IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/isu/genstf/201201010800003732.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Essays concerning the cellulosic biofuel industry

Author

Listed:
  • Rosburg, Alicia Sue

Abstract

Despite market-based incentives and mandated production, the U.S. cellulosic biofuel industry has been slow to develop. This dissertation explores the economic factors that have limited industry development along with important economic tradeoffs that will be encountered with commercial-scale production. The first essay provides an overview of the policies, potential, and challenges of the biofuel industry, with a focus on cellulosic biofuel. The second essay considers the economics of cellulosic biofuel production. Breakeven models of the local feedstock supply system and biofuel refining process are constructed to develop the Biofuel Breakeven (BioBreak) program, a stochastic, Excel-based program that evaluates the feasibility of local biofuel and biomass markets under various policy and market scenarios. An application of the BioBreak program is presented using expected market conditions for 14 local cellulosic biofuel markets that vary by feedstock and location. The economic costs of biofuel production identified from the BioBreak application are higher than frequently anticipated and raise questions about the potential of cellulosic ethanol as a sustainable and economical substitute for conventional fuels. Program results also are extended using life-cycle analysis to evaluate the cost of reducing GHG emissions by substituting cellulosic ethanol for conventional fuel. The third essay takes a closer look at the economic trade-offs within the biorefinery industry and feedstock production processes. A long-run biomass production through bioenergy conversion cost model is developed that incorporates heterogeneity of biomass suppliers within and between local markets. The model builds on previous literature by treating biomass as a non-commoditized feedstock and relaxes the common assumption of fixed biomass density and price within local markets. An empirical application is provided for switchgrass-based ethanol production within U.S. crop reporting districts (CRDs). Incorporating location-specific biomass supply conditions creates unique and important economic tradeoffs within each CRD that have important impacts on the potential supply and distribution of U.S. cellulosic biofuel production.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosburg, Alicia Sue, 2012. "Essays concerning the cellulosic biofuel industry," ISU General Staff Papers 201201010800003732, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:isu:genstf:201201010800003732
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/0b0ca481-4ab9-4f53-8a8b-3d3f5eeefcfc/content
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. English, Burton C. & Jensen, Kimberly L. & Menard, R. Jamey, 2008. "Executive Summary: Risk, Infrastructure and Industry Evolution Conference, June 24-25, 2008, Berkeley, California," Risk, Infrastructure and Industry Evolution Conference, June 24-25, 2008, Berkeley, California 48723, Farm Foundation.
    2. Bruce A. Babcock, 2011. "The Impact of Ethanol and Ethanol Subsidies on Corn Prices: Revisiting History," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 11-pb5, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    3. Bruce A. Babcock, 2010. "Mandates, Tax Credits, and Tariffs: Does the U.S. Biofuels Industry Need Them All?," Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) Publications (archive only) 10-pb1, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    4. Altman, Ira J. & Bergtold, Jason S. & Sanders, Dwight R. & Johnson, Thomas G., 2011. "Producer Willingness to Supply Biomass: the Effects of Price and Producer Characteristics," 2011 Annual Meeting, February 5-8, 2011, Corpus Christi, Texas 98804, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    5. Bergtold, Jason S. & Fewell, Jason E. & Williams, Jeffery R., 2011. "Farmers’ Willingness to Grow Sweet Sorghum as a Cellulosic Bioenergy Crop: A Stated Choice Approach," 2011 Annual Meeting, July 24-26, 2011, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 108068, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Brechbill, Sarah C. & Tyner, Wallace E. & Ileleji, Klein E., 2008. "The economics of biomass collection and transportation and its supply to Indiana cellulosic and electric utility facilities," Risk, Infrastructure and Industry Evolution Conference, June 24-25, 2008, Berkeley, California 48732, Farm Foundation.
    7. Carlos Arnade & David Kelch, 2007. "Estimation of Area Elasticities from a Standard Profit Function," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 89(3), pages 727-737.
    8. Arie Beresteanu & Shanjun Li, 2011. "Gasoline Prices, Government Support, And The Demand For Hybrid Vehicles In The United States," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 52(1), pages 161-182, February.
    9. Sarah C. Brechbill & Wallace E. Tyner, 2008. "The Economics Of Biomass Collection,Transportation, And Supply To Indiana Cellulosic And Electric Utility Facilities," Working Papers 08-03, Purdue University, College of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    10. Babcock, Bruce A. & Marette, Stéphan & Tréguer, David, 2011. "Opportunity for profitable investments in cellulosic biofuels," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 714-719, February.
    11. Bruce A. Babcock & Kanlaya J. Barr & Miguel Carriquiry, 2010. "Costs and Benefits to Taxpayers, Consumers, and Producers from U.S. Ethanol Policies," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 10-sr106, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    12. Ahmed, Syud Amer & Thomas Hertel & Ruben Lubowski, 2009. "Calibration of a Land Cover Supply Function Using Transition Probabilities," GTAP Research Memoranda 2947, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University.
    13. Bangsund, Dean A. & DeVuyst, Eric A. & Leistritz, F. Larry, 2008. "Evaluation of Breakeven Farm-gate Switchgrass Prices in South Central North Dakota," Agribusiness & Applied Economics Report 37845, North Dakota State University, Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics.
    14. Baker, Mindy L. & Hayes, Dermot J. & Babcock, Bruce A., 2008. "Crop-Based Biofuel Production under Acreage Constraints and Uncertainty," 2008 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2008, Orlando, Florida 6352, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    15. Baker, Justin Scott & McCarl, Bruce A. & Murray, Brian C. & Rose, Steven K. & Alig, Ralph J. & Adams, Darius M. & Latta, Gregory S. & Beach, Robert H. & Daigneault, Adam J., 2010. "Net Farm Income and Land Use under a U.S. Greenhouse Gas Cap and Trade," Policy Issues 93683, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Bangsund, Dean A. & DeVuyst, Eric A. & Leistritz, F. Larry, 2008. "Evaluation of Breakeven Farm-gate Switchgrass Prices in South Central North Dakota-Summary," Agribusiness & Applied Economics Report 42253, North Dakota State University, Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics.
    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. Rosburg, Alicia & Miranowski, John & Jacobs, Keri, 2016. "Modeling biomass procurement tradeoffs within a cellulosic biofuel cost model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 77-83.

