IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/inrasl/207810.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Biodiesel vs. ethanol, UE vs. US biofuels: So different in terms of LUC impact?

Author

Listed:
  • Forslund, Agneta
  • Gohin, Alexandre
  • Le Mouël, Chantal
  • Levert, Fabrice

Abstract

Available estimates of biofuel-induced land use change (LUC) and corresponding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions vary on a wide range while estimations obtained from each model are highly sensitive to certain assumptions and key parameter values. Available studies often suggest that biodiesel and ethanol and/or EU and US biofuels would lead to different LUC and GHG emissions but they don’t agree on the type and/or the origin of the biofuel which would induce the least LUC and GHG emissions. In this paper we investigate the reasons behind this feature. We show that the Armington modeling of trade flows, which is currently used in models, contributes to this pattern. Using both observed data and the partial equilibrium model MATSIM-LUCA, we show that LUC stemming from the development of biofuels is highly dependent on assumptions made on trade: the Integrated World Market (IWM) approach, which relies on the homogenous product assumption, tends to erase differences in estimates of induced LUC from biodiesel and ethanol and from EU and US biofuels as compared to the Armington approach, that postulates that product are differentiated according to their origin and thus less substitutable.

Suggested Citation

  • Forslund, Agneta & Gohin, Alexandre & Le Mouël, Chantal & Levert, Fabrice, 2014. "Biodiesel vs. ethanol, UE vs. US biofuels: So different in terms of LUC impact?," Working Papers 207810, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:inrasl:207810
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.207810
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/207810/files/WP%20SMART-LERECO%2014-04.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.207810?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alexandre Gohin & Herve Guyomard & Chantal Le Mouël, 2006. "Tariff protection elimination and Common Agricultural Policy reform: implications of changes in methods of import demand modelling," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(13), pages 1527-1539.
    2. Reimer, Jeffrey J. & Zheng, Xiaojuan & Gehlhar, Mark J., 2012. "Export Demand Elasticity Estimation for Major U.S. Crops," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 44(4), pages 1-15, November.
    3. Jerome Dumortier & Dermot J. Hayes & Miguel Carriquiry & Fengxia Dong & Xiaodong Du & Amani Elobeid & Jacinto F. Fabiosa & Simla Tokgoz, 2011. "Sensitivity of Carbon Emission Estimates from Indirect Land-Use Change," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 33(4), pages 673-673.
    4. 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.
    5. Alla A. Golub & Thomas W. Hertel, 2012. "Modeling Land-Use Change Impacts Of Biofuels In The Gtap-Bio Framework," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(03), pages 1-30.
    6. Gohin, Alexandre, 2013. "The land use changes of European biodiesel: sensitivity to crop yield evolutions," Working Papers 207857, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
    7. Nelson B. Villoria & Thomas W. Hertel, 2011. "Geography Matters: International Trade Patterns and the Indirect Land Use Effects of Biofuels," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 93(4), pages 919-935.
    8. Alexandre Gohin, 2013. "The land use changes of European biodiesel: sensitivity to crop yield evolutions," Working Papers SMART 13-13, INRAE UMR SMART.
    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. Amani Elobeid & Miguel Carriquiry & Jerome Dumortier & David Swenson & Dermot J. Hayes, 2021. "China‐U.S. trade dispute and its impact on global agricultural markets, the U.S. economy, and greenhouse gas emissions," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 647-672, September.
    2. Gohin, Alexandre & Levert, Fabrice & Forslund, Agneta, 2017. "The EU Argentinean Trade Dispute on Biodiesel: An Economic Assessment," German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Department for Agricultural Economics, vol. 66(1), March.
    3. Delzeit, Ruth & Klepper, Gernot & Söder, Mareike, 2017. "Indirect land use change (iLUC) revisited: An evaluation of current policy proposals," Kiel Working Papers 2075, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    4. Alexandre Gohin, 2014. "Assessing the Land Use Changes and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Biofuels: Elucidating the Crop Yield Effects," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 90(4), pages 575-586.
