are biofuels a feasible option abstract recently a number of objections have been raised against the use of ethanol produced from agricultural products such as maize sugarcane wheat or sugar beets as a replacement for gasoline despite some of their advantages such as being cleaner and to some extent renewable we address these objections in this paper topics discussed include the corn connection which was theorized to be a cause of deforestation in the amazonia the rise of food prices due to ethanol production and the real possibilities of ethanol in reducing greenhouse gas emissions it has been shown that such concerns are grossly exaggerated and that ethanol from sugarcane as produced in brazil is the preferred option for the production of fuel not only in terms of cost but also as a favourable energy balance finally the possibility of expanding ethanol production to other sugar producing countries is also discussed

co firing coal with wood pellets for u s electricity generation a real options analysis abstract in contrast to eu u s electric utilities are not employing the bioenergy technology of co firing wood pellets with coal this difference in employment patterns is explored within a real options analysis roa for possible u s utilization of wood pellets considering fuel price series from 2009 to 2014 for analysis these series are divided into two sub periods based on different market conditions infancy 2009 2011 and substitution 2012 2014 roa indicates co firing wood pellets with coal is feasible considering adoption during wood pellets infancy under low discount rates and long power plant lifespans a portfolio effect of employing multiple fuels underlies this result however co firing is not currently economically feasible the different adoption decisions are likely a consequence of recent cheap and abundant u s natural gas for co fired wood pellets to be feasible government incentives and or a market increase in natural gas prices appear necessary

relating the environmental impact of consumption to household expenditures an input output analysis in this paper we evaluate the relationships between household expenditures and the environmental impact categories climate change acidification eutrophication and smog formation by combining household expenditures with environmentally extended input output analysis expenditure elasticities are examined with regression analysis and are compared and interpreted on the basis of insight at the product level with data from the netherlands in the year 2000 we find that environmental impact increases with increasing household expenditures although the degree to which the environmental impact increases differs per impact category climate change and eutrophication increase less than proportionally with increasing expenditures acidification increases nearly proportionally with increasing expenditures whereas smog formation increases more than proportionally it appears that the mix of necessities and luxuries to which an environmental impact is related is essential in explaining the relationship

biofuel investment in tanzania omissions in implementation abstract increasing demand for biofuels as a component of climate change mitigation energy security and a fossil fuel alternative attracts investors to developing countries like tanzania ample unused land is critical for first generation biofuels production and an important feature to attract foreign direct investments that can contribute towards agricultural modernization and poverty reduction initiatives despite the economic justifications the existing institutional and infrastructural capacities dictate the impacts of biofuels market penetrations furthermore exogenous factors like global recessionary pressure depressed oil prices below the level at which biofuel production were profitable in 2007 making tanzania s competitiveness and potential benefits questionable this paper investigates the extent that first generation jatropha based biofuels industry development in tanzania observed during fieldwork in kisarawe and bahi may fulfill policy objectives this paper argues that without strong regulatory frameworks for land investment management and rural development biofuel industrialization could further exacerbate poverty and food insecurity in tanzania the paper concludes with policy recommendations for first generation biofuel development while keeping in mind implications of second generation production since the topic is broad and multifaceted a multidisciplinary approach is used that includes political institutional and agricultural economics to analyze and conceptualize biofuel industry development and food security

can new legislation in importing countries represent new barriers to the development of an international ethanol market the use of ethanol as a fuel has been attracting increasing attention in countries that are interested in reducing their dependence on imported oil and lowering their greenhouse gas emissions despite this growing interest the global ethanol market is still incipient because of the small number of producing countries the lack of technical standardization and the existence of tariff and non tariff trade barriers new laws have taken effect in 2010 in the united states and the european union imposing domestic requirements for sustainable production of ethanol although these are generally positive developments they can create greater difficulties for the development of an international ethanol market this work examines the technical barriers posed by these new laws and how they can be resolved under the auspices of the world trade organization in addition this work analyses the brazilian and caribbean cases discussing to what extent these new technical barriers will affect ethanol production and exports arising from these countries

public policy supports and export performance of bioenergy technologies a dynamic panel approach abstract this study investigates the effects of public policy supports on the export performance of bioenergy technologies it uses panel data from 18 countries from the 1992 to 2008 period panel unit root and cointegration tests are applied taking into account the results of structural break tests for each time series and testing for the presence in the panel of cross sectional dependence time series data on public supports and exports are integrated and cointegrated the results of dynamic ordinary least squares indicate that in the long term public r d expenditures have a positive effect on the exports the contribution of bioenergy to the total energy supply has a negative effect on the exports and gdp has a positive effect on the exports the contribution of bioenergy to total energy supply responds to deviations in the previous period from the long term equilibrium additionally blundell bond system generalized methods of moments estimations are made to determine dynamic causality in a panel vector error correction mechanism setting evidence of a positive strong and short term relationship from exports to r d expenditures and of a positive short term causality from exports to the contribution of bioenergy to total energy supply is found a positive strong bidirectional relationship between gdp and exports is also uncovered there is a positive strong bidirectional and short term relationship between gdp and the contribution of bioenergy to total energy supply finally some policy implications based on the results of this study are offered

