Economics
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Bioenergy > Issues > Economics
Information about biofuels and bioenergy and economics.
Contents |
Key issues
Events
- 31 May - 2 June 2010, Copenhagen, Denmark: International Conference on Energy, Environment and Health. (Themes: biomass, climate change, economics, environment, human health, technology)
- 21-23 June 2010, Stockholm, Sweden: 2010 International Bioenergy Workshop. (Themes: climate change, energy efficiency, economics, environment, markets)
- 27-30 June 2010, Ames, Iowa, USA: Biochar 2010. Hosted by Iowa State University (Themes:agriculture, biochar, economics, forestry, policy, soil)
- 12-16 September 2010, Montreal, Quebec, Canada: World Energy Congress (WEC) 2010. (Themes: economics, markets, policies, technologies)
- 14-15 September 2010, Kiev, Ukraine: 6th International Conference on Biomass for Energy. (Themes: biomass, economics, environment, policy, technologies)
- 26-29 September 2010, Rockford, Illinois, USA: International Bioenergy Days 2010. (Themes: economics, policy, Sweden, technology)
News
- Grasses Have Potential as Alternate Ethanol Crop, Illinois Study Finds, 1 November 2010 by Science Daily: "Researchers at the University of Illinois have completed the first extensive geographic yield and economic analysis of potential bioenergy grass crops in the Midwestern United States."
- "Switchgrass is large prairie grass native to the Midwest, and Miscanthus, a sterile hybrid, is already widely cultivated in Europe as a biofuel crop."
- "The team published its results in the October issue of the journal Global Change Biology Bioenergy."
- "The researchers found that, in general, the yield is very high for miscanthus -- up to three times higher than switchgrass in the Midwest. Even through switchgrass is native to the region, it doesn't grow well in higher latitudes like Minnesota or Wisconsin because it has poor tolerance for cold temperatures."
- "Most notably, for the southernmost counties -- much of southern Illinois and nearly all of Missouri -- the model predicts greater production of grasses than of current corn and soy crops. This could be a key factor in farmers' decisions to cultivate biofuel crops."[1]
- GBEP Newsletter Highlights Progress on Sustainability Indicators for Bioenergy, 1 July 2010 by Climate-L.org: "The Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) has published its eighth newsletter, which discusses, inter alia, the recent G8 Summit in Muskoka, Canada, GBEP’s new partners, and new online resources for greenhouse gas (GHG) measurement."
- "The newsletter opens by noting that G8 leaders renewed GBEP’s mandate, highlighting the need for further progress on sustainability indicators and criteria, and capacity building efforts. The newsletter further highlights that, concerning sustainability indicators, the GBEP Task Force on Sustainability has recently reached agreement in a number of areas including economic, energy security, social and environmental aspects. This is contrasted, however, with hurdles that remain in the areas of food security, government support, trade, land rights and national legal, policy and institutional frameworks."[2]
- See the GBEP newsletter here
- "The newsletter opens by noting that G8 leaders renewed GBEP’s mandate, highlighting the need for further progress on sustainability indicators and criteria, and capacity building efforts. The newsletter further highlights that, concerning sustainability indicators, the GBEP Task Force on Sustainability has recently reached agreement in a number of areas including economic, energy security, social and environmental aspects. This is contrasted, however, with hurdles that remain in the areas of food security, government support, trade, land rights and national legal, policy and institutional frameworks."[2]
- Department of Energy Announces $24 Million for Algal Biofuels Research, 28 June 2010 by the US DOE: "The U.S. Department of Energy announced today the investment of up to $24 million for three research groups to tackle key hurdles in the commercialization of algae-based biofuels."
- "The consortia consist of partners from academia, national laboratories, and private industries that are based across the country, broadening the geographic range and technical expertise of DOE partners in the area of algal biofuels... Together, they represent a diversified portfolio that will help accelerate algal biofuels development with the objective of significantly increasing production of affordable, high-quality algal biofuels that are environmentally and economically sustainable."
- "Despite algae's potential, many technical and economic challenges must be overcome for algal biofuels to be commercialized. To identify these hurdles and guide research and development activities, DOE convened the National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap Workshop, bringing together more than 200 experts and stakeholders from across the country. The Department synthesized workshop results and released a draft report for public comment in June 2009"[3]
- Read the full report: National Algal Biofuels Technology Raodmap (PDF)
- FAO Releases Report on Bioenergy and Food Security in Tanzania, June 2010 by Climate-L.org: "The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has released a report on “Bioenergy and Food Security: The BEFS Analysis for Tanzania,” which aims to support the development of bioenergy policies that are aligned with Tanzania’s poverty reduction and food security strategies."
- "The BEFS analytical framework is composed of five components: biomass potential; biofuel supply chain production costs; agriculture markets; economy wide impacts; and household level food security. The Tanzania case study examines: cassava, sugar cane, palm oil, jatropha, sweet sorghum and sunflower for bioenergy analyses; and maize, cassava and rice for food security analyses."[4]
- Download the full report: Bioenergy and Food Security: The BEFS Analysis for Tanzania
- "The BEFS analytical framework is composed of five components: biomass potential; biofuel supply chain production costs; agriculture markets; economy wide impacts; and household level food security. The Tanzania case study examines: cassava, sugar cane, palm oil, jatropha, sweet sorghum and sunflower for bioenergy analyses; and maize, cassava and rice for food security analyses."[4]
- BC Hydro seeks biomass projects, 21 April 2010 by Northern Sentinel (Canada): "BC Hydro has issued a request for qualifications for innovative, community-based biomass projects."
