Policies For Cleaner Technology

Clean technology does not just aim to dilute or detoxify industrial waste. It aims to eliminate it by re-engineering the entire production cycle. As industry is constrained by regulations on the one hand and consumer pressure on the other, energy-efficient, resource-efficient and pollution-free production becomes imperative. It will be the next stage of industrial development. Using extensive empirical analysis of a range of different industrial sectors, this book shows how cleaner technology can be implemented, above all by the companies themselves. It looks at regulatory initiatives and focuses on how firms themselves can introduce the new technologies, systems and polices required.

Clean technology does not just aim to dilute or detoxify industrial waste. It aims to eliminate it by re-engineering the entire production cycle. As industry is constrained by regulations on the one hand and consumer pressure on the other, energy-efficient, resource-efficient and pollution-free production becomes imperative. It will be the next stage of industrial development. Using extensive empirical analysis of a range of different industrial sectors, this book shows how cleaner technology can be implemented, above all by the companies themselves. It looks at regulatory initiatives and focuses on how firms themselves can introduce the new technologies, systems and polices required.

First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

New technologies are crucial in dealing with the problem of air and water pollution, which is an increasingly important issue with serious health and environmental consequences. However, adoption of environmentally friendly technologies can be slow if the new technologies are not superior in terms of the firms' private incentives, if firms have long equipment replacement cycles, or if firms do not have sufficient information to evaluate whether or not a switch to a green technology is in their private interests. To evaluate these potential explanations and the policies designed to address them, I use an importance sampling technique with simulated maximum likelihood estimation to estimate two separate dynamic, durable good replacement models with entry and exit for garment cleaning firms in southern California, where alternative cleaning technologies have seen only limited adoption to date. The first model is a single-agent model, whereas the second model allows firms' profits to depend on the states of their competitors. I utilize a unique data set comprised of equipment permitting information, grant recipient lists, and product demonstration attendance lists, and I control for and exploit changing legislation to estimate the effect of fees and incentives on green equipment purchases, as well as the effect of the product demonstrations. The single-agent models are used to perform counterfactual analyses to compare the predicted adoption and entry/exit decisions by firms under different regulatory regimes. While the models are tailored to the garment cleaning industry, it can be adapted to other applications involving the diffusion of technologies in regulated industries.

Due to pressure from government regulations, the design and development of new manufacturing processes are shifting to pollution prevention and waste reduction at the source through the implementation of proper process and product design. Clean Technology incorporates ideas for pollution prevention/waste reduction at the early stages of process design and development. It covers guidelines for development projects, provides background information, and presents general principles for sound engineering together with pollution reduction alternatives. Industrial and hazardous waste, process engineering, energy systems, materials and product design, recycling, and biodegradability are among the subjects discussed. Market mechanisms, economy in production, and policy questions are also covered. Clean Technology will be an important reference for environmental engineers, process and design engineers, consultants, students, and libraries. It provides engineers, consultants, and students with background and techniques for improved waste reduction and pollution control through proper engineering. It will also be a valuable textbook for advanced engineering programs that are working within today's environmental policies.

Technology, environment, human ecology, sustainable development, government policy.