the role of transnational dimensions in emerging economy technological innovation systems for clean tech the technological innovation system tis framework and its system functions have become a popular analytical tool for the study of clean tech innovation there is increasing attention for the role of emerging economies in global clean tech innovation but the applicability of tis to emerging economies cases is not entirely straightforward a key issue is the limited geographical considerations in particular transnational dimensions in tis whereas earlier perspectives on innovation in emerging economies have stressed the role of such transnational dimensions this paper elaborates transnational tis actor networks and institutions categorizes these in relation to tis functions and describes their potential to induce or block tis development in emerging economies we draw on insights from the perspectives of national learning systems international technology transfer and global production networks for this purpose we conclude that the potential effects of these transnational dimensions may be accurately grasped by the existing list of system functions lending credence to its further application of the tis framework on emerging economy case studies policy makers in emerging economies should recognize these transnational dimensions and seek to optimize their potential effect on domestic tis development taking in to consideration a realistic assessment of its role in the global tis

removal of u s ethanol domestic and trade distortions impact on u s and brazilian ethanol markets we analyze the impact of trade liberalization and removal of the federal tax credit in the united states on u s and brazilian ethanol markets using a multi market international ethanol model calibrated on 2005 market data and policies the removal of trade distortions induces a 23 2 percent increase in the price of world ethanol on average between 2006 and 2015 relative to the baseline the u s domestic ethanol price decreases by 14 1 percent which results in a 7 5 percent decline in production and a 3 2 percent increase in consumption the lower domestic price leads to a 2 5 percent rise in the share of fuel ethanol in gasoline consumption u s net ethanol imports increase by 192 8 percent brazil responds to the higher world ethanol price by increasing its production by 8 8 percent on average total ethanol consumption in brazil decreases by 3 2 percent and net exports increase by 61 9 percent relative to the baseline the higher ethanol price leads to a 4 7 percent increase in the share of sugarcane used in ethanol production the removal of trade distortions and 51 per gallon tax credit to refiners blending ethanol induces a 22 5 percent increase in the world ethanol price

biofuels and sustainable energy development in brazil summary through the assessment of three decades of the alcohol program in brazil the paper shows that adequate public policies regarding biomass production can deliver direct benefits like energy security improvement foreign exchange savings and local employment generation reduced urban air pollution and avoided co2 emissions moreover the paper shows that brazilian produced ethanol has faced economies of scale technical progress and productivity gains and is no longer dependent on subsidies to be competitive the paper also examines the potential in brazil for fostering other biofuels namely biodiesel obtained from vegetable oils as well as their implications on sustainable energy development

transforming the energy sector the evolution of technological systems in renewable energy technology this paper analyses the development and diffusion of technologies that utilize renewable energy sources in germany sweden and the netherlands the analysis enlarges the life cycle model of industry evolution to one where the focus is on the formation and evolution of new technological systems particular focus is on explaining success and failures in shifting from a formative phase into one characterized by positive feedbacks a set of challenges is identified for policy makers attempting to influence the process of transforming the energy sector

determinants of technical efficiency in the bioenergy industry in the eu28 region most previous bioenergy industry research has concentrated on how to implement a certain level of yield however few articles have paid attention to rational resource allocation to increase efficiency to enhance bioenergy production through proper use of available resources this study identified the effects of internal country specific and external macroeconomic determinants of technical efficiency level in the bioenergy industry for the eu28 region the study was established based on a conceptual framework suggesting a correlation between input use and level of technical efficiency a panel data analysis method was employed for the analysis and a panel regression analysis framework based on the fixed effect fe model and random effect re model was used to examine the potential determinants of technical efficiency level in the bioenergy industry for the eu28 region for the period between 1990 and 2013 the results indicate that the technical efficiency level of the bioenergy industry in developing countries is higher than in developed countries the empirical findings also suggest that technical efficiency has greater influence on pure technical efficiency levels capital input labor input gross domestic product inflation and interest rate significantly affected the technical efficiency of the bioenergy industry in the developing and developed countries in the eu28 region during the period of this study the findings clearly call for regulators and decision makers to review the technical efficiency level of the bioenergy industry within the eu28 region this study also provides better information and guidance to the boards of the bioenergy industry as they need to have a clear understanding of the influence technical efficiency has on bioenergy production performance moreover the results of this study have implications for investors who focus mainly on profits from their investments

water consumption and subjective wellbeing an analysis of british households while having basic access to water resources is clearly critical for survival the extent to which water consumption contributes to wellbeing once basic needs have been met is not clear in this study the link between household water consumption and wellbeing is assessed via a household survey conducted in southern england and actual water consumption data for the same households received from their water supply company while the study revealed a few correlations in general no link was found between actual water use and wellbeing this suggests that high wellbeing is attainable regardless of low water use assuming basic needs are met in fact when assessed through individual rather than composite measures of wellbeing a weak but statistically significant link was shown between higher water use and some indicators of low wellbeing our results also show that actual water use appears to be unlinked to environmental attitudes attitudes to water use or willingness to adopt water saving measures this suggests that seeking a sustained reduction in water consumption via attitudinal change alone is unlikely to be effective