- "The utility is seeking projects no larger than five megawatts that produce electricity from carbon-neutral biomass sources and create local or regional economic benefits."[5]
- The Forbidden Fuel: A History of Power Alcohol, New Edition, April 2010 by Hal Bernton, William Kovarik, and Scott Sklar: "The Forbidden Fuel is the definitive history of alcohol fuel, describing in colorful detail the emergence of alcohol fuel in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the political and economic forces behind its popularity, opposition, and eventual growth."
- "In 1982, when The Forbidden Fuel was first published, approximately 350 million gallons of ethanol were produced in the United States for transport fuel. In 2008 that number had grown to 9 billion gallons — an approximate average annual growth rate of 98.9 percent."
- "This new edition examines the forces behind this explosive growth; it also presents fresh evidence that the controversial issues that were presciently foreseen and described in the 1982 edition — limits of the land, food versus fuel, environmental risks, and global warming — still persist as unabated challenges to industry leaders and policy makers."[6]
- For additional information visit the Forbidden Fuel authors' website.
- Department of Energy to Invest Nearly $18 Million for Advanced Biofuels User Facility, 31 March 2010 by U.S. Department of Energy: "[T]he Department’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will build an advanced biofuels process development facility aimed at speeding the commercialization of advanced biofuels by allowing researchers and the private sector to test and integrate innovative technologies."
- "'The Department is committed to developing cost-effective and sustainable advanced biofuels. With this investment, we will vastly increase the capacity to test new innovative approaches on a larger, integrated scale,' said Assistant Secretary Zoi. 'Scaling up these clean energy technologies is crucial to addressing climate change and building a strong, domestic clean energy economy.'"
- "Planned capabilities include unique pretreatment of biomass, enzyme production, fermentation for the production of multiple biofuels, and product purification in quantities sufficient for engine testing at partner institutions."[7]
- BIO Calls for a Range of Policies to Support Biorefinery Commercialization and Create Green Jobs, 4 March 2010: "Public policy should extend support to all biorefinery projects, because production of biobased products and green chemicals at integrated biorefineries holds the same potential to generate jobs, boost economic growth, and lower greenhouse gas emissions as advanced biofuels."
- Brent Erickson, executive vice president for BIO’s Industrial and Environmental Section, stated,"The United States is a world leader in developing industrial biotechnology for biofuels, biobased products, and green chemicals. Deployment of the technology can improve U.S. economic competitiveness, contribute to renewed, sustainable economic growth, and create high-wage, green jobs. U.S. employment in plastics and chemical manufacturing has declined over the past two decades and is projected to shrink further, as capital investment for the petroleum-based industry has shifted away from the United States. Development of domestic biobased products and renewable chemicals can restore competitive advantage to the United States and possibly save jobs in the sector."[8]
- Is Biomass Harvesting Sustainable?, late August 2008 (September 2008 issue) by Biomass Magazine: "Sustainability is a buzzword in the biomass industry. But sustainable can mean many things....A collaboration of researchers studied a biomass operation...in Minnesota to look at all the different components of a sustainable biomass harvesting operation." This study includes treatment of the economics of biomass harvesting.
- Download the IATP study, Harvesting Fuel: Cutting Costs and Reducing Forest Fire Hazards Through Biomass Harvest.
- EU, US and Brazil release report on biofuels specifications to expand trade, 4 February 2008, Biopact. In order to further free trade markets in biofuels around the world, the three leading biofuels producers have put together an analysis of current biofuel specifications.
Reports
- Bioenergy and Poverty in Kenya: Attitudes, Actors and Activities Prepared for Pisces by Practical Action Consulting in Eastern Africa, May 2010. "This report presents the findings of socio-economic baseline surveys carried out by the Eastern Africa office of Practical Action Consulting in Kenya... This was part of a broader baseline data creation exercise carried out across the respective PISCES countries around the same period to help provide a better understanding of some of the current issues relating to bioenergy use, access and delivery at the community level."
- Economic viability of Jatropha curcas L. plantations in Northern Tanzania (PDF) by Nepomuk Wahl, Ramni Jamnadass, Henning Baur, Cristel Munster and Miyuki Iiyama of the World Agroforestry Centre. "This study examines the economic viability of jatropha seed production in three northern regions of Tanzania where a jatropha-based bioenergy value chain is about to emerge. Interviews with several farmers growing jatropha in the regions were conducted to create primary data on costs and benefits."
- Brazilian Ethanol: A Gift or Threat to the Environment and Regional Development? (PDF) by Sriniketh Nagavarapu at the Department of Economics, Stanford University, January 2008. This report looks at regional issues in Brazil relating to sugarcane and ethanol production such as economics, regional inequality, threats to forests and US import barriers.
| Economics | edit | |
| Investment in biofuels | Subsidies | Trade | ||
| Bioenergy issues | edit | |
| Agriculture (Land use) | Climate change | Economics (Green economy/Green jobs) Environment | Social (Poverty) | Trade | ||
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