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The food v. fuel debate: A nuanced view of incentive structures

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  • Srinivasan, Sunderasan

Abstract

The rapid rise in crude oil prices and the geo-political uncertainty associated with ensuring uninterrupted supplies have compelled researchers, economists and politicians to look for indigenous substitutes. Liquid biofuels – ethanol and biodiesel – are widely recognized, technically feasible alternatives. Even as the jury is out to determine the environmental footprint of biofuels, the surrounding frenzy has often led to the announcement of unsustainable support prices for feedstock and unviable procurement prices for the finished product. This paper makes a detailed assessment of incentive structures facing the agriculturists, refiners and the consumers. Data from the Indian market are employed to illustrate.

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  • Srinivasan, Sunderasan, 2009. "The food v. fuel debate: A nuanced view of incentive structures," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 950-954.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:34:y:2009:i:4:p:950-954
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2008.08.015
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    10. Abomohra, Abd El-Fatah & Jin, Wenbiao & Tu, Renjie & Han, Song-Fang & Eid, Mohammed & Eladel, Hamed, 2016. "Microalgal biomass production as a sustainable feedstock for biodiesel: Current status and perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 596-606.
    11. Khairul Azly Zahan & Manabu Kano, 2018. "Biodiesel Production from Palm Oil, Its By-Products, and Mill Effluent: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-25, August.
    12. Sarin, Amit & Arora, Rajneesh & Singh, N.P. & Sarin, Rakesh & Malhotra, R.K. & Kundu, K., 2009. "Effect of blends of Palm-Jatropha-Pongamia biodiesels on cloud point and pour point," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 2016-2021.
    13. Valeria Costantini & Graziana Dizonno, 2010. "Bioenergy, Agriculture and the Developing Countries," QA - Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, Associazione Rossi Doria, issue 1, March.
    14. Okolie, Jude A. & Nanda, Sonil & Dalai, Ajay K. & Berruti, Franco & Kozinski, Janusz A., 2020. "A review on subcritical and supercritical water gasification of biogenic, polymeric and petroleum wastes to hydrogen-rich synthesis gas," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    15. Liao, Wenjie & Heijungs, Reinout & Huppes, Gjalt, 2011. "Is bioethanol a sustainable energy source? An energy-, exergy-, and emergy-based thermodynamic system analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 3479-3487.
    16. Talebian-Kiakalaieh, Amin & Amin, Nor Aishah Saidina & Mazaheri, Hossein, 2013. "A review on novel processes of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 683-710.
    17. Bardhan, Soubhik K. & Gupta, Shelaka & Gorman, M.E. & Haider, M. Ali, 2015. "Biorenewable chemicals: Feedstocks, technologies and the conflict with food production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 506-520.
    18. Talebian-Kiakalaieh, Amin & Amin, Nor Aishah Saidina & Zarei, Alireza & Noshadi, Iman, 2013. "Transesterification of waste cooking oil by heteropoly acid (HPA) catalyst: Optimization and kinetic model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 283-292.
    19. Kristensen, Søren Bech Pilgaard & Birch-Thomsen, Torben & Rasmussen, Kjeld & Rasmussen, Laura Vang & Traoré, Oumar, 2014. "Cassava as an energy crop: A case study of the potential for an expansion of cassava cultivation for bioethanol production in Southern Mali," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 381-390.
    20. Sarin, Amit & Arora, Rajneesh & Singh, N.P. & Sharma, Meeta & Malhotra, R.K., 2009. "Influence of metal contaminants on oxidation stability of Jatropha biodiesel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1271-1275.
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    22. Anabela Botelho & Lina Sofia Lourenço-Gomes & Lígia Costa Pinto & Sara Sousa & Marieta Valente, 2016. "Accounting for local impacts of photovoltaic farms: two stated preferences approaches," NIMA Working Papers 64, Núcleo de Investigação em Microeconomia Aplicada (NIMA), Universidade do Minho.
    23. Esmaeili, Abdoulkarim & Shokoohi, Zainab, 2011. "Assessing the effect of oil price on world food prices: Application of principal component analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 1022-1025, February.

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