https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/17069
type: CreativeWork
name: Response of farmers' decisions and stream water quality to price incentives for nitrogen reduction, carbon abatement, and miscanthus cultivation: predictions based on agent-based modeling coupled with water quality modeling
description: The present study develops an agent-based model of farmers' decisions under the influence of nitrogen, carbon and second-generation bioenergy crop prices. This study also estimates the effects in turn of these decisions on water quality, namely stream nitrate load. Given that agriculture is the single largest source of nitrogen in surface waters and is a major contributor to hypoxia in coastal ecosystems and eutrophication in streams and lakes, this study is motivated to explore insights for water quality protection in the context of the environment-energy nexus. In this study, the price of nitrogen is based on subsidies paid to farmers for reducing their fertilizer inputs, while the price of carbon is based on carbon trading and the price for second-generation bioenergy crops from a market demand for them. Due to climate change concerns, there is a real possibility for carbon emissions reduction trading to be implemented on a large scale in the near future, which will increase the demand for bioenergy crops, including second-generation ones (defined as high-yielding perennial grasses such as switchgrass and miscanthus). Even without carbon trading, it is likely that there will still be an increased demand for second-generation bioenergy crops due to energy independence concerns. Currently, the primary feedstock for biofuel production in the U.S is corn. However, as the technology to produce cellulosic ethanol improves, it can be expected that perennial grasses, which are high in cellulosic content, will take on larger and larger roles. All this may lead to large-scale changes in agriculture and consequently, stream nitrate load. This study takes a modeling approach to estimate those changes. The conventional approach to modeling water quality policy is to impose upon the system some least cost, or maximum utility, equilibrium. Inherent to this are the assumptions of “rational” behavior, perfect information, zero transaction costs and static conditions. This study e…
abstract: The present study develops an agent-based model of farmers' decisions under the influence of nitrogen, carbon and second-generation bioenergy crop prices. This study also estimates the effects in turn of these decisions on water quality, namely stream nitrate load. Given that agriculture is the single largest source of nitrogen in surface waters and is a major contributor to hypoxia in coastal ecosystems and eutrophication in streams and lakes, this study is motivated to explore insights for water quality protection in the context of the environment-energy nexus. In this study, the price of nitrogen is based on subsidies paid to farmers for reducing their fertilizer inputs, while the price of carbon is based on carbon trading and the price for second-generation bioenergy crops from a market demand for them. Due to climate change concerns, there is a real possibility for carbon emissions reduction trading to be implemented on a large scale in the near future, which will increase the demand for bioenergy crops, including second-generation ones (defined as high-yielding perennial grasses such as switchgrass and miscanthus). Even without carbon trading, it is likely that there will still be an increased demand for second-generation bioenergy crops due to energy independence concerns. Currently, the primary feedstock for biofuel production in the U.S is corn. However, as the technology to produce cellulosic ethanol improves, it can be expected that perennial grasses, which are high in cellulosic content, will take on larger and larger roles. All this may lead to large-scale changes in agriculture and consequently, stream nitrate load. This study takes a modeling approach to estimate those changes. The conventional approach to modeling water quality policy is to impose upon the system some least cost, or maximum utility, equilibrium. Inherent to this are the assumptions of “rational” behavior, perfect information, zero transaction costs and static conditions. This study e…
author: Ng, Tze Ling
language: en
keywords: Agent-Based Modeling, Water Quality Policy, Nitrate, Carbon Trading, Nitrogen Abatement Subsidy, Bioenergy, Miscanthus, Second-Generation Bioenergy Crops, Land Use Change, Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), Watershed
date published: 2010-08-31T20:31:20Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:25:09Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/17069