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The feedstock seasonality has been poorly studied in the anaerobic digestion process. The seasonality could disturb the digestion process stability, mainly for fruit and vegetable waste. In this study, three seasonal waste mixtures generated in wholesale markets were reduced to 10, 6, and 4 mm to assess the influence of seasonality and particle size reduction on anaerobic biodegradability. The methane yield ranged between 298 and 465 mL CH4 g VS−1 (volatile solids). Waste mixtures produced in spring at 10-mm particle size presented higher methane production than in autumn/winter and summer, i.e., 32% and 61%, respectively. Methane production decreased with reducing particle size for waste produced in spring from 482 ± 12 to 310 ± 1 mL CH4 g VS−1. In contrast, waste produced in autumn/winter and summer did not show high differences among different sizes. Despite these differences, mixtures with the smallest particle size presented the highest methane production rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landfilling and incineration are the most widely used methods for the management and treatment of fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) in Mediterranean markets, despite their potential environmental impact. A comparative life cycle assessment was conducted in this study to evaluate the environmental improvements from replacing the current landfill disposal method for FVW management and treatment in the wholesale market of Amman (Jordan) with an integrated anaerobic digestion process followed by composting. The proposed FVW treatment scenario is the best treatment option for all the assessed impact categories under the system expansion approach. Significant reductions in global warming and terrestrial ecotoxicity impacts categories would be achieved, reaching up to 322% and 352%, respectively, when compared to the current treatment scenario. Furthermore, the higher production of electrical energy (413%), as well as the production of co-products that would avoid the production of 100 kg/d of inorganic fertilizers, would contribute to such a low value of avoided impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Basic Act on Shokuiku (Japan's dietary education program) was enacted in 2005. It has promoted using local vegetables in school lunches. We reconsidered the methods of using local vegetables in school lunches by comparing two regions in Ibaraki Prefecture with different school-lunch kitchen systems. In Town A, which had chosen a central kitchen system, we found that local producer organizations helped coordinate the use of local vegetables. In City B, where school lunches were cooked at each school, local vegetable shops were the main suppliers, and the shops and the city coordinated the system with municipal vegetable markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FERC Order 2222 paves the way for aggregated distributed energy resources (DERs) participation in the wholesale electricity market. A particular DER assumed to be widely available in the future is the distributed prosumer (DP), also called virtual power plant (VPP), which may host PV generation, and stationary and mobile battery energy storage systems, in addition to the on- site passive load. DP aggregation and participation in the day-ahead market ancillary service products (ASPs) require managing uncertainties associated with load consumption and photovoltaic generation, electric vehicle (EV) scheduling, market-clearance prices, etc. Outages in the distribution grid may distort these energy-limited resources from their optimal operating point, potentially impacting their ability to deliver the committed ASPs in real-time. To address these challenges, first, we develop a machine learning algorithm to predict the risk of outages in distribution feeders. Next, we incorporate the distribution feeder State of Risk (SoR) predictions with the bidding model of the DP aggregator to provide an informed decision-making tool for optimal participation in the energy and ASP markets. The simulation results demonstrate the efficacy and scalability of the proposed model in improving the aggregator profitability and preventing penalties for the inability to deliver ASPs due to unexpected energy capacity limits of DP assets.

AbstractBeing the main food commodity, the dynamics of rice prices is one of the most important issues for Indonesian economy. The prices at the retail level and at the farm level are influenced not only by the demand and supply in each of these markets but also by price behavior at the wholesale market. This study aims to analyse the dynamics of the relationship and behaviour of the prices of various varieties and qualities of rice in the wholesale market. The dynamics of rice prices are investigated by employing multivariate vector error correction model (VECM) and using daily price series at wholesale level during the period of 1 October 2014 until 12 February 2018. The results show a strong price relationship between premium-quality rice and medium-quality rice and between medium-quality rice and low-quality rice. Changes in the price of premium-quality rice and changes in the price of low-quality rice will have a large influence on the price of medium quality rice, but not vice versa. Furthermore, regarding the price stabilization policy, the results suggested that the policies aimed at regulating medium-quality rice prices are estimated to have relatively weak effects on the prices of premium-quality rice and low-quality rice.