interdependent international relations and the expansion of ethanol production and consumption the brazilian perspective abstract the global production and consumption of ethanol are expected to increase the growing interdependence of markets and nations producers and consumers of biofuels has led actors to seek and devise mechanisms intended to develop the sector this paper aims to analyze the interdependent international relations between brazil and other ethanol biofuel producer and consumer countries to do so the paper explores the theory of complex interdependence and the game theory a quali quantitative study was conducted involving the application of two questionnaires to experts on biofuels and documentary analysis aided by qda miner software the results show that brazil shares highly interdependent relations with the united states an intermediate degree of interdependence with europe and a low degree of interdependence with china the dimensions of those interdependent relations can be ranked according to importance in the following order first the political then the economic technical and finally the social environmental dimensions a number of actions can be envisaged that could lead ethanol to achieve an increasingly strategic position in the diversification of the energy matrix in different countries technological efforts to improve production efficiency the creation of globally integrated policies designed to provide security and develop the production and consumption infrastructure the reduction of international tariffs on the product and the transformation of ethanol into a global commodity with a large number of countries buying and selling the product this paper faced the challenge of integrating approaches and concepts from two complex theoretical areas complex interdependence theory and game theory the research methodology and the insights gained from the ethanol case contribute to the literature on the applicability of these two theoretical approaches

energy from sugarcane bagasse under electricity rationing in brazil a computable general equilibrium model in the midst of the institutional reforms of the brazilian electric sectors initiated in the 1990s a serious electricity shortage crisis developed in 2001 as an alternative to blackout the government instituted an emergency plan aimed at reducing electricity consumption from june 2001 to february 2002 brazilians were compelled to curtail electricity use by 20 since the late 1990s but especially after the electricity crisis energy policy in brazil has been directed towards increasing thermoelectricity supply and promoting further gains in energy conservation two main issues are addressed here firstly we estimate the economic impacts of constraining the supply of electric energy in brazil secondly we investigate the possible penetration of electricity generated from sugarcane bagasse a computable general equilibrium cge model is used the traditional sector of electricity and the remainder of the economy are characterized by a stylized top down representation as nested ces constant elasticity of substitution production functions the electricity production from sugarcane bagasse is described through a bottom up activity analysis with a detailed representation of the required inputs based on engineering studies the model constructed is used to study the effects of the electricity shortage in the preexisting sector through prices production and income changes it is shown that installing capacity to generate electricity surpluses by the sugarcane agroindustrial system could ease the economic impacts of an electric energy shortage crisis on the gross domestic product gdp

an empirical and forecasting analysis of the bioenergy market in the eu28 region evidence from a panel data simultaneous equation model this study improves upon and applies a comprehensive panel data simultaneous equation model to the european union eu28 region s bioenergy market the goals are to estimate bioenergy quantities in domestic and international markets for the period from 1990 to 2013 and to apply a forecasting analysis for the eu28 s domestic and international bioenergy markets for the period of 2014 2020 the results demonstrate that biomass harvest and the domestic price in a domestic market have a significant influence on the supply function additionally domestic price has a negative relationship with the bioenergy market domestic demand in international markets competitive import prices play a primary role in the development of the bioenergy market import demand export prices and gdp also have primary influences on the export demand for bioenergy moreover the exchange rate has a positive and significant effect on export demand the results of a forecasting analysis for the future period of 2014 2020 has predicted slight increases in domestic supply domestic demand and import trends on the other hand it also predicted a sharp decline in the export demand trend between those same years this study contributes to the literature by providing policymakers and other energy policy stakeholders a reliable forward looking analysis of the potential condition of the domestic and international bioenergy markets in the eu28 region through the end of 2020

the alcohol program the rational for the launching of the alcohol program from sugarcane in brazil in the mid 1970 s is described as an answer to the first oil crisis as well as a solution to the problem of the fluctuating sugar prices in the international market the technical characteristics of ethanol as a fuel are given as well as a discussion of the evolution of the cost of production environmental and social consequences regarding costs ethanol production was close to 100 dollars a barrel in the initial stages of the program in 1980 falling rapidly due to economies of scale and technological progress to half that value in 1990 followed by a slower decline in recent years considering the hard currency saved by avoiding oil importation through the significant displacement of gasoline by ethanol and the decrease in the amount of external debt that the displaced oil importation was able to provide it is possible to demonstrate that the alcohol program has been an efficient way of exchanging dollar debt by national currency subsidies which are paid by the liquid fossil fuel users even with this economic gains for society the continuity of the program is difficult to maintain two solutions to this problem are discussed internal expansion of the use of ethanol and exports to industrialized countries where it could be used as an octane enhancer the main attractiveness of the program the reduction of co2 emissions as compared to fossil fuels is stressed mainly as a solution for industrialized countries to fulfill their commitments with the united nations framework climate change convention

removing distortions in the u s ethanol market what does it imply for the united states and brazil we analyze the impact of trade liberalization and removal of the federal tax credit in the united states on ethanol markets using a multimarket international ethanol model we find that u s trade barriers have been effective in protecting the ethanol industry under current policy there is separability of the u s ethanol market from world markets with trade liberalization the ethanol market deepens making it less susceptible to price volatility the effect of trade liberalization extends beyond ethanol markets affecting agricultural markets the results show that the impact of removal of the tax credit overrides the impact of the tariff removal copyright 2008 oxford university press

