Comparison of Brazilian and U.S. biofuel demand: The role of vehicle fleets and prices in meeting policy targets

The two largest producers of biofuels in the world, Brazil and U.S., both have various policy initiatives designed to meet a significant portion of their need for transportation fuels from biofuels. However, the structure of bio biofuel demand and vehicle fleets varies widely between these two econo...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tokgoz, Simla, Bhandary, Prapti
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Walter de Gruyter GmbH 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154069
_version_ 1855531821286031360
author Tokgoz, Simla
Bhandary, Prapti
author_browse Bhandary, Prapti
Tokgoz, Simla
author_facet Tokgoz, Simla
Bhandary, Prapti
author_sort Tokgoz, Simla
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The two largest producers of biofuels in the world, Brazil and U.S., both have various policy initiatives designed to meet a significant portion of their need for transportation fuels from biofuels. However, the structure of bio biofuel demand and vehicle fleets varies widely between these two economies, affecting the level of absorption of biofuels by the refiners and final consumers of each country. The relative prices of biofuels to conventional fuel prices (gasoline and diesel) determine consumers' demand not only for biofuels and but also for alternative fuel vehicles. The vehicle fleet structure, in turn, determines the ability of the transportation sector to absorb biofuels. Brazil, with its low costs of production, can sell ethanol at a competitive level with gasoline, which allows ethanol demand to expand and vehicle fleet to transform. U.S., on the other hand, cannot sell ethanol competitively. This limits market expansion and vehicle fleet transformation in the U.S., which, in turn, hinders its ability to achieve policy targets. With many countries taking initiatives to meet a large share of their transportation fuel needs from biofuels, the experiences of U.S. and Brazil provide valuable lessons for policy makers, where an in-depth analysis of the inter-linkages among relative prices, biofuel demand, and vehicle fleet structure prove to be crucial for successful and effective policy making.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace154069
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2011
publishDateRange 2011
publishDateSort 2011
publisher Walter de Gruyter GmbH
publisherStr Walter de Gruyter GmbH
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1540692024-11-14T11:41:07Z Comparison of Brazilian and U.S. biofuel demand: The role of vehicle fleets and prices in meeting policy targets Tokgoz, Simla Bhandary, Prapti biofuels fuels transport vehicles The two largest producers of biofuels in the world, Brazil and U.S., both have various policy initiatives designed to meet a significant portion of their need for transportation fuels from biofuels. However, the structure of bio biofuel demand and vehicle fleets varies widely between these two economies, affecting the level of absorption of biofuels by the refiners and final consumers of each country. The relative prices of biofuels to conventional fuel prices (gasoline and diesel) determine consumers' demand not only for biofuels and but also for alternative fuel vehicles. The vehicle fleet structure, in turn, determines the ability of the transportation sector to absorb biofuels. Brazil, with its low costs of production, can sell ethanol at a competitive level with gasoline, which allows ethanol demand to expand and vehicle fleet to transform. U.S., on the other hand, cannot sell ethanol competitively. This limits market expansion and vehicle fleet transformation in the U.S., which, in turn, hinders its ability to achieve policy targets. With many countries taking initiatives to meet a large share of their transportation fuel needs from biofuels, the experiences of U.S. and Brazil provide valuable lessons for policy makers, where an in-depth analysis of the inter-linkages among relative prices, biofuel demand, and vehicle fleet structure prove to be crucial for successful and effective policy making. 2011-01 2024-10-01T13:59:18Z 2024-10-01T13:59:18Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154069 en Limited Access Walter de Gruyter GmbH Tokgoz, Simla; Bhandary, Prapti. 2011. Comparison of Brazilian and U.S. biofuel demand: The role of vehicle fleets and prices in meeting policy targets. Green-The International Journal of Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage 1(1): 115-122. https://doi.org/10.1515/GREEN.2011.003
spellingShingle biofuels
fuels
transport
vehicles
Tokgoz, Simla
Bhandary, Prapti
Comparison of Brazilian and U.S. biofuel demand: The role of vehicle fleets and prices in meeting policy targets
title Comparison of Brazilian and U.S. biofuel demand: The role of vehicle fleets and prices in meeting policy targets
title_full Comparison of Brazilian and U.S. biofuel demand: The role of vehicle fleets and prices in meeting policy targets
title_fullStr Comparison of Brazilian and U.S. biofuel demand: The role of vehicle fleets and prices in meeting policy targets
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of Brazilian and U.S. biofuel demand: The role of vehicle fleets and prices in meeting policy targets
title_short Comparison of Brazilian and U.S. biofuel demand: The role of vehicle fleets and prices in meeting policy targets
title_sort comparison of brazilian and u s biofuel demand the role of vehicle fleets and prices in meeting policy targets
topic biofuels
fuels
transport
vehicles
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154069
work_keys_str_mv AT tokgozsimla comparisonofbrazilianandusbiofueldemandtheroleofvehiclefleetsandpricesinmeetingpolicytargets
AT bhandaryprapti comparisonofbrazilianandusbiofueldemandtheroleofvehiclefleetsandpricesinmeetingpolicytargets