grazing system.     

Assessing Profitability Factors in the Greek Banking System: A Multicriteria Methodology

The increasing competition in the national and international banking markets, the changeover towards monetary union and the new technological innovations herald major changes in the banking environment, and challenge all banks to make timely preparations in order to enter into the new competitive monetary and financial environment. Therefore, it is interesting to investigate the effectiveness of Greek banks, as it is valued by the financial markets, i.e. the greater the efficacy the higher the competitiveness and vice versa. Taking into consideration the bank assets, we distinguish banks into small and large ones. Finding factors that make the differences in such effectiveness may explain the effective advantage of these two types of financial institutions and help us understand the 'financial intermediation' industry in Greece better. Based on their size, a classification of Greek banks, in a multivariate environment, according to the return and operation factors for the years 1990–1999 takes place. In order to investigate the differences of profitability and efficiency between small and large Greek banks, as well as the factors of profitability and operation related with the size of banks, a multicriteria methodology has been used. The results of this paper may help us determine the key success (or failure) factors of these two categories of Greek banks as well as the responsible banking decision–makers for future readjustments.