Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Behavioral Responses And Policy Evaluation: Revisiting Water And Fuel Policies, Shanxia Sun

Open Access Dissertations

In my dissertation, I examine how policies regulating agricultural production and clean technology impact the environment. I focus on policies affecting water depletion, water pollution, and fuel consumption. I assess their cost-effectiveness by modeling and quantifying the behavioral responses of farmers and households.

My first essay focuses on decreasing groundwater depletion through increasing irrigation efficiency in Mexico. I quantify the impacts of different sources of inefficiency on groundwater extraction, and I evaluate the effectiveness of alternative policies that aim to reduce the over-extraction of groundwater. I find that mechanisms of electricity cost-sharing implemented in many wells have a sizable impact …

The Barriers To Adopting Composting Toilets Into Use In Urban And Suburban Locations In The United States, Julia Branstrator

Open Access Theses

The amount of fresh water available in the world is a finite resource. Large quantities of the fresh water are located in remote locations, while more accessible sources of fresh water are disproportionately distributed around the world. Some populations lack reliable access to clean water for daily life, making the routine use of potable water in toilets of upper-income countries a questionable practice in terms of resource responsibility, energy use, and sustainable infrastructure. The innovative nature of composting toilets offers potential solutions to the downfalls of conventional, waterborne toilets. However, the path to adoption of composting toilets has encountered barriers …