Modeling the global trade and environmental impacts of biofuel policies
There is rising skepticism about the potential positive environmental impacts of first generation biofuels. Growing biofuel crops could induce diversion of other crops dedicated to food and feed needs. The relocation of production could increase deforestation and bring significant new volumes of car...
| Autores principales: | , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | Artículo preliminar |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
International Food Policy Research Institute
2010
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154691 |
| _version_ | 1855514283139399680 |
|---|---|
| author | Bouët, Antoine Valin, Hugo Dimaranan, Betina |
| author_browse | Bouët, Antoine Dimaranan, Betina Valin, Hugo |
| author_facet | Bouët, Antoine Valin, Hugo Dimaranan, Betina |
| author_sort | Bouët, Antoine |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | There is rising skepticism about the potential positive environmental impacts of first generation biofuels. Growing biofuel crops could induce diversion of other crops dedicated to food and feed needs. The relocation of production could increase deforestation and bring significant new volumes of carbon into the atmosphere. In this paper, we develop a methodology for assessing the indirect land use change effects related to biofuel policies in a computable general equilibrium framework. We rely on the trade policy model MIRAGE and on the GTAP 7 database, both of which have been modified and improved to explicitly capture the role of different types of biofuel feedstock crops, energy demand and substitution, and carbon emissions. Land use changes are represented at the level of agroecological zones in a dynamic framework using land substitution with nesting of constant elasticity of transformation functions and a land supply module that takes into account the effects of economic land expansion. In this integrated global approach, we capture the environmental cost of different land conversions due to biofuels in the carbon budget, taking into account both direct and indirect carbon dioxide emissions related to land use change. We apply this methodology to look at the impacts of biofuel (ethanol) policies for transportation in the United States and in the European Union with and without ethanol trade liberalization. We find that emissions released because of ethanol programs significantly worsen the total carbon balance of biofuel policies. Ethanol trade liberalization benefits are ambiguous and depend highly on the parameters governing land use change, particularly in Brazil. We conclude by pointing out the critical aspects that have to be refined in order to improve our understanding of the environmental implications of biofuel development. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace154691 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publishDateRange | 2010 |
| publishDateSort | 2010 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1546912025-11-06T05:07:43Z Modeling the global trade and environmental impacts of biofuel policies Bouët, Antoine Valin, Hugo Dimaranan, Betina biofuels land use trade liberalization There is rising skepticism about the potential positive environmental impacts of first generation biofuels. Growing biofuel crops could induce diversion of other crops dedicated to food and feed needs. The relocation of production could increase deforestation and bring significant new volumes of carbon into the atmosphere. In this paper, we develop a methodology for assessing the indirect land use change effects related to biofuel policies in a computable general equilibrium framework. We rely on the trade policy model MIRAGE and on the GTAP 7 database, both of which have been modified and improved to explicitly capture the role of different types of biofuel feedstock crops, energy demand and substitution, and carbon emissions. Land use changes are represented at the level of agroecological zones in a dynamic framework using land substitution with nesting of constant elasticity of transformation functions and a land supply module that takes into account the effects of economic land expansion. In this integrated global approach, we capture the environmental cost of different land conversions due to biofuels in the carbon budget, taking into account both direct and indirect carbon dioxide emissions related to land use change. We apply this methodology to look at the impacts of biofuel (ethanol) policies for transportation in the United States and in the European Union with and without ethanol trade liberalization. We find that emissions released because of ethanol programs significantly worsen the total carbon balance of biofuel policies. Ethanol trade liberalization benefits are ambiguous and depend highly on the parameters governing land use change, particularly in Brazil. We conclude by pointing out the critical aspects that have to be refined in order to improve our understanding of the environmental implications of biofuel development. 2010 2024-10-01T14:03:12Z 2024-10-01T14:03:12Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154691 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Bouët, Antoine; Valin, Hugo; Dimaranan, Betina V. 2010. Modeling the global trade and environmental impacts of biofuel policies. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1018. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154691 |
| spellingShingle | biofuels land use trade liberalization Bouët, Antoine Valin, Hugo Dimaranan, Betina Modeling the global trade and environmental impacts of biofuel policies |
| title | Modeling the global trade and environmental impacts of biofuel policies |
| title_full | Modeling the global trade and environmental impacts of biofuel policies |
| title_fullStr | Modeling the global trade and environmental impacts of biofuel policies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modeling the global trade and environmental impacts of biofuel policies |
| title_short | Modeling the global trade and environmental impacts of biofuel policies |
| title_sort | modeling the global trade and environmental impacts of biofuel policies |
| topic | biofuels land use trade liberalization |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154691 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bouetantoine modelingtheglobaltradeandenvironmentalimpactsofbiofuelpolicies AT valinhugo modelingtheglobaltradeandenvironmentalimpactsofbiofuelpolicies AT dimarananbetina modelingtheglobaltradeandenvironmentalimpactsofbiofuelpolicies |