IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v30y2005i14p2617-2635.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tax exemption for biofuels in Germany: Is bio-ethanol really an option for climate policy?

Author

Listed:
  • Henke, J.M.
  • Klepper, G.
  • Schmitz, N.

Abstract

In 2002 the German Parliament decided to exempt biofuels from the gasoline tax to increase their competitiveness compared to conventional gasoline. The policy to promote biofuels is being justified by their allegedly positive effects on climate, energy, and agricultural policy goals. An increased use of biofuels would contribute to sustainable development by reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and the use of non-renewable resources. The paper takes a closer look at bio-ethanol as a substitute for gasoline. It analyzes the underlying basic German, European, and worldwide conditions that provide the setting for the production and promotion of biofuels. It is shown that the production of bio-ethanol in Germany is not competitive and that imports are likely to increase. Using energy and greenhouse-gas balances we then demonstrate that the promotion and a possible increased use of bio-ethanol to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions are economically inefficient and that there are preferred alternative strategies. In addition, scenarios of the future development of the bio-ethanol market are derived from a model that allows for variations in all decisive variables and reflects the entire production and trade chain of bio-ethanol, from the agricultural production of wheat and sugar beet to the consumption of bio-ethanol in the fuel sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Henke, J.M. & Klepper, G. & Schmitz, N., 2005. "Tax exemption for biofuels in Germany: Is bio-ethanol really an option for climate policy?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 30(14), pages 2617-2635.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:30:y:2005:i:14:p:2617-2635
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2004.07.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036054420400310X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2004.07.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vollebergh, Herman, 1997. "Environmental externalities and social optimality in biomass markets: waste-to-energy in The Netherlands and biofuels in France," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 605-621, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Winden, Matthew & Cruze, Nathan & Haab, Tim & Bakshi, Bhavik, 2015. "Monetized value of the environmental, health and resource externalities of soy biodiesel," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 18-24.
    2. Dijkgraaf, Elbert & Vollebergh, Herman R.J., 2004. "Burn or bury? A social cost comparison of final waste disposal methods," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(3-4), pages 233-247, October.
    3. Grazi, Fabio & van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M., 2008. "Spatial organization, transport, and climate change: Comparing instruments of spatial planning and policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 630-639, November.
    4. Fahlén, E. & Ahlgren, E.O., 2010. "Accounting for external costs in a study of a Swedish district-heating system - An assessment of environmental policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 4909-4920, September.
    5. Rozakis, S. & Sourie, J. -C., 2005. "Micro-economic modelling of biofuel system in France to determine tax exemption policy under uncertainty," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 171-182, January.
    6. Roth, Ian F. & Ambs, Lawrence L., 2004. "Incorporating externalities into a full cost approach to electric power generation life-cycle costing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(12), pages 2125-2144.
    7. Lunnan, Anders, 1997. "Agriculture-based biomass energy supply -- a survey of economic issues," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 573-582, May.
    8. Varuvel, Edwin Geo & Mrad, Nadia & Tazerout, Mohand & Aloui, Fethi, 2012. "Experimental analysis of biofuel as an alternative fuel for diesel engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 224-231.
    9. Carlo Giupponi & Francesco Bosello & Andrea Povellato, 2007. "A Review of Recent Studies on Cost Effectiveness of GHG Mitigation Measures in the European Agro-Forestry Sector," Working Papers 2007.14, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    10. Oliveira, Luciano Basto & Rosa, Luiz Pinguelli, 2003. "Brazilian waste potential: energy, environmental, social and economic benefits," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(14), pages 1481-1491, November.
    11. Zhao, Xiaoli & Cai, Qiong & Li, Shujie & Ma, Chunbo, 2018. "Public preferences for biomass electricity in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 242-253.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:30:y:2005:i:14:p:2617-2635. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.