Being the main food commodity, the dynamics of rice prices is one of the most important issues for Indonesian economy. The prices at the retail level and at the farm level are influenced not only by the demand and supply in each of these markets but also by price behavior at the wholesale market. This study aims to analyse the dynamics of the relationship and behaviour of the prices of various varieties and qualities of rice in the wholesale market. The dynamics of rice prices are investigated by employing multivariate vector error correction model (VECM) and using daily price series at wholesale level during the period of 1 October 2014 until 12 February 2018. The results show a strong price relationship between premium-quality rice and medium-quality rice and between medium-quality rice and low-quality rice. Changes in the price of premium-quality rice and changes in the price of low-quality rice will have a large influence on the price of medium quality rice, but not vice versa. Furthermore, regarding the price stabilization policy, the results suggested that the policies aimed at regulating medium-quality rice prices are estimated to have relatively weak effects on the prices of premium-quality rice and low-quality rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID epidemic affected Japan in 2020 and 2021. Here, I analyzed how vegetable supply and demand in this period differed from that in the previous 10 years to 2019. Of the vegetables shipped to the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, 144 vegetables are analyzed monthly, and the shifts in demand, supply, and prices of 1657 items are confirmed. The results showed that the patterns of shift in supply and demand of vegetables differed by item and month and were very diverse. However, the overall trend was that demand and supply were declining, and that tendency became even stronger during the COVID epidemic in the last 2 years of the analysis. Demand for major vegetables, the supply of which the government is trying to stabilize, increased slightly during the epidemic, because these vegetables were likely to have remained in high demand in people's homes. In contrast, the demand for items with a large import ratio and savory herbs and garnishes declined, because these items were likely to have been in high demand for processing or by restaurants, and these industries declined during COVID-19. Seasonally, there were many items for which the demand declined from spring to summer. Despite this decline in demand, for many items the prices did not decrease markedly. This price maintenance was due to reduced supply, which likely led to a degree of economic damage to suppliers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the place of wholesale markets in the food system of São Paulo and assesses their potential in terms of urban governance for the metropolis. Wholesale markets polarize food produced on a continental scale and ensure a constant supply to the margins. However, the highly centralized nature of food distribution also demonstrates the fragility of a deterritorialised production system that tends to encourage distant areas to the detriment of the metropolitan market garden belt. We will use this example to question the resilience and sustainability of the food system in São Paulo and discuss the implementation of urban food governance.

Agricultural production has the following purposes-consumption, the supply of reserves (at household and national level), processing (via the traditional or industry), sales (on the market or through intermediaries) export. Mutations occurring in the Romanian rural market, trade in general, itself generated by commercial activity or customer. The paper examines issues related to trade issues held in the wholesale food markets and retail and inventory Timisoara main agricultural exhibitions held in Timisoara, Timis county and international participating farmers in the area. The paper covers issues related to the organization of trade in these markets - wholesale and retail, from a theoretical perspective and the effective deployment of sales in the markets Timis. Timisoara Municipality maintains a wholesale market and 10 retail food market with daily program in which sells various groups of traditional regional and international food. The fairs create the opportunity for farmers to be able to sell surplus agricultural products to and thus large revenues to ensure such restarting agricultural production process. The conclusions drawn from the analysis carried out, have highlighted many positive aspects to the unfolding of trade through markets, food fairs and exhibitions in Timis county, but also issues related to the organization of trade and urban areas as a whole.

An open-access market design is presented to manage network congestion and optimize network use and value. Open access eliminates the walled-garden approach; instead, it commoditizes communications network capacity while decentralizing access to a transparent wholesale market. It ensures that scarce capacity is put to its best use by providing a platform for efficient trade. The market operates without friction using flow trading. It allows participants to bid persistent piecewise-linear downward-sloping demand curves for portfolios of products, gradually adjusting positions toward targeted needs. Flow trading allows fine granularity of products in time and location, creating complete markets. Liquidity and computational feasibility are maintained despite trading millions of interrelated forward and real-time products. Participants manage risk and adverse price impact through trade-to-target strategies. The market operator clears the market every hour, finding unique prices and quantities that maximize as-bid social welfare. Prices, aggregate quantities, and the slope of the aggregate net demand are public. The market operator observes positions, enabling it to optimize collateral requirements to minimize default risk. Priority pricing is used to manage real-time imbalances. An application of the model is developed for intersatellite wholesale communications with optical (laser-beamed) mesh networks in space, showing several efficiency gains. • Optimizes network usage : Allocates capacity efficiently through real-time and forward markets, maximizing its value. • Satellite communications : Congestion management is crucial due to limited throughput and high fixed costs. • Flow trading : Enables efficient trade and liquidity management with fine product granularity. • Risk management : Tools and strategies assist participants in managing risk and capital costs. • Transparent and efficient : Market provides essential price signals for investment and operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freight transport plays an important role in meeting the domestic needs of the city's inhabitants. But when freight vehicles come into contact with city traffic, it has a negative impact on urban routes, such as extra traffic congestion, noise pollution, air pollution, etc. The aim of the study is to assess the impact of freight transport on the overall traffic of the city. A case study of the wholesale market of Ahmedabad has been considered as a study area. The freight trip models based on the trips attracted and produced by the market are developed on the basis of data collected from establishment surveys and freight vehicle driver surveys. Both the models developed in this study, FTA (Freight Trip Attraction) and FTP (Freight Trip Production), have RSquare values of 0.799 and 0.715, respectively. The volume of freight vehicles contributing to the overall traffic flow is also measured by the traffic volume study. Through the data analysis and identification of the impact of freight transportation on city traffic, remedial measures are discussed to reduce the impact of freight transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The active participation of demand response (DR) resources into the wholesale market price formation and load dispatch process has the potential to stimulate demand-side flexibility. However, it is challenging for a market entity to utilize the DR resources for practical use. This is because day-ahead wholesale market-clearing prices are uncertain, and DR resources are heterogeneous. Furthermore, DR participation may lead to violations of the distribution system’s operational constraints. In this article, we propose an approach for an aggregator/load-serving entity (LSE) to profitably bid aggregated DR resources into the day-ahead wholesale market. The LSE requires an optimal bidding strategy that reflects the price elasticity of the aggregated retail loads to participate in the wholesale market operations. In the proposed approach, the LSE executes load curtailment and load shifting contracts with DR resources, where DR resources are remunerated for their participation at pre-contracted incentive prices. Then, the LSE aggregates the DR flexibility and optimally bids it in the day-ahead wholesale market. The proposed approach is validated using the IEEE-123-bus test system. It is demonstrated that the LSE can successfully generate economic bids for its participation in the day-ahead market by optimal management of DR resources and without violating the network’s operating constraints.

