Valuation of Ecosystem Services Based on EU Carbon Allowances—Optimal Recovery for a Coal Mining Area

Abstract

This paper presents a new way of valuing ecosystem services based on the price of EU carbon dioxide emission allowances. Its main advantage is that it facilitates the monetisation of non-provisioning ecosystem services, which is the Achilles heel of current frameworks. The research approach is built on the notion that land rehabilitation and ecological restoration involve trade-offs between ecosystem services. A quantitative assessment (valuation) of these trade-offs is necessary to make sound decisions. However, using different valuation methods to estimate monetary values creates a non-comparability in the valuation process that is difficult to correct. To address this problem, in the first place, the propagation of imprecise preference statements in hierarchical weighting is proposed, avoiding the non-comparability caused by the different current approaches while reducing the effort of preference elicitation. In the second place, to achieve consistency, monetisation of all non-provisioning ecosystem services was carried on the above comparison and the monetary valuation of the attribute with the most direct and market-related valuation possible: carbon sequestration, using the EU Emissions Trading System. A former coal mining area exemplifies the valuation of ecosystem services provided by alternative ecological restoration scenarios. The aim is to estimate their contribution to human well-being, understand the incentives faced by decision makers to manage ecosystems in different ways and assess the values of alternative solutions. An exercise is then carried out to show that the price of EU carbon permits (as of December 2021) after the price escalation that coincides with phase 4 of the allocation of allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System can be estimated by prioritising biodiversity over other ecosystem services.

The Cost Reduction Analysis of Green Hydrogen Production from Coal Mine Underground Water for Circular Economy

“…To protect rivers and watercourses, constant monitoring of discharged water and pollutants dissolved in it by specialized services of SRK S.A. is necessary [1,15]. The ideal situation would be to completely eliminate these emissions from the environment [37,38,41]. So as to support the operation of the pumping station, 11 post-mining facilities are left, and the unnecessary ones are liquidated.…”

“…The management of mine and rainwater combined with the development of the concept for the pilot solution for energy self-sufficiency in an exemplary mine water pumping station was the main research goal. Additionally, a very important design element was to reduce the negative impact of polluted water emissions on the environment and increase the financial efficiency of the project [37,38]. The process of pumping water from abandoned mines is inherently expensive.…”

Hydrogen Storage and Combustion for Blackout Protection of Mine Water Pumping Stations

“…Energy evaluation criteria were set for the primary mode of pumping station operation. When operating in the emergency mode, the greatest importance is given to satisfying the main sentence, i.e., blackout resistance, and the importance of energy criteria is no longer so important [9,10].…”

“…Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopal ń S.A. (SRK S.A.-Mines Restructuring Company, Bytom, Poland), which carries out liquidation and post-liquidation activities at former coal mine sites in Poland, aims to reduce negative environmental externalities as much as possible [7,8]. One way to reduce the impact is to generate energy from RESs [9][10][11]. The use of RESs depends on weather conditions, which poses many challenges [12,13].…”

Repurposing End-of-Life Coal Mines with Business Models Based on Renewable Energy and Circular Economy Technologies

“…To achieve this goal and to justify the business model choice, a multicriteria assessment [12][13][14] was developed based on previously assessed relevant scenarios and microscenarios. Here, a scenario is understood to be a standalone technology or a combination of technologies that provides a complete solution for the repurposing of closed coal mines to build a business model for the specific area.…”