do favorable land price policy affect renewable energy industry evidence from photovoltaics abstract renewable energy is necessary for sustainable social and economic development this is particularly so with global energy shortages the continuous deterioration of ecosystems and the environment as well as the world population explosion this article qualitatively and quantitatively analyzes the effects and problems of chinese favorable land price policy on photovoltaics in examining the favorable land price policy in china this study develops a multiple linear regression model to study the effects of favorable land price policy on photovoltaic power and photovoltaic industry data used in this research was mainly collected from 20 provinces in china it is found that the development of pv in china has been greatly affected by the favorable land price policy in the end it is highly recommended that favorable land price policy should be continued for renewable energy systemic deficiencies can be overcome through continual reform and innovation of mechanisms

the wellbeing consumption paradox happiness health income and carbon emissions in growing versus non growing economies abstract we investigate the relationships between carbon intensive consumption and two dimensions of human wellbeing physical health and happiness for 120 countries over the 2005 2015 period long term 10 year relationships are analysed to re assess the happiness income paradox i e easterlin paradox which states that changes in national income and happiness are correlated in the short term but not in the long term we broaden the scope of easterlin s analysis in two novel ways first the evidence for a health income paradox is explored second a parallel analysis using national consumption based carbon footprints instead of income is conducted to explore complementary relationships with both of the wellbeing indicators we show that countries with declining per capita consumption measured in terms of either gross domestic product gdp or carbon footprint have significant reductions in average happiness in contrast countries with growing per capita consumption have no significant change in happiness there is no relationship between changes in per capita consumption and health irrespective of whether gdp or carbon footprint is growing or not these findings apply to rich and poor countries alike and are robust to the inclusion of other social indicators such as social support and autonomy we find that happiness is less sensitive to declines in carbon footprint than declines in gdp thus lending support to calls for decoupling carbon emissions from economic growth however observed decoupling trends are insufficient to meet climate targets if the 2 target is to be met without a decline in wellbeing then either decoupling must be vastly improved or happiness levels must be made less sensitive to declining consumption

facilitating the financing of bioenergy projects in sub saharan africa abstract the purpose of this paper is to identify and develop potential solutions on how to facilitate the financing of bioenergy projects in sub saharan africa we focus on four main areas that have been identified from empirical research in achieving this objective these are i financing ii markets iii trade and iv policy the sources utilised consist of primary and secondary data compilation and analysis of particular relevance are the results of a market survey undertaken on funding opportunities where the perspectives of both project developers as well as project financiers are taken into account results indicate that the four areas cannot be treated autonomously as they not only overlap but impact each other there are a number of difficulties for biofuel ventures not least the nature of the projects themselves but also around the financing and political landscape of these enterprises common solutions which cross cut the four areas are the need to raise awareness and the skillsets in areas including financing opportunities markets policy technical aspects among a range of stakeholders involved in biofuel ventures there is also a necessity to create a supporting framework for the emerging carbon trading related activities in africa

the spatio temporal dynamics of ethanol gasoline price ratio in brazil abstract we use an innovative method to analyze the spatio temporal evolution of the ethanol gasoline price ratio to end consumers in brazil this model allows estimating the distribution of prices throughout the country using a continuous space model estimated by bayesian methods we use data from the national petroleum natural gas and biofuels agency s price survey system a weekly sample of 10 of fuel suppliers in brazil to estimate continuous projections of the price ratio for the entire country for the 2007 2014 period we use this model to build an indicator of ethanol advantage in the country and show how this advantage has declined since 2009

biofuel support policies in europe lessons learnt for the long way ahead biofuel consumption in the eu is growing rapidly but major efforts will need to be undertaken if the eu s objectives for 2010 and beyond are to be achieved this article analyses the strengths and weaknesses of different biofuel support policies based on the experiences gained in pioneering countries and explores scenarios for their possible impacts in the long term it comes to the conclusion that important pre conditions such as fuel standards and compatibility with engines are in place or being introduced on an eu wide basis current and future policy support therefore focuses on creating favourable economic or legal frameworks to accelerate the market penetration of biofuels the ambitious targets endorsed in terms of biofuel market shares require the implementation of efficient policy instruments at the same time large consumption volumes and the advent of innovative production technologies make it possible for member states to promote specific types of biofuels depending on their main objectives and natural potentials this will require complementary instruments such as subsidies for production facilities user incentives or feedstock subsidies

the emerging liquid biofuel market in argentina implications for domestic demand and international trade while the world s transport energy matrix is still strongly linked to limited and heavily polluting fossil fuels new markets are appearing for the production and use of alternative transport fuels such as liquid biofuels due to an interconnected global economy such markets today are developing on a global scale with actors looking to meet local as well as potential international demand the aim of this paper is to describe and evaluate the emergence of markets for liquid biofuels in argentina it reveals that biodiesel production for international supply is likely to emerge in the short run up to 2010 giving the opportunity to be switched back to local supply in the medium run post 2010 it also suggests that a bioethanol market demand and supply does not seem to be likely in the short run and it is highly uncertain in the medium run as the most influential actors oppose its development on the other hand the current constellations of the biodiesel market appear to leave many uncertainties regarding its sustainability especially in regard to a limited role of small and medium sized enterprises and a suitable and diversified biodiesel feedstock currently the focus lies solely on very large scale production of biodiesel derived from soybean oil for the export market

