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The Economics of Oil, Biofuel and Food Commodities

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Eric Bahel
  • Walid Marrouch
  • Gerard Gaudet

Abstract

In this paper we study the effects on the food market of the introduction of biofuels as a substitute for fossil fuel in the energy market. We consider a world economy with an oil cartel and a competitive fringe of farmers producing energy in the form of biofuels. Farmers also produce food and sell it on the world food market. We determine the resulting relationship between prices in the energy and food markets and characterize the cartel's extraction path and the price path of energy. We show that the price of food will be growing as long the oil stock is being depleted, whether population is growing or not, and that it will keep growing after the oil stock is exhausted if population is growing.

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File URL: ftp://repec.econ.vt.edu/Papers/Bahel/paper_biofuel.pdf
File Function: First version, 2010
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Paper provided by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number e07-26.

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Length: 17 pages
Date of creation: 2010
Handle: RePEc:vpi:wpaper:e07-26
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Keywords: biofuel; oil depletion; population growth; energy price; food price;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • Q30 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - General
  • Q24 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Land
  • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources

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  1. Quentin Grafton, R. & Kompas, Tom & Van Long, Ngo, 2012. "Substitution between biofuels and fossil fuels: Is there a green paradox?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 328-341.
  2. Gaudet, Gerard & Moreaux, Michel & Withagen, Cees, 2006. "The Alberta dilemma: Optimal sharing of a water resource by an agricultural and an oil sector," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 548-566, September.
  3. Hochman Gal & Sexton Steven E & Zilberman David D, 2008. "The Economics of Biofuel Policy and Biotechnology," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 6(2), pages 1-24, December.
  4. Hubert, Marie-Helene & Chakravorty, Ujjayant & van Kooten, G. Cornelis, 2008. "Biofuels, Agriculture And Climate Change," 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium 44259, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
  5. Hongli Feng & Bruce A. Babcock, 2010. "Impacts of Ethanol on Planted Acreage in Market Equilibrium," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 92(3), pages 789-802.
  6. Chakravorty, Ujjayant & Magné, Bertrand & Moreaux, Michel, 2008. "A dynamic model of food and clean energy," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 1181-1203, April.
  7. Smulders, Sjak & Tsur, Yacov & Zemel, Amos, 2012. "Announcing climate policy: Can a green paradox arise without scarcity?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 364-376.
  8. Saraly Andrade de Sá & Charles Palmer & Stefanie Engel, 2012. "Ethanol Production, Food and Forests," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 51(1), pages 1-21, January.
  9. Hassler, John & Sinn, Hans-Werner, 2016. "The fossil episode," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 14-26.
  10. Chakravorty, Ujjayant & Hubert, Marie-Helene & Nostbakken, Linda, 2012. "The Long Run Impact of Biofuels on Food Prices," Working Papers 2012-11, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
  11. Salant, Stephen W, 1976. "Exhaustible Resources and Industrial Structure: A Nash-Cournot Approach to the World Oil Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(5), pages 1079-1093, October.
  12. Sinn, Hans-Werner, 2012. "The Green Paradox: A Supply-Side Approach to Global Warming," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262016680, July.
  13. Ujjayant Chakravorty & Marie-Hélène Hubert & Linda Nøstbakken, 2009. "Fuel Versus Food," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 645-663, September.
    • Ujjayant Chakravorty & Marie-Hélène Hubert & Linda Nøstbakken, 2009. "Fuel Versus Food," Post-Print halshs-01117673, HAL.
    • Chakravorty, Ujjayant & Hubert, Marie-Helene & Nostbakken, Linda, 2009. "Fuel versus Food," Working Papers 2009-20, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
  14. Ciaian, Pavel & Kancs, d'Artis, 2011. "Interdependencies in the energy-bioenergy-food price systems: A cointegration analysis," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 326-348, January.
  15. Nazlioglu, Saban, 2011. "World oil and agricultural commodity prices: Evidence from nonlinear causality," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2935-2943, May.
  16. van der Ploeg, Frederick & Withagen, Cees, 2012. "Is there really a green paradox?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 342-363.
  17. Hans-Werner Sinn, 2008. "Public policies against global warming: a supply side approach," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(4), pages 360-394, August.
  18. Rajagopal, Deepak & Zilberman, David, 2007. "Review of environmental, economic and policy aspects of biofuels," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4341, The World Bank.
  19. R. Quentin Grafton & Tom Kompas & Ngo Van Long, 2010. "Biofuels Subsidies and the Green Paradox," CESifo Working Paper Series 2960, CESifo Group Munich.
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Cited by:

  1. Quentin Grafton, R. & Kompas, Tom & Van Long, Ngo, 2012. "Substitution between biofuels and fossil fuels: Is there a green paradox?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 328-341.
  2. Lotfali Agheli, 2016. "Demand for Natural Gas in Food and Beverage Industries of Iran," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 6(3), pages 588-593.
  3. Dohnal, Mirko, 2016. "Complex biofuels related scenarios generated by qualitative reasoning under severe information shortages: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 676-684.
  4. Nachtigall, Daniel & Rübbelke, Dirk, 2016. "The green paradox and learning-by-doing in the renewable energy sector," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 74-92.
  5. Ngo Van LONG, 2014. "The Green Paradox under Imperfect Substitutability between Clean and Dirty Fuels," Cahiers de recherche 02-2014, Centre interuniversitaire de recherche en économie quantitative, CIREQ.
  6. Jevgenijs Steinbuks & Thomas W. Hertel, 2016. "Confronting the Food–Energy–Environment Trilemma: Global Land Use in the Long Run," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 63(3), pages 545-570, March.
  7. Tokic, Damir, 2015. "The 2014 oil bust: Causes and consequences," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 162-169.
  8. Hoel, Michael & Sletten, Thea Marcelia, 2016. "Climate and forests: The tradeoff between forests as a source for producing bioenergy and as a carbon sink," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 112-129.
  9. R. Quentin Grafton & Tom Kompas & Ngo Van Long, 2010. "Do Biofuel Subsidies Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions?," International and Development Economics Working Papers idec10-01, International and Development Economics.
  10. R. Quentin Grafton & Tom Kompas & Ngo Van Long, 2010. "Biofuels Subsidies and the Green Paradox," CESifo Working Paper Series 2960, CESifo Group Munich.

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