The distribution activity is a transfer of the product from producer to consumer so that a connection is made between a production as concentrated as possible and a volume as fragmented as possible. Distribution is defined as the set of "economic and other activities, through which material goods and services are oriented through the market to their destinations, as well as the processes of distribution and redistribution through which income is distributed to various activities." The distribution activity achieve the totality of the “economic and technical-organizational processes regarding the management and transmission of the flows of goods and services from producer to consumer, in conditions of high economic efficiency”. The process of the product circuit is given by the distribution activity and by the set of relationships generated in the market sphere by the transfer of the product from producer to consumer.

During peak electricity demand periods, prices in wholesale markets can be up to nine times higher than during off-peak periods. This is because if a vast number of users is consuming electricity at the same time, power plants with higher greenhouse gas emissions and higher system costs are typically activated. In the UK, the residential sector is responsible for about one third of overall electricity demand and up to 60% of peak demand. This paper presents an analysis of the 2014–2015 Office for National Statistics National Time Use Survey with a view to derive an intrinsic flexibility index based on timing of residential electricity demand. It analyses how the intrinsic flexibility varies compared with wholesale electricity market prices. Findings show that spot prices and intrinsic flexibility to shift activities vary harmoniously throughout the day. Reflections are also drawn on the application of this research to work on demand side flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are transforming the business models and entrepreneurial ecosystems of different economic activities. As a result, the survival of some of these activities, especially physical markets, is under threat. This article aims to shed light on the distinct e-commerce mechanisms of wholesale markets that enable transforming and upgrading their ecosystem. The study combines insights from the scholarly debate on ecosystems, wholesale markets, and e-commerce with the empirical findings of a case study (a wholesale fruit market in Chongqing, China). By exploring the mechanisms and outcomes of e-commerce, this article shows that ICT adoption can be a threat as well as an opportunity for wholesale markets. On the one hand, transaction costs and marketing channel power might make physical wholesale markets less attractive for wholesalers and customers. On the other hand, network effects and business model innovation can enhance the traditional wholesale advantages of physical markets, in turn transforming and upgrading this traditional ecosystem into an entrepreneurial one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to diagnose the current situation of the Colombian wholesale electricity market in relation to the markets of Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay. The analysis has been carried out from the point of view of existing supply and demand in the market, of the market participants, of the types of market that have been able to be constituted depending on the regulatory transformations that have taken place, and of the institutional structure on which they are based. This analysis will make it possible to identify whether the Colombian market lags behind the region or whether, on the contrary, it can be considered a benchmark for the other countries in the region.