the political economy of biodiesel in an era of low oil prices abstract global biodiesel production grew by 23 per annum between 2005 and 2015 leading to a seven fold expansion of the sector in a single decade rapid development in the biodiesel sector corresponded to high crude oil prices but since mid 2014 oil prices have fallen dramatically this paper assesses the economic and policy factors that underpinned the expansion of biodiesel and examines the near term prospects for biodiesel growth under conditions of low fossil fuel prices we show that the dramatic increase in biodiesel output would not have occurred without strong policy directives subsidies and trade policies designed to support agricultural interests rural economic development energy security and climate targets given the important role of policy and the political context within each country that shapes policy objectives instruments and priorities case studies of major biodiesel producing countries are presented as a key element of our analysis although the narrative of biodiesel policies in most countries conveys win win outcomes across multiple objectives the case studies show that support of particular constituents such as farm lobbies or energy interests often dominates policy action and generates large social costs looking out to 2020 the paper highlights risks to the biodiesel industry associated with ongoing regulatory and market uncertainties

the impact of energy prices on the volatility of ethanol prices and the role of gasoline emissions abstract the contribution of renewable energy resources is vital for a country s economic growth by providing high efficiency in energy as well as an effective tool for the confrontation of climate change in particular concerning the eu an increase in the consumption of renewable energy resources as a proportion of the total energy consumption by its member states was set as an objective until 2020 ethanol has been widely used as a substitute to conventional energy like gasoline and oil the present paper surveys the role of alternative energy prices and gas emissions in the formation of the ethanol prices the results of the empirical survey confirmed the existence of a sole relationship among the variables employed according to the results obtained an increase in the volume of emissions or in gasoline prices results in an increase in ethanol prices while the opposite is confirmed in the case of crude oil he elasticity of ethanol prices to the increase of the emissions is another result worth mentioning indicative of the significant role of the emissions in the formation of ethanol prices

developments in international solid biofuel trade an analysis of volumes policies and market factors abstract this paper presents and analyses international solid biofuel trade and concludes upon interactions with bioenergy policies and market factors it shows that trade has grown from about 56 to 300 pj between 2000 and 2010 wood pellets grew strongest i e from 8 5 to 120 pj other relevant streams by 2010 included wood waste 77 pj fuelwood 76 pj wood chips 17 pj residues 9 pj and roundwood 2 4 pj intra eu trade covered two thirds of global trade by 2010 underlying markets are highly heterogeneous generally though trade evolved whenever supply side market factors coincided with existing emerging demand patterns market factors and policies both defined trade volumes though policy changes did not have as prominent effects on trade developments as in the liquid biofuel sector economic viability is the key limiting factor main exporting countries have low feedstock costs and already existing wood processing industries trade relevant aspects are the commodity s monetary value determined by its homogeneity heating value and bulk density consumer markets are diverse in residential heating demand trade patterns have been influenced by local biofuel availability and short term price signals i e mainly price competitiveness and investment support for boilers stoves commodities are mainly sourced regionally but price differences have triggered a growing trade the industrial segment is greatly influenced by policy frameworks but more mature e g established routes trade is strictly linked to margins defined mainly by policies and combustion technologies uncertainties in the analysis are due to data gaps across and within databases regarding import export declarations to estimate bioenergy related trade anecdotal data was indispensable we believe datasets should be streamlined across international institutions to eventually enable reporting of global trade beyond digit 6 level research is needed to provide further insights into informal markets interrelations between trade factors are particularly relevant when mapping future trade streams under different policy trade regime scenarios

measuring trade creation and trade diversion in the central american common market a hicksian alternative abstract a large number of empirical studies on customs union formation or economic integration base their evaluation of the welfare implications of regional integration schemes on trade creation and trade diversion measures that are derived from an ordinary marshallian import demand curve this approach is however influenced by the path dependence problem which affects the reliability of the estimated results this paper derives alternative hicksian measures of trade creation and trade diversion using the popular notions of compensating and equivalent variation these notions allow for more exact estimation of the welfare impact since they incorporate the path independence condition these new measures are applied to the integration effort in the central american common market cacm the overall results show that economic integration in central america has been largely trade diverting for the selected commodity groups

modelling production cost scenarios for biofuels and fossil fuels in europe competitive production costs compared to conventional fuels are imperative for biofuels to gain market shares as current tax advantages for biofuels are only temporary comparing production costs of different biofuels with fossil fuels is a challenge due to the complexity of influencing factors the objective of this research paper is threefold 1 to project future bio fuel feedstock prices based on the crude oil price development the price index for agricultural products growth in world population growth in wealth per capita income and change in energy consumption per capita 2 to simulate production costs under consideration of likely economies of scale from scaling up production size and technological learning and 3 to compare different biofuels and fossil fuels by scenario analysis a calculation model for biofuel production is used to analyse projected production costs for different types of biofuels in europe for 2015 and 2020 unlike engineering oriented bottom up approaches that are often used in other biofuel studies the macro economic top down approach applied in this study enables an economic comparison and discussion of various fuel types based on reference scenarios of crude oil prices of 50 100 150 and 200 per barrel depending on the specific raw material prices as well as the conversion costs the analysis delivered a differentiated view on the production costs and thus on the competitiveness of each individual type of fuel the results show that 2nd generation biofuels are most likely to achieve competitive production costs mid to long term when taking into account the effects from technological learning and production scale size as well as crude oil price scenarios between 50 and 200 per barrel for both reference years in all crude oil price scenarios bioethanol from lignocellulosic raw materials as well as biodiesel from waste oil are associated with high cost saving potentials which enable them to outperform fossil fuels and 1st generation biofuels

