Abstract
Liquid biofuels—ethanol and biodiesel—are widely recognized, technically feasible alternatives to fossil fuels. Even as the jury is out to determine the environmental footprint of biofuels, the surrounding frenzy has often led to the announcement of unsustainable support prices for feedstock and unviable procurement prices for the finished product. Taking on from the discussion on scarcity in the previous chapter, this chapter makes a detailed assessment of incentive structures facing agriculturists, refiners and the consumers. Data from the Indian market are employed to illustrate the power of substitutes.
Socialism proposes no adequate substitute for the motive of enlightened selfishness that today is at the basis of all human labor and effort, enterprise and new activity
William Howard Taft
27th President, and later 10th Chief Justice of the USA.
This chapter is largely based on, Srinivasan S (April 2009) The food v. fuel debate: a nuanced view of incentive structures, Renew Energy, The Official Journal of the World Renewable Energy Network, Elsevier, Vol. 34(4).
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Notes
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http://eaindustry.nic.in/; Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.
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See for instance, cdm.unfccc.int/UserManagement/FileStorage/FS_686206579.
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Sunderasan, S. (2011). Revealed Preferences and the Power of Substitutes. In: Rational Exuberance for Renewable Energy. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-212-4_4
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