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Objective: To investigate the extent of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic residue contamination in fresh raw foods sold at wholesale markets in Thailand, which may be the important drivers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria colonization and antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection in Thai population. Materials and Methods: Fresh raw foods, including food from animal products, seafoods, vegetables, fruits, and honey were purchased from two large wholesale markets in Thailand. Food samples were cultured for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and tested for the presence and amount of antibiotic residue. Results: Among 521 samples for bacterial culture, 86.9% grew at least one kind of bacteria. Enterobacteriaceae were commonly isolated and were commonly resistant to ampicillin (76.7% to 100%). ESBL-producers and ceftriaxone-resistant Enterobacteriaceae were prevalent in swine and duck samples (56.7% to 91.7%). Some isolates were resistant to co-amoxiclav (13.3% to 60.0%) and cefoxitin (5.0% to 30.0%). Coltin resistant Enterobacteriaceae were observed in pork meat (1.4%) and chicken offal (7.0%). Ertapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae were detected in cha-om (26.7%). Among 501 samples for antibiotic residue testing, 37.1% contained at least one antibiotic residue. Enrofloxacin was the most prevalent antibiotic residue, followed by doxycycline and tilmicosin. Although most samples contained less antibiotics than the maximum residue limit (MRL), 7.0% contained an amount of at least one antibiotic above the MRL. Conclusion: Many fresh raw foods sold at wholesale markets in Thailand were contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and some contained antibiotic residues. Therefore, Thai people are at risk of being colonized with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and developing antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection due to consuming foods contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria or containing antibiotic residues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the effect of adverse selection considerations in the market-making of investment-grade corporate bonds. Our sample consists of bonds participating in the JP Morgan's JULI index that represents the most traded subset of the market. We find that customer trades executed in the wholesale market segment are more informative than trades executed in the retail-market. However, this asymmetry is not reflected in transaction costs but only seems to affect the dealers' learning process. Our evidence suggests that the dealers' tendency to treat as more informative wholesale customer trades translates into statistically significant economic benefit. Moreover, when information asymmetry favors market-makers, we find that the latter perform better than usual. In particular, our evidence suggests that a significant portion of the dealers' profits stems from their ability to exploit efficiently the arrival of public information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution activity is a transfer of the product from producer to consumer so that a connection is made between a production as concentrated as possible and a volume as fragmented as possible. Distribution is defined as the set of "economic and other activities, through which material goods and services are oriented through the market to their destinations, as well as the processes of distribution and redistribution through which income is distributed to various activities." The distribution activity achieve the totality of the "economic and technical-organizational processes regarding the management and transmission of the flows of goods and services from producer to consumer, in conditions of high economic efficiency". The process of the product circuit is given by the distribution activity and by the set of relationships generated in the market sphere by the transfer of the product from producer to consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is necessary to design an economic dispatch mechanism to ensure the stability of the electricity market and the equilibrium of pricing strategy in a smart grid with real‐time pricing. In this study, the pricing strategy in the smart grid is analysed by modelling the economic dispatch problem as a bi‐level game in the electricity market, including the wholesale market and the retail market. In the wholesale market, the negotiation of the wholesale price between the generation company and multiple utility companies is formulated as a Nash bargaining problem. In order to guarantee the profit of the generation company and the social welfare of the utility companies simultaneously, the Nash bargaining solution is adopted to find an optimal wholesale price. In the retail market, the Shapley value is utilised to achieve profit distribution among the utility companies, and then a distributed gradient algorithm is proposed to search for the optimal retail price. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and the superiority of the economic dispatch strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers have responded negatively to agricultural products originating from the Fukushima prefecture after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant incident. These consumers' behavioural changes have caused substantial economic losses for the producers located in contaminated regions through reductions in market prices, consumption quantities and market shares. Remarkably, these losses are observed also for uncontaminated products, posing an opportunity for research in reputation damage. However, existing literature is very rare on empirical modeling of such losses. We utilise the Dixit–Stiglitz demand framework to derive a simple but efficient empirical model that uses market data to quantify reputation damage. This model estimates changes in the perceived quality of a product originating in contaminated regions in relation to those products originating from other competing regions. The model also measures subsequent loss in market share for those products grown in contaminated regions. In our application to Fukushima, results suggest that consumers' valuation of peaches from Fukushima decreased dramatically (between 22.5% and 23.6%) in the year the nuclear accident occurred, but rapidly recovered in the following years. The results also show that the degree of impact varies across wholesale markets. Fukushima farmers lost about 13.1–18.9% of sales due to reputation damage. Estimates from our proposed models deliver meaningful information in the context of policy interventions such as transfer programmes financed by gainers to compensate reputation losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a novel fully distributed and cooperative demand side management framework based on adaptive diffusion strategy. In this approach, each customer autonomously and without any need for the global information, minimises his incommodity function. The proposed framework has ability to track drifts resulting from the changes in the customer preferences and conditions or any rapidly changing price parameter coming from the wholesale market. In this scenario, the customers aim at maximising their individual utility functions; while the utility company aims at minimising the smart grid total payment (i.e. maximisation of the social welfare). The authors show that there is no need for the utility company to participate in the scheduling program for maximising social welfare. This measurement is maximised adaptively when the customers minimise their incommodity. Moreover, the authors provide a detailed analysis of the robustness of the proposed strategy in the presence of imperfect communication/computation conditions. Numerical results show that the proposed framework performs well, is scale free, and can achieve lower peak-to-average ratio of the total energy demand compared with that achieved by the game theoretical methods.