welfare measures from technological distortions in general equilibrium welfare measures in competitive markets have been the subject of a considerable amount of literature mishan 7 demonstrated in a partial equilibrium framework that producers surplus measures industry quasi rents of fixed production factors in contrast to this partial equilibrium approach anderson 1 examines welfare measures from a general equilibrium standpoint where all other prices in the economy are allowed to vary more recently just and hueth 6 examine welfare measures arising from a price distortion in a competitive single product single factor vertical sector of the economy they demonstrate that when a market price within the sector is forcibly altered total change in sector welfare is given by the producer and consumer surplus change measured from the general equilibrium supply and demand functions of the altered market level collins 3 has generalized the just hueth results for multi product multi factor industries in a vertical market chain however a number of policy questions do not pertain to direct price distortions but rather to technological distortions that may arise as a result of changes in technology and or government regulations the objective of this paper is to investigate the general equilibrium welfare implications of a technological distortion for multi product multi factor vertically related industries this paper considers the case of an economy comprised of a number of interdependent competitive industries each industry is producing multiple outputs which are sold to other industries or to final consumers each industry uses multiple inputs purchased from other industries or from initial resource suppliers each commodity is assumed to be

impacts of biodiesel on the brazilian fuel market this paper investigates market effects of the brazilian biodiesel law which made the use of biodiesel blended with petroleum diesel mandatory in brazil the study estimates the demand curve for diesel fuel biodiesel and petroleum diesel and the industry supply curve of biodiesel these two pieces of information have been used in a static analysis to draw scenarios with different biodiesel mandates the results show that the current proportion of biodiesel in the diesel mixture 5 increases consumers price by 1 7 and decreases the consumption by 1 5 compared to the scenario without biodiesel also an increase in the biodiesel percentage to 10 would raise the price by 3 5 and reduce the consumption by 3 2012 elsevier b v

simulation for assessing the liberalization of biofuels abstract global biofuel consumption has been growing in recent years as different countries worldwide have been exploring alternatives and complements to gasoline and diesel fuel for transport this is due to a hike in oil prices and their increasing volatility as well as both a high dependence of the transport sector on oil and also because arguably the supply chain of biofuels emits less co2 than that of fossil fuels biofuels have been available around the world for a while with the aid of some government support brazil pioneered this renewable solution for transport from the early 1930s as the country had little access to local fuels while oil and other alternatives became more expensive biofuels are currently widely considered as part of the solution to affordable fuels for transport this paper makes use of a system dynamics model to analyse the current leading policies aiming at increasing the penetration of biofuels in this context and given multiple uncertainties that include technology evolution and fuel prices scenario analysis has been considered for the examination of different extreme though plausible futures simulations under extreme scenarios helped in assessing the possibility of removing incentives that is leaving decisions to an open market and a partial reduction of subsidies this paper concludes that for the case of colombia the potential of biofuels seems promising

supply chain and logistics issues of bio energy production abstract within the concert of renewable energy technologies bio energy can play a decisive role during the next decades when smartly designed and applied under favorable conditions in this respect efficient and effective supply chain and logistics management represent one key parameter this paper presents a literature review of articles published in english speaking peer reviewed journals from 2000 to 2009 which cover the interface of bio energy production and issues of logistics and supply chain management first the articles are assessed according to descriptive criteria such as journal year of publication and research design applied then issues and challenges of designing and operating biomass chains that secure stable and competitively priced feedstock supply for bio energy plants have been classified 1 into the operations harvesting and collection storage transport and pre treatment techniques as well as 2 into overall supply system design although biomass supply chains for energy use are manifold in terms of size design and functioning most relevant issues regarding supply chain management and logistics of bio energy production are identified the findings are discussed against the backdrop of bio energy as sustainable renewable energy option

greenhouse gas emissions and subjective well being an analysis of swedish households abstract in the contemporary discussion on society s transformation towards long term climate targets it is often implicitly assumed that behavioral changes unlike technological changes would lead to reductions in human well being however this assumption has been questioned by researchers who instead argue that people may live better lives by consuming less and reduce their environmental impact in the process in this study we explore the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and subjective well being using a sample of 1000 swedish respondents our results show that there is no strong link between an individual s emissions and subjective wellbeing we also analyze the relationship between specific emission intensive activities and subjective well being and find that none of the activities examined correlates with subjective well being finally we explore a hypothesis put forward in the literature suggesting that a poor work life balance long commuting distances and materialistic values may decrease individuals subjective well being and increase greenhouse gas emissions our results indicate that materialistic values do correlate with lower levels of well being and to some extent also with higher greenhouse gas emissions