    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. Rosburg, Alicia & Miranowski, John & Jacobs, Keri, 2016. "Modeling biomass procurement tradeoffs within a cellulosic biofuel cost model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 77-83.
    2. Rosburg, Alicia & Miranowski, John & Jacobs, Keri, 2013. "Cellulosic biofuel potential under land constraints: locations, plant sizes and feedstock supply costs," ISU General Staff Papers 201308130700001049, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    3. Rosburg, Alicia & Miranowski, John & Jacobs, Keri, 2013. "Cellulosic Biofuel Supply with Heterogeneous Biomass Suppliers: An Application to Switchgrass-based Ethanol," Staff General Research Papers Archive 36359, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    4. Fewell, Jason E. & Bergtold, Jason S. & Williams, Jeffery R., 2016. "Farmers' willingness to contract switchgrass as a cellulosic bioenergy crop in Kansas," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 292-302.
    5. Wu, Jy S. & Tseng, Hui-Kuan & Liu, Xiaoshuai, 2022. "Techno-economic assessment of bioenergy potential on marginal croplands in the U.S. southeast," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    6. Rahdar, Mohammad & Wang, Lizhi & Hu, Guiping, 2014. "Potential competition for biomass between biopower and biofuel under RPS and RFS2," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 10-20.
    7. Leach, Andrew & Doucet, Joseph & Nickel, Trevor, 2011. "Renewable fuels: Policy effectiveness and project risk," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 4007-4015, July.
    8. Hoque, Mohammad Mainul & Artz, Georgeanne M. & Jarboe, Darren H. & Martens, Bobby J., 2015. "Producer Participation In Biomass Markets: Farm Factors, Market Factors, And Correlated Choices," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(3), pages 317-344, August.
    9. Zhang, Jun & Osmani, Atif & Awudu, Iddrisu & Gonela, Vinay, 2013. "An integrated optimization model for switchgrass-based bioethanol supply chain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 1205-1217.
    10. English, Alicia & Tyner, Wallace E. & Sesmero, Juan P. & Owens, Phillip & Muth, David, 2012. "Environmental Impacts of Stover Removal in the Corn Belt," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124873, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Kwabena Krah & Daniel R Petrolia & Angelica Williams & Keith H Coble & Ardian Harri & Roderick M Rejesus, 2018. "Producer Preferences for Contracts on a Risky Bioenergy Crop," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 40(2), pages 240-258.
    12. Epplin, Francis M. & Haque, Mohua, 2011. "Policies to Facilitate Conversion of Millions of Acres to the Production of Biofuel Feedstock," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(3), pages 385-398, August.
    13. Alexander, Corinne & Ivanic, Rasto & Rosch, Stephanie & Tyner, Wallace & Wu, Steven Y. & Yoder, Joshua R., 2012. "Contract theory and implications for perennial energy crop contracting," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 970-979.
    14. Krishnan, Venkat & McCalley, James D., 2016. "The role of bio-renewables in national energy and transportation systems portfolio planning for low carbon economy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 207-223.
    15. Pravin Kumar & Rajesh Kumar Singh, 2021. "Selection of sustainable solutions for crop residue burning: an environmental issue in northwestern states of India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 3696-3730, March.
    16. Babcock, Bruce A. & Carriquiry, Miguel A., 2017. "Nested biofuels mandates: impacts of policy product differentiation on commodity markets," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258562, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Luis Armando Becerra-Pérez & Luis Rincón & John A. Posada-Duque, 2022. "Logistics and Costs of Agricultural Residues for Cellulosic Ethanol Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-18, June.
    18. Wang, Chenguang & Larson, James A. & English, Burton C. & Jensen, Kimberly L., 2009. "Cost Analysis of Alternative Harvest, Storage and Transportation Methods for Delivering Switchgrass to a Biorefinery from the Farmers’ perspective," 2009 Annual Meeting, January 31-February 3, 2009, Atlanta, Georgia 47169, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    19. Baker, J.S. & Wade, C.M. & Sohngen, B.L. & Ohrel, S. & Fawcett, A.A., 2019. "Potential complementarity between forest carbon sequestration incentives and biomass energy expansion," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 391-401.
    20. Monge, Juan J. & Bryant, Henry L. & Gan, Jianbang & Richardson, James W., 2016. "Land use and general equilibrium implications of a forest-based carbon sequestration policy in the United States," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 102-120.

    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:isu:genstf:201201010800003732. 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: Curtis Balmer (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deiasus.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.