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Ethanol production, food and forests

Andrade de Sa, Saraly, Palmer, Charles ORCID: 0000-0002-1252-179X and Engel, Stefanie (2010) Ethanol production, food and forests. Discussion paper series (48.2010). University of Cambridge. Department of Land Economy, Cambridge, UK.

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Abstract

This paper investigates the direct and indirect impacts of ethanol production on land use, deforestation and food production. A partial equilibrium model of a national economy with two sectors and two regions, one of which includes a residual forest, is developed. It analyses how an exogenous increase in the ethanol price affcts input allocation (land and labor) between sectors (energy crop and food). Three potential effects are identified. First, the standard and well-documented effect of direct land competition between rival uses increases deforestation and decreases food production. Second, an indirect displacement of food production across regions, provoked by a shift in the price of food, increases deforestation and reduces the total output of the food sector. Finally, labor mobility between sectors and regions tends to decrease food production but also deforestation. The overall impact of ethanol production on forest conversion is ambiguous, providing a number of interesting pointers to further, empirical research.

Item Type: Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL: http://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/index.htm
Additional Information: © 2010 The Authors
Divisions: Geography & Environment
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD100 Land Use
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
JEL classification: Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q2 - Renewable Resources and Conservation > Q24 - Land
Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q4 - Energy > Q42 - Alternative Energy Sources
Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q11 - Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices
Date Deposited: 12 May 2010 10:55
Last Modified: 01 Apr 2024 08:44
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/27950

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