bio energy policies in a global context abstract against the background of an increasing global demand for bio energy the need for sustainability standards and a certification system ensuring sustainable production and trade has grown rapidly nevertheless there is currently no specific forum for discussions on how to deal with biomass trade at the multilateral level distortions in agricultural and energy trade regimes the myriad of standards and the lack of a clear biomass classification in the multilateral trade regime suggest that bio energy products may not deliver sustainable development gains for all trading partners this paper analyses then the global impact of bio energy policies on biomass production and trade paying particular attention to sustainable development in the bio energy sector it examines how a possible reduction and elimination of trade barriers as well as a phasing out of trade distorting support measures would contribute to the development of a global sustainable bio energy market

forest based bioenergy in china status opportunities and challenges forest based bioenergy is gaining global popularity due to its multiple benefits and increased global energy needs in this study the current status of forest based bioenergy in china was reviewed and the opportunities and challenges were analyzed the latest national development plan for forest based bioenergy was also discussed it can be concluded from the study that forest based bioenergy is still in the beginning stage in china but will grow rapidly in the next decade due to abundant resources and strong government support however there are major constraints that need to be addressed including unstable feedstock supply low market interest and investments inadequate r d and competition from other forest products the national development plan sets up a mid term goal for developing forest based bioenergy but more supporting policies are required to guarantee its successful implementation

does increasing energy or electricity consumption improve quality of life in industrial nations among the world s nations per capita energy and electricity consumption is highly correlated with diverse indicators of quality of life this is often interpreted to mean that additional energy and electricity consumption causes improvements in life quality prior analyses of cross sectional data question this interpretation for industrial nations that already have high per capita energy consumption the present analysis with longitudinal data shows that among industrial nations increases in per capita energy and electricity consumption over the past three decades are not associated with corresponding improvements in quality of life

too difficult to govern an assessment of the governability of transport biofuels in the eu transport biofuels are currently the subject of heated debate in the eu in the past decade the deployment of these technologies has been justified by claims of attractive environmental geopolitical and rural development benefits however expectations have rapidly turned into deep criticism regarding the sustainability of these technologies and the desirability of pursuing the biofuel path this situation has generated an on going controversy and policy deadlock at eu level this study explores these issues from a governance perspective employing the concept of system governability derived from interactive governance theory it attempts to shed some light on the problems facing the governance of biofuels and on how the quality of the governance system could be improved the analysis showed that the governability of the system decreased substantially in the period 2003 2012 due to increasing governing needs and decreasing governing capacity the quality of the governance system can be improved by i improving governing capacity by reducing conflicts among governing actors advancing consistency among institutions and creating capacity at international and global level and ii promoting advanced technologies and adjusting societal ambitions and expectations regarding biofuels

future perspectives of international bioenergy trade abstract according to the iea world energy outlook 2012 primary demand for bioenergy will strongly increase up to the year 2035 the demand for biofuels and biomass for electricity is expected to triple these changes will have an impact on the regional balance of demand and supply of bioenergy leading to both increasing trade flows and changes in trade patterns the gfpm timer and poles models have been selected for a detailed comparison of scenarios and their impact on global bioenergy trade in ambitious scenarios 14 26 of global bioenergy demand is traded between regions in 2030 the model scenarios show a huge range of potential bioenergy trade for solid biomass in ambitious scenarios bioenergy trade ranges from 700 mt to more than 2 500 mt in 2030 for liquid biomass the ambitious scenarios show a bioenergy trade in the range of 65 360 mt in 2030 considering the currently very small share of internationally traded bioenergy this would result in huge challenges and require tremendous changes in terms of production pretreatment of biomass and development of logistic chains

ethanol and trade an analysis of price transmission in the us market abstract this paper examines the price transmission mechanisms between domestic ethanol and imported ethanol in the us market using a multivariate johansen approach the data and model support one cointegrating relationship between the prices of domestically produced ethanol imported ethanol and other relevant products gasoline crude oil and corn the rejection of weak exogeneity of the imported ethanol price and corn price implies that these two prices would adjust to changes in the price linkage those empirical findings indicate that the impact of eliminating trade barriers on the imported ethanol price would spillover to the domestic ethanol price and subsequently to corn price

integrated assessment of sustainability trade offs and pathways for global bioenergy production framing a novel hybrid approach abstract current controversies and debates on bioenergy production in the areas of greenhouse gases emission reduction food and energy security social exclusion and welfare erosion and ecosystem deterioration attest to the challenges which the bioenergy sector has to overcome to achieve its global production potentials because it is yet an evolving sector the sustainability of bioenergy production in different regions is very elusive experiences show that bioenergy policies in one region can have impacts not only on its own but also on other regions social economic and ecological sustainability it is thus important to assess development pathways for bioenergy to exploit the potential benefits and forestall any unnecessary costs this paper frames a novel hybrid approach for assessing bioenergy potentials for regions with diverging economic social and ecological systems the approach is based on a conceptual framework that takes into account trade offs decisions on sustainability goals and production options in the assessment of bioenergy pathways it combines different empirical techniques for the systematic investigation of trade offs and pathways including fuzzy logic conjoint logit and path analyses to show the relevance and utility of these techniques for the integrated assessment of trade offs and pathways in bioenergy development we illustrated their application using results and data from previous related studies

