2017 Volume 36 Issue Special_Issue Pages 343-349
The purpose of our paper are as follows: 1) to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) for using liquid fertilizer using the contingent valuation method (CVM), and 2) to simulate the management balance of methane fermentation facilities with producers selling liquid fertilizer to consumers at an appropriate price. Our results indicated that the mean WTP for using liquid fertilizer is 1,032 yen per ton and the median WTP is 681 yen per ton. After adopting the mean WTP as the appropriate price for liquid fertilizer, we simulated three scenarios of the management balance of a methane fermentation facility. We found that selling liquid fertilizer at an appropriate price supported the calculations in our study will improve the management balance by a maximum of 17 %, as compared with the current situation of methane fermentation facilities. Based on our results, we conclude that using liquid fertilizer may help the management balance of the facilities under the appropriate conditions. To do so, communicating accurate information regarding liquid fertilizer to consumers is an important factor in order to improve the management balance.
