IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/natres/v35y2011i1p21-31.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Eco‐efficiency, self‐sufficiency and sustainability in transport: The limits for Brazilian sugarcane ethanol policy

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Wells
  • Thaisa Faro

Abstract

This paper examines the historic development of the Brazilian sugarcane ethanol sector and the largely successful attempt to create a sustainable, renewable fuel for the transport sector. The policy that resulted from this process is an example of meeting the need for sustainable transport through the consideration of location‐specific characteristics and appropriate policy. The paper then questions the current and expected trajectory of the sugarcane ethanol sector with the focus on one key question: can sustainability be exported? In this analysis, the paper identifies new threats to the sustainability of Brazilian sugarcane ethanol and potential “opportunity costs” incurred in further development and internationalization of the sector. The paper concludes that exporting sugarcane ethanol may bring unanticipated deleterious consequences, which in turn means that both policy and theory need to be more precise about how sustainable transport is defined and bounded by time and space.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Wells & Thaisa Faro, 2011. "Eco‐efficiency, self‐sufficiency and sustainability in transport: The limits for Brazilian sugarcane ethanol policy," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(1), pages 21-31, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:natres:v:35:y:2011:i:1:p:21-31
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-8947.2010.01340.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2010.01340.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2010.01340.x?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David I. Harvey & Neil M. Kellard & Jakob B. Madsen & Mark E. Wohar, 2010. "The Prebisch-Singer Hypothesis: Four Centuries of Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(2), pages 367-377, May.
    2. Julie Subervie, 2008. "The Variable Response of Agricultural Supply to World Price Instability in Developing Countries," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 72-92, February.
    3. van der Ploeg, Frederick, 2009. "Global Crises and Developing Countries: Financial, Environmental, Resource and Food Perspectives," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 3(2), pages 119-160, September.
    4. Elobeid Amani & Hart Chad, 2007. "Ethanol Expansion in the Food versus Fuel Debate: How Will Developing Countries Fare?," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2), pages 1-23, December.
    5. Bastian-Pinto, Carlos & Brando, Luiz & Hahn, Warren J., 2009. "Flexibility as a source of value in the production of alternative fuels: The ethanol case," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 411-422, May.
    6. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808, Decembrie.
    7. Alan V. Deardorff & Indira Rajaraman, 2009. "Buyer Concentration in Markets for Developing Country Exports," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 190-199, May.
    8. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, March.
    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. Pishchulov, Grigory & Trautrims, Alexander & Chesney, Thomas & Gold, Stefan & Schwab, Leila, 2019. "The Voting Analytic Hierarchy Process revisited: A revised method with application to sustainable supplier selection," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 166-179.
    2. Katarzyna Piwowar‐Sulej, 2021. "Core functions of Sustainable Human Resource Management. A hybrid literature review with the use of H‐Classics methodology," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 671-693, July.
    3. Anselm Schneider, 2015. "Reflexivity in Sustainability Accounting and Management: Transcending the Economic Focus of Corporate Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 525-536, March.
    4. Abdullah Yıldızbaşı & Cihat Öztürk & Deniz Efendioğlu & Serol Bulkan, 2021. "Assessing the social sustainable supply chain indicators using an integrated fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making methods: a case study of Turkey," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 4285-4320, March.
    5. Ahmet Koç & Mert Bastas, 2019. "The Evaluation of the Project School Model in Terms of Organizational Sustainability and Its Effect on Teachers’ Organizational Commitment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-23, June.
    6. Claus-Heinrich Daub & Yvonne M. Scherrer & Arie H. Verkuil, 2014. "Exploring Reasons for the Resistance to Sustainable Management within Non-Profit Organizations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(6), pages 1-19, May.
    7. Lin Wu & Nachiappan Subramanian & Angappa Gunasekaran & Muhammad Dan‐Asabe Abdulrahman & Kulwant Singh Pawar & Des Doran, 2018. "A two‐dimensional, two‐level framework for achieving corporate sustainable development: Assessing the return on sustainability initiatives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1117-1130, December.
    8. Anselm Schneider & Erika Meins, 2012. "Two Dimensions of Corporate Sustainability Assessment: Towards a Comprehensive Framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 211-222, May.
    9. David Teh & Tehmina Khan & Brian Corbitt & Chin Eang Ong, 2020. "Sustainability strategy and blockchain-enabled life cycle assessment: a focus on materials industry," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 605-622, December.
    10. Rupert J. Baumgartner, 2009. "Organizational culture and leadership: Preconditions for the development of a sustainable corporation," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(2), pages 102-113.
    11. Sarah Elena Windolph & Dorli Harms & Stefan Schaltegger, 2014. "Motivations for Corporate Sustainability Management: Contrasting Survey Results and Implementation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(5), pages 272-285, September.
    12. Kozica, Arjan & Kaiser, Stephan, 2012. "A Sustainability Perspective on Flexible HRM: How to Cope with Paradoxes of Contingent Work," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(3), pages 239-261.
    13. A. Gözde Gözüm & : G. Pınar Acar, 2018. "İşletmelerin BIST-Sürdürülebilirlik Endeksi’nde Yer Alma DurumunaGöre Üst Kademe Teorisi Kapsamında Değerlendirilmesi," Istanbul Management Journal, Istanbul University Business School, vol. 29(84), pages 93-112, June.
    14. Cory Searcy, 2016. "Measuring Enterprise Sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 120-133, February.
    15. Tan Yigitcanlar & Md. Kamruzzaman, 2015. "Planning, Development and Management of Sustainable Cities: A Commentary from the Guest Editors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-12, November.
    16. Cory Searcy & Ruvena Buslovich, 2014. "Corporate Perspectives on the Development and Use of Sustainability Reports," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(2), pages 149-169, May.
    17. Ijaz Hussain & Shaohong Mu & Muhammad Mohiuddin & Rizwan Qaiser Danish & Shrafat Ali Sair, 2020. "Effects of Sustainable Brand Equity and Marketing Innovation on Market Performance in Hospitality Industry: Mediating Effects of Sustainable Competitive Advantage," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-19, April.
    18. Mark Anthony Camilleri, 2017. "Corporate sustainability and responsibility: creating value for business, society and the environment," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 59-74, September.
    19. Francisco Rincon‐Roldan & Alvaro Lopez‐Cabrales, 2021. "Ethical values in social economy for sustainable development," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(4), pages 705-729, December.

    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:wly:natres:v:35:y:2011:i:1:p:21-31. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1477-8947 .

    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.