    5. Beike Sumfleth & Stefan Majer & Daniela Thrän, 2020. "Recent Developments in Low iLUC Policies and Certification in the EU Biobased Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-34, October.
    6. Nelson Villoria & Rachael Garrett & Florian Gollnow & Kimberly Carlson, 2022. "Leakage does not fully offset soy supply-chain efforts to reduce deforestation in Brazil," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    7. repec:lic:licosd:37115 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Iyabo Adeola Olanrele & Adedoyin I. Lawal & Ezekiel Oseni & Ahmed Oluwatobi Adekunle & Bukola, B. Lawal-Adedoyin & Crystal O. Elleke & Racheal Ojeka-John & Henry Nweke-Love, 2020. "Accessing the Impacts of Contemporary Development in Biofuel on Agriculture, Energy and Domestic Economy: Evidence from Nigeria," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(5), pages 469-478.
    9. Piroli, Giuseppe & Rajcaniova, Miroslava & Ciaian, Pavel & Kancs, d׳Artis, 2015. "From a rise in B to a fall in C? SVAR analysis of environmental impact of biofuels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 921-930.
    10. Delzeit, Ruth & Klepper, Gernot & Söder, Mareike, 2016. "An evaluation of approaches for quantifying emissions from indirect land use change," Kiel Working Papers 2035, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    11. Fischer, Justina A.V., 2012. "The choice of domestic policies in a globalized economy: Extended Version," MPRA Paper 37816, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Mohd Alsaleh & Muhammad Mansur Abdulwakil & Abdul Samad Abdul-Rahim, 2021. "Land-Use Change Impacts from Sustainable Hydropower Production in EU28 Region: An Empirical Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-19, April.
    13. Dumortier, Jerome & Elobeid, Amani & Carriquiry, Miguel, 2022. "Light-duty vehicle fleet electrification in the United States and its effects on global agricultural markets," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    14. Dumortier, Jerome & Elobeid, Amani, 2021. "Effects of a carbon tax in the United States on agricultural markets and carbon emissions from land-use change," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    15. Gohin, Alexandre, 2016. "Understanding the revised CARB estimates of the land use changes and greenhouse gas emissions induced by biofuels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 402-412.
    16. Elobeid, Amani E. & Carriquiry, Miguel & Dumortier, Jerome & Rosas, Francisco & Mulik, Kranti & Fabiosa, Jacinto F. & Hayes, Dermot J. & Babcock, Bruce A., 2013. "Biofuel Expansion, Fertilizer Use, and GHG Emissions: Unintended Consequences of Mitigation Policies," ISU General Staff Papers 201301010800001013, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    17. Fischer, Justina A.V., 2012. "The choice of domestic policies in a globalized economy," Papers 306, World Trade Institute.
    18. Kauffman, Nathan & Dumortier, Jerome & Hayes, Dermot J. & Brown, Robert C. & Laird, David, 2014. "Producing energy while sequestering carbon? The relationship between biochar and agricultural productivity," ISU General Staff Papers 201404010700001488, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    19. Sajedinia, Ehsanreza & Tyner, Wally, 2017. "Use of General Equilibrium Models in Evaluating Biofuels Policies," Conference papers 332885, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    20. Dumortier, Jerome, 2015. "Impact of agronomic uncertainty in biomass production and endogenous commodity prices on cellulosic biofuel feedstock composition," IU SPEA AgEcon Papers 198707, Indiana University, IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
    21. Moschini, GianCarlo & Cui, Jingbo & Lapan, Harvey E., 2012. "Economics of Biofuels: An Overview of Policies, Impacts and Prospects," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 1(3), pages 1-28, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crop Production/Industries; Environmental Economics and Policy; Land Economics/Use;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q11 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q17 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agriculture in International Trade
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy

    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:ags:inrasl:207810. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inrapfr.html .

    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.