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Food or fuel? What European farmers can contribute to Europe's transport energy requirements and the Doha Round

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  • Baka, Jennifer
  • Roland-Holst, David

Abstract

Farm support in higher income countries is a testament to the fundamental social and economic importance of agriculture, yet domestic efforts to support this sector can arouse multilateral discord in a world of global food markets. In this paper, we argue that the advent of biofuels offers a new opportunity for agriculture to contribute to society, and to do so in a way that reduces trade rivalry and improves energy security. Holding current agricultural production constant, we find that the EU has the potential to reduce oil imports between 6% and 28% by converting eligible agricultural crops into biofuels under two differing conversion scenarios. Further, 33% of food support could be removed with no net farm revenue loss, using the biofuel premia (compared with food value) of corn and rapeseed to compensate for subsidy reductions. These results can help overcome the current impasse in global trade negotiations by reconciling the needs of EU farmers with those who would gain from more liberal international trade.

Suggested Citation

  • Baka, Jennifer & Roland-Holst, David, 2009. "Food or fuel? What European farmers can contribute to Europe's transport energy requirements and the Doha Round," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2505-2513, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:37:y:2009:i:7:p:2505-2513
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    1. Searchinger, Timothy & Heimlich, Ralph & Houghton, R. A. & Dong, Fengxia & Elobeid, Amani & Fabiosa, Jacinto F. & Tokgoz, Simla & Hayes, Dermot J. & Yu, Hun-Hsiang, 2008. "Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases Through Emissions from Land-Use Change," Staff General Research Papers Archive 12881, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
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    1. Hochman, Gal & Rajagopal, Deepak & Timilsina, Govinda & Zilberman, David, 2011. "The role of inventory adjustments in quantifying factors causing food price inflation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5744, The World Bank.
    2. van Duren, Iris & Voinov, Alexey & Arodudu, Oludunsin & Firrisa, Melese Tesfaye, 2015. "Where to produce rapeseed biodiesel and why? Mapping European rapeseed energy efficiency," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 49-59.
    3. Sandouqa, Arwa & Al-Hamamre, Zayed, 2019. "Energy analysis of biodiesel production from jojoba seed oil," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 831-842.

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    Keywords

    Doha Biofuels Trade;

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