international bioenergy trade a review of past developments in the liquid biofuel market policies aimed to promote biofuels locally had tremendous effects on global market developments across the past decade this article develops insights into the interaction of these policies and market forces via a comprehensive collection and analysis of international production and trade data it shows that world biofuel production and trade has grown exponentially from below 30 pj in 2000 to 572 pj in 2009 for biodiesel from 340 pj in 2000 to over 1540 pj in 2009 for fuel ethanol the eu has dominated world biodiesel whereas the us and brazil have led fuel ethanol production world net biofuel trade reached 120 130 pj in 2009 and was directed towards the most lucrative markets for biodiesel this has been the eu whose imports rose to 92 pj in 2008 and remained at 70 pj in 2009 regarding fuel ethanol both the us and the eu have been prime destinations for competitively priced exports the vast majority of which originated in brazil international biofuel trade is both supply and demand driven the demand side was shaped by support policies which generally increased the domestic market value of biofuels trade developed wherever these policies prices were not accompanied by respective measures it is found that import duties largely influenced trade volumes whereas trade routes were mainly driven by tariff preferences trade regimes appear to have been designed and adapted unilaterally along national interests causing market disruptions trade inefficiencies and disputes to avoid these it is important to explicitly consider international trade implications of national trade policies a prerequisite is to improve the understanding of the underlying complex and interwoven links within the market the current lack of adequate homogeneous international reporting of biofuel production and trade statistics could be bridged via internationally standardized custom clarifications trade factor interrelations also need to be investigated further

european union leadership in biofuels regulation europe as a normative power the rapid emergence of the european union eu as a leader in global environmental politics has led many scholars to argue in favour of the eu being a normative power in international relations this paper critically examines the eu s biofuels policy and evaluates whether its attempts to lead by example and shape international practice in this field could support such arguments europe s biofuel policies are evaluated through a sustainable development lens so as to determine the extent to which it has embraced a holistic approach to sustainability while not dismissing that the identity of the eu is indeed an explanatory factor and that normative intentions may well be regarded as a motivating force this study argues that an interest based perspective on international environmental regulation offers a supplementary view of how an actor s preferences for an international regime are shaped by erecting barriers aimed at shielding its own inefficient domestic biofuels production the eu is in essence placing trade competitiveness and economic growth above environmental protection thus permitting sustainability concerns to be addressed only in part

sell or not sell biodiesel local competition and government measures the introduction of biofuels is one of the objectives of the european union for this reason measures to promote the production and consumption of this product have been implemented such as tax exemptions fixing a minimum amount of mixture or the introduction of public transport that consume biofuels in this paper we test different factors that can affect the introduction of biodiesel in the spanish gasoline market these factors are mainly the level of local competition technical difficulties and local government action empirical evidence shows that a higher level of competition more buses that consume biodiesel and a lower adjustment costs increase significantly the probability of sell biodiesel at service stations these results show how the promotion of competition and public procurement of vehicles can improve the commercialization of biofuels

a review of biofuel policies in the major biofuel producing countries of asean production targets policy drivers and impacts since the turn of this century development of biofuels have progressed rapidly in indonesia malaysia philippines and thailand the major biofuels producing countries in the asean association of south east asian nations the article analyses the biofuel polices underlying drivers and way forward for sustained biofuel development in these countries favorable regulatory and economic mechanisms have played an important role in the production utilization and market penetration of biofuels in these countries a large variety of biofuel support policies are in place ranging from policy targets blending mandates tax incentives and other financial schemes to stimulate the development and adoption of biofuels indonesia is leading the region in biodiesel production and thailand is leading in ethanol production though each of these countries have had occasional setbacks in their production in totality there has been positive growth in biofuel production and an upward trend in future is likely with increased demand consumption enforcement of mandates and realization of policy targets the biofuel development of these countries is motivated by several factors mainly their concerns for energy security e g to reduce the dependence of oil imports and socio economic development e g to increase income generating opportunities climate change is not the primary motive of these countries to pursue biofuel development however sustainable production of biofuels and reliance on second generation biofuels can provide opportunities for these countries to translate their growth potential into economic revenues under carbon finance and thus address greenhouse gas emissions and climate change concerns

opportunities and barriers for international bioenergy trade recently the international trade of various bioenergy commodities has grown rapidly yet this growth is also hampered by some barriers the aim of this paper is to obtain an overview of what market actors currently perceive as major opportunities and barriers for the development of international bioenergy trade the work focuses on three bioenergy commodities bioethanol biodiesel and wood pellets data were collected through an internet based questionnaire the majority of the 141 respondents had an industrial background geographically two thirds were from mainly western europe with other minor contributions from all other continents results show that import tariffs and the implementation of sustainability certification systems are perceived as potentially major barriers for the trade of bioethanol and biodiesel while logistics are seen mainly as an obstacle for wood pellets development of technical standards was deemed more as an opportunity than a barrier for all commodities most important drivers were high fossil fuel prices and climate change mitigation policies concluding to overcome some of the barriers specific actions will be required by market parties and policy makers import tariffs for biofuels could be reduced or abolished linked to multinational trade agreements and harmonization including provisions on technical standards and sustainability requirements