Economic feasibility analysis of the implementation of a high value-added molecule extraction system in an olive oil mill

The production of olive oil generates several by-products that can be seen as an additional business opportunity. Among them are the olive pits, already used for heat and/or electricity generation in some mills. They contain compounds that are commercially very interesting and, if recovered, contribute to the sustainability of the olive mills. The work presented in this paper is a preliminary evaluation of the economic feasibility of implementing a system based on a batch prototype with 1 m3 for the extraction of high value-added bioactive molecules from olive pits that are separated during the production of virgin olive oil. For the analysis, a small representative olive mill in Portugal was considered and the traditional Discounted Cash Flow Method was applied. Based on the assumptions made, the simple payback for implementation a system for the extraction of value-added molecules from the olive pits is around 7 years.

The Selection Process of Applications to the Portuguese Innovation Incentive System: Who Gets Financial Support?

Public policies to support entrepreneurship and innovation play a vital role when firms have difficulties in accessing external finance. However, some authors have found evidence of long-term inefficiency in subsidized firms (Bernini and Pelligrini, 2011; Cerqua and Pelligrini, 2014) and ineffectiveness of public funds (Jorge and Suárez, 2011). The aim of the paper is to assess the effectiveness in the selection process of applications to public financial support for stimulating innovation. Using a binary choice model, we investigate which factors influence the probability of obtaining public support for an innovative investment. The explanatory variables are connected to firm profile, the characteristics of the project and the macroeconomic environment. The analysis is based on the case study of the Portuguese Innovation.Incentive System (PIIS) and on the applications managed by the Alentejo Regional Operational Program in the period 2007 – 2013. The results show that the selection process is more focused on the expected impact of the project than on the firm’s past performance. Factors that influence the credit risk and the decision to grant a bank loan do not seem to influence the government evaluator regarding the funding of some projects. Past activities in R&D do not significantly affect the probability of having an application approved under the PIIS, whereas an increase in the number of patents and the number of skilled jobs are both relevant factors. Nevertheless, some evidence of firms’ short-term inefficiency was found, in that receiving public financial support is linked to a smaller increase in productivity compared to non-approved firm applications. At the macroeconomic level, periods with a higher cost of capital in financial markets are linked to a greater probability of getting an application for public support approved, which could be associated with the effectiveness of public support in correcting market failings.

Can birds play a role as High Nature Value indicators of montado system?

Montados form a heterogeneous landscape of wooded matrix dominated by cork and/or holm oak with open areas characterized by fuzzy boundaries. Montado supports a high biological diversity associated to low intensity management and a landscape diversity provided by a continuous gradient of land cover. Among other features this permits the classification of montados as a High Nature Value (HNV) system. We assessed the role of birds as HNV indicators for montado, and tested several bird groups—farmland, edge, forest generalists and forest specialists species; and some universal indicators such as species conservation status, Shannon’s diversity index and species richness. Our study areas covered the North–South distribution of cork oak in Portugal, and we surveyed the breeding bird communities across 117 sampling sites. In addition to variables related to management and sanitary status, we considered variables that characterize the landscape heterogeneity inside the montado—trees and shrub density and richness of woody vegetation. Our results suggest that specific bird guilds can be used as HNV indicators of particular typologies of montado, and highlight the need to develop an indicator that could be transversally applied to all types of montado.