IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v35y2010i1p14-22.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Land use competition for production of food and liquid biofuels: An analysis of the arguments in the current debate

Author

Listed:
  • Rathmann, Régis
  • Szklo, Alexandre
  • Schaeffer, Roberto

Abstract

This article analyses the current state of the debate over competition for land use, by means of an index of the main arguments in favor and against the production of liquid biofuels and the impacts on food production. Based on this index, an analytic framework is constructed to establish the causal relations indicated by the existing studies on this competition. We find that the emergence of agro-energy has altered the land use dynamic, albeit not yet significantly, with a shift of areas traditionally used to grow foods over to crops to produce biofuels. This has been contributing to raise food prices in the short run. However, it is probable that this is not the only factor determining this trend, nor will it last over the long run. The challenge is to conciliate the production of biofuels with the production of foods in sustainable form.

Suggested Citation

  • Rathmann, Régis & Szklo, Alexandre & Schaeffer, Roberto, 2010. "Land use competition for production of food and liquid biofuels: An analysis of the arguments in the current debate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 14-22.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:35:y:2010:i:1:p:14-22
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2009.02.025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148109000974
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2009.02.025?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sumathi, S. & Chai, S.P. & Mohamed, A.R., 2008. "Utilization of oil palm as a source of renewable energy in Malaysia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(9), pages 2404-2421, December.
    2. N. Turpin & P. Dupraz & C. Thenail & A. Joannon & J. Baudry & S. Herviou & P. Verburg, 2009. "Shaping the landscape: agricultural policies and local biodiversity schemes," Post-Print hal-00453894, HAL.
    3. 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.
    4. Goldemberg, José & Coelho, Suani Teixeira & Guardabassi, Patricia, 2008. "The sustainability of ethanol production from sugarcane," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 2086-2097, June.
    5. Mathews, John A., 2007. "Biofuels: What a Biopact between North and South could achieve," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3550-3570, July.
    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. Ajanovic, Amela, 2011. "Biofuels versus food production: Does biofuels production increase food prices?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 2070-2076.
    2. Harvey, Mark & Pilgrim, Sarah, 2011. "The new competition for land: Food, energy, and climate change," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(S1), pages 40-51.
    3. 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.
    4. Crago, Christine L. & Khanna, Madhu & Barton, Jason & Giuliani, Eduardo & Amaral, Weber, 2010. "Competitiveness of Brazilian sugarcane ethanol compared to US corn ethanol," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 7404-7415, November.
    5. Geraldes Castanheira, Érica & Grisoli, Renata & Freire, Fausto & Pecora, Vanessa & Coelho, Suani Teixeira, 2014. "Environmental sustainability of biodiesel in Brazil," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 680-691.
    6. Goldemberg, José & Guardabassi, Patricia, 2009. "Are biofuels a feasible option?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 10-14, January.
    7. García, Carlos A. & Fuentes, Alfredo & Hennecke, Anna & Riegelhaupt, Enrique & Manzini, Fabio & Masera, Omar, 2011. "Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions and energy balances of sugarcane ethanol production in Mexico," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 2088-2097, June.
    8. Brinkman, Marnix L.J. & da Cunha, Marcelo P. & Heijnen, Sanne & Wicke, Birka & Guilhoto, Joaquim J.M. & Walter, Arnaldo & Faaij, André P.C. & van der Hilst, Floor, 2018. "Interregional assessment of socio-economic effects of sugarcane ethanol production in Brazil," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 347-362.
    9. Schmitt, William F. & Szklo, Alexandre & Schaeffer, Roberto, 2011. "Policies for improving the efficiency of the Brazilian light-duty vehicle fleet and their implications for fuel use, greenhouse gas emissions and land use," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3163-3176, June.
    10. Mathews, John A. & Tan, Hao & Moore, Michael J.B. & Bell, Geoff, 2011. "A conceptual lignocellulosic 'feed+fuel' biorefinery and its application to the linked biofuel and cattle raising industries in Brazil," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 4932-4938, September.
    11. Ashnani, Mohammad Hossein Mohammadi & Johari, Anwar & Hashim, Haslenda & Hasani, Elham, 2014. "A source of renewable energy in Malaysia, why biodiesel?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 244-257.
    12. Govinda Timilsina & Simon Mevel, 2013. "Biofuels and Climate Change Mitigation: A CGE Analysis Incorporating Land-Use Change," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 55(1), pages 1-19, May.
    13. Brinkman, Marnix L.J. & Wicke, Birka & Faaij, André P.C. & van der Hilst, Floor, 2019. "Projecting socio-economic impacts of bioenergy: Current status and limitations of ex-ante quantification methods," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    14. García, Carlos A. & Manzini, Fabio & Islas, Jorge M., 2017. "Sustainability assessment of ethanol production from two crops in Mexico," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1199-1207.
    15. Ramírez Triana, Carlos Ariel, 2011. "Energetics of Brazilian ethanol: Comparison between assessment approaches," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 4605-4613, August.
    16. Monteiro, Nathalia & Altman, Ira & Lahiri, Sajal, 2012. "The impact of ethanol production on food prices: The role of interplay between the U.S. and Brazil," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 193-199.
    17. de Souza, Raquel R. & Schaeffer, Roberto & Meira, Irineu, 2011. "Can new legislation in importing countries represent new barriers to the development of an international ethanol market?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3154-3162, June.
    18. Suopajärvi, Hannu & Umeki, Kentaro & Mousa, Elsayed & Hedayati, Ali & Romar, Henrik & Kemppainen, Antti & Wang, Chuan & Phounglamcheik, Aekjuthon & Tuomikoski, Sari & Norberg, Nicklas & Andefors, Alf , 2018. "Use of biomass in integrated steelmaking – Status quo, future needs and comparison to other low-CO2 steel production technologies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 384-407.
    19. Tonini, Davide & Vadenbo, Carl & Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard, 2017. "Priority of domestic biomass resources for energy: Importance of national environmental targets in a climate perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 295-309.
    20. Lotze-Campen, Hermann & von Witzke, Harald & Noleppa, Steffen & Schwarz, Gerald, 2015. "Science for food, climate protection and welfare: An economic analysis of plant breeding research in Germany," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 79-84.

    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:eee:renene:v:35:y:2010:i:1:p:14-22. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    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.