Energy, Bio Fuels and Development: Comparing Brazil and the United States

by Amann; Edmund

• ISBN13: 9780415567206
• ISBN10: 0415567203
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-01-20
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This collection examines the important and topical issue of the economic, social and environmental implications of concerted attempts to diversify energy sources away from fossil fuels. The book expertly examines this issue by focussing on the contrasting experiences of two major economies; one developed, and the other a rapidly expanding, emerging market.Energy, Bio Fuels and Development evaluates the experience of Brazil, with elements of that of the US highlighted for the purpose of comparison. A key area of concern surrounds the causes and consequences of the contrasting routes to biofuel production represented by sugar cane (in Brazil) and corn (in the US). The book also places the recent biofuels drive in perspective by discussing the broader energy policy context. The book shows the complexity and interdependence of the issues involved in moving a society reliant on non-renewable energy sources to one based on alternative sources of energy.The key conclusion to emerge is that Brazil, in pursuing a flexible mix of fossil fuels and bio-fuels, has greatly diminished its exposure to exogenous energy shocks. The US experience ' in particular its development of corn-based ethanol ' has been more problematic, though by no means without successes. It is argued that bio fuels should not be seen as a panacea. There are clear limits to the efficiency and cost effectiveness of current biofuel production technologies while there remain concerns surrounding potentially adverse effects on food production and rural livelihoods.This book should be an excellent resource for students focussing on economic development, particularly in the areas of energy, biofuels, rural development and food supply.

Table of Contents

List of figures	p. xv
List of tables	p. xvii
List of contributors	p. xxi
Introduction	p. 1
Macroeconomic and distributional dimensions of energy shocks	p. 3
Oil price shocks and the macro economy: the United States versus Brazil	p. 5
Energy and income distribution in Brazil's development process	p. 23
The earth is finite and other irrelevancies about the world's ultimate oil supply	p. 38
Energy restrictions to growth: the past, present and future of energy supply in Brazil	p. 51
Oil prices and inflation in Brazil: exchange rate versus inflation targeting	p. 65
Brazilian energy independence: petroleum, trade and economic efficiency	p. 72
The role played by the BNDES in funding electricity investments in Brazil	p. 95
Social, local and environmental impacts of changes in the energy market	p. 111
Climate change, energy use and long-run growth in Brazil	p. 113
Spatial interactions between energy and energy-intensive sectors in the Brazilian economy: a field of influence approach	p. 122
Determinants of the income of workers in sugar cane plantations and in the sugar and ethanol industries in the North-Northeast and Center-South regions of Brazil	p. 137
A framework for examining the impact of bio fuels on the poor in Brazil	p. 151
Bio fuels, food, and trade: a comparison of bio fuel development efforts in two communities in Illinois	p. 164
Oligopolistic behavior of Brazilian gas stations	p. 178
The impacts of bio and alternative fuels	p. 195
The journey to the next-generation of bioeconomy: the US perspective	p. 197
Between sustain ability and development: bioenergy, land use, food security and lifecycle analysis	p. 203
Bio energy efficiency and a flex-mill simulation in Mato Grosso	p. 221
The impacts of agriculture-based energy sources on land use in Brazil	p. 236
Fossil fuels, bio fuels, and food: ranking priorities	p. 256
The expansion of ethanol and land use in Brazil's Cerrado	p. 268
The viability of the biodiesel program as an instrument of social inclusion	p. 285
The expansion of sugarcane cultivation and its impact on municipal revenues: an application of dynamic spatial panels to municipalities in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil	p. 292
Conclusions	p. 315
Conclusions	p. 317
Index	p. 322
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