Joel F. Bruneau

Greenhouse Gas Intensity in Canada: A Look at Historical Trends

L’un des principaux éléments sur lequel s’appuie la récente politique gouvernementale en matière de gaz à effets de serre (GES) est la réduction de l’intensité des émissions de GES. Dans cet article, nous examinons ce projet à la lumière des tendances observées entre 1990 et 2002, et en décomposant les variations d’intensité, grâce à un indice chaîne de Divisia, en effets de composition et en effets techniques. Nos résultats montrent que cette politique obligerait l’industrie à changer ses façons de faire, puisqu’elle devrait effectuer des réductions d’intensité comme jamais auparavant. Notre analyse suggère également qu’il serait difficile d’atteindre ces objectifs uniquement grâce à des progrès technologiques.

A panel study of water recirculation in manufacturing plants

Manufacturing plants routinely recirculate water to meet their process and cooling needs. This ability and willingness to recirculate water distinguishes manufacturing plants from most households and agricultural producers. The motivation for this research is to investigate the factors influencing manufacturing plants’ water recirculation decisions. The paper analyses a unique, balanced panel dataset of 2725 manufacturing plants that responded to the 1986, 1991 and 1996 Industrial Water Use Surveys. Investigation of the raw data shows that manufacturing plants routinely start and stop recirculation activities. Building on previous analysis based on only the 1996 dataset, a statistical model is developed to explain observed variations in the volume of water recirculated and water recirculation intensity (recirculation relative to intake) across the three time periods. Specifically, this paper applies a Heckman two-stage estimation procedure that jointly considers two facets of firms’ recirculation behaviour: first, the discrete decision of whether to recirculate and, second, the decision of how much to recirculate. Potential endogeneity of internal input costs is addressed through instrumental variables. Explanatory variables include the scale of operations, water-use costs and dummy variables that account for plants’ location and technology. Results indicate that water use costs, the scale of operations and the need to treat water prior to its use are important determinants of water recirculation decisions. This paper concludes by considering the policy implications of the empirical findings.