IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v46y2014i2p299-317.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Burning Desires: Untangling and Interpreting ‘Pro-Poor’ Biofuel Policy Processes in India and South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Shishusri Pradhan
  • Shaun Ruysenaar

Abstract

The bio-economy is characterised by aspirations of replacing the fossil-based economy with biobased energy, resources and processes; biofuels are particularly popular. This new shift comes with multiple risks and uncertainties in both industrialised and developing economies. The uptake of biofuels is inextricably linked to and legitimised by policy processes involving a complicated nexus of vested interests, political aspirations, and technological drivers, and a range of associated factors. In this paper we describe the characteristics of and contours along which two national biofuels policies in India and South Africa have been articulated and developed. In doing so we establish how a biofuels regime has gained legitimacy, becoming embedded into policy processes dictated largely through specific networks and reflective of the rationalising effect of global and local narratives. We analyse how pro-poor ‘win-win’ narratives gained purchase amongst different actors and in turn how they were used as a basis for biofuels policies. The case studies are, however, complex and differentiated, pointing towards sociopolitical nuances and structural subtleties.

Suggested Citation

  • Shishusri Pradhan & Shaun Ruysenaar, 2014. "Burning Desires: Untangling and Interpreting ‘Pro-Poor’ Biofuel Policy Processes in India and South Africa," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(2), pages 299-317, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:46:y:2014:i:2:p:299-317
    DOI: 10.1068/a45482
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a45482
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a45482?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jumbe, Charles B.L. & Msiska, Frederick B.M. & Madjera, Michael, 2009. "Biofuels development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Are the policies conducive?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4980-4986, November.
    2. Sorda, Giovanni & Banse, Martin & Kemfert, Claudia, 2010. "An overview of biofuel policies across the world," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 6977-6988, November.
    3. Altenburg, Tilman & Dietz, Hildegard & Hahl, Matthias & Nikolidakis, Nikos & Rosendahl, Christina & Seelige, Kathrin, 2009. "Biodiesel in India: value chain organisation and policy options for rural development," IDOS Studies, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), volume 43, number 43.
    4. Niek Koning & Arthur Mol, 2009. "Wanted: institutions for balancing global food and energy markets," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 1(3), pages 291-303, September.
    5. Khoo, Boo Teik, 2010. "No insulation : politics and technocracy's troubled trajectory," IDE Discussion Papers 236, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    6. Carolan, Michael S., 2010. "Ethanol’s most recent breakthrough in the United States: A case of socio-technical transition," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 65-71.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Evelien de Hoop & Saurabh Arora, 2017. "Policy Democracy? Social and Material Participation in Biodiesel Policy-Making Processes in India," SPRU Working Paper Series 2017-02, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.

    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. Dalemans, Floris & Muys, Bart & Maertens, Miet, 2019. "Adoption Constraints for Small-scale Agroforestry-based Biofuel Systems in India," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 27-39.
    2. Lilibeth A. Acosta & Damasa B. Magcale-Macandog & K. S. Kavi Kumar & Xuefeng Cui & Elena A. Eugenio & Paula Beatrice M. Macandog & Arnold R. Salvacion & Jemimah Mae A. Eugenio, 2016. "The Role of Bioenergy in Enhancing Energy, Food and Ecosystem Sustainability Based on Societal Perceptions and Preferences in Asia," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-26, April.
    3. Soto, Iria & Achten, Wouter M.J. & Muys, Bart & Mathijs, Erik, 2015. "Who benefits from energy policy incentives? The case of jatropha adoption by smallholders in Mexico," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 37-47.
    4. Dalemans, Floris & Muys, Bart & Verwimp, Anne & Van den Broeck, Goedele & Bohra, Babita & Sharma, Navin & Gowda, Balakrishna & Tollens, Eric & Maertens, Miet, 2018. "Redesigning oilseed tree biofuel systems in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 631-643.
    5. Brüntrup, Michael & Becker, Katharina & Prothmann, Jan & Ostermann, Silja & Gaebler, Martina & Herrmann , Raoul, 2016. "Policies and institutions for assuring pro-poor rural development and food security through bioenergy production: case studies on bush-to-energy and Jatropha in Namibia," IDOS Studies, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), volume 90, number 90.
    6. Bodisco, Timothy & Brown, Richard J., 2013. "Inter-cycle variability of in-cylinder pressure parameters in an ethanol fumigated common rail diesel engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 55-65.
    7. Mohammed, Y.S. & Mustafa, M.W. & Bashir, N., 2013. "Status of renewable energy consumption and developmental challenges in Sub-Sahara Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 453-463.
    8. Kargbo, Hannah & Harris, Jonathan Stuart & Phan, Anh N., 2021. "“Drop-in” fuel production from biomass: Critical review on techno-economic feasibility and sustainability," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    9. Negash, Martha & Swinnen, Johan F.M., 2013. "Biofuels and food security: Micro-evidence from Ethiopia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 963-976.
    10. Michael Barrowclough & L. Geyer, 2015. "Biofuel Policies: The Underground Limitation on Biofuels," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 21(1), pages 55-65, March.
    11. Soratana, Kullapa & Harden, Cheyenne L. & Zaimes, George G. & Rasutis, Daina & Antaya, Claire L. & Khanna, Vikas & Landis, Amy E., 2014. "The role of sustainability and life cycle thinking in U.S. biofuels policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 316-326.
    12. Kalim Shah & George Philippidis & Hari Dulal & Gernot Brodnig, 2014. "Developing biofuels industry in small economies: Policy experiences and lessons from the caribbean basin initiative," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 229-253, February.
    13. Ofelia Andrea Valdés Rodríguez & Arturo Pérez Vázquez & Caupolicán Muñoz Gamboa, 2014. "Drivers and Consequences of the First Jatropha curcas Plantations in Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(6), pages 1-15, June.
    14. Charlotte Stead & Zia Wadud & Chris Nash & Hu Li, 2019. "Introduction of Biodiesel to Rail Transport: Lessons from the Road Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, February.
    15. German, Laura & Schoneveld, George, 2012. "A review of social sustainability considerations among EU-approved voluntary schemes for biofuels, with implications for rural livelihoods," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 765-778.
    16. Štěpán Chrz & Karel Janda & Ladislav Krištoufek, 2014. "Modelování provázanosti trhů potravin, biopaliv a fosilních paliv [Modeling Interconnections within Food, Biofuel, and Fossil Fuel Markets]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2014(1), pages 117-140.
    17. Franziska Marfurt & Fabian Käser & Samuel Lustenberger, 2016. "Local Perceptions and Vertical Perspectives of a Large Scale Land Acquisition Project in Northern Sierra Leone," Homo Oeconomicus: Journal of Behavioral and Institutional Economics, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 261-279, October.
    18. Sudip Das & V.S. Prakash Attili, 2022. "Data analysis of ethanol blended petrol programme of India," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(2), pages 171-191.
    19. Julia Hansson & Roman Hackl, 2016. "The potential influence of sustainability criteria on the European Union pellets market—the example of Sweden," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(4), pages 413-429, July.
    20. Ullah, Kifayat & Kumar Sharma, Vinod & Dhingra, Sunil & Braccio, Giacobbe & Ahmad, Mushtaq & Sofia, Sofia, 2015. "Assessing the lignocellulosic biomass resources potential in developing countries: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 682-698.

    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:sae:envira:v:46:y:2014:i:2:p:299-317. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.