| Articles, Presentations & Reports |
Cost Works Against Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources in Time of Recession
and
Stimulus, policy shifts seen spurring U.S. renewable energy boom -- someday
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A pair of articles from the NY Times linking the recession, the stimulus bill, and renewable energy from March 2009. The first discusses the possible negative impacts of a prolonged recession on renewable energy. The second describes the likelyhood of the stimulus package bringing about a renewable energy boom. This gives one perspective on the risks and potential of moving toward renewable energy in the future. |
Green Recovery: A Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy |
Research from the Center for American Progress and the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts from September 2008, Summary:
"Focusing for now on a short-term clean energy and jobs program, Green Recovery reports that a short-term green stimulus package would create two million jobs nationwide over two years. Later in the fall, PERI and CAP will co-publish a fuller study that addresses the longer-term challenges and opportunities created by building a clean-energy economy." |
Paying For Renewables: DuPont, Mohawk find consumers will pay more for products made from renewable materials |
Chemical & Engineering News' April 2008 report of a 2007 survey of U.S. consumer's opinions found that "Nearly seven out of every 10 U.S. consumers are willing to pay more for products made with renewable resources." The survey was sponsored by DuPont and Mohawk Industries. |
Policies key as ethanol 'revolution' links agriculture, energy sectors |
February 2008 article about current research being done at Purdue University, Abstract: "
The recent boom in production of ethanol from corn grain has tightly linked the agriculture and energy sectors in an unprecedented fashion. Purdue University researchers developed a model, based on a range of possible oil prices, that predicts impacts of federal economic policies on future consumer and government costs, ethanol production and many other aspects of the two sectors." |
| Greenhouse Gas Impacts of Ethanol from Iowa Corn: Life Cycle Analysis versus System-wide Accounting |
February 2008 report from CARD, Abstract:
"Life cycle analysis (LCA) is the standard approach used to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits of biofuels. However, it is increasingly recognized that LCA results do not account for some impacts—including land use changes—that have important implications on GHGs. Thus, an alternative accounting system that goes beyond LCA is needed. In this paper, we contribute to the literature by laying out the basics of a system-wide accounting (SWA) method that takes into account all potential changes in GHGs resulting from biofuel expansion." |
Fuel Ethanol Subsidies and Farm Price Support |
December 2007 article from the Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization. Abstract: "This paper develops a vertical market model of ethanol, byproducts, and corn which is used to analyze whether corn growers would prefer the government's subsidy dollar to be spent directly on corn subsidies (though deficiency payments) rather than on a subsidy on ethanol made from corn. Because the subsidy dollar has to be shared with ethanol manufacturers under the ethanol subsidy, it is to be expected, and the model confirms, that a dollar spent on a direct corn subsidy increases corn growers' producer surplus more than an a dollar spent on an ethanol subsidy under many plausible values of the relevant parameters. |
| Ethanol Craze Cools As Doubts Multiply |
November 28, 2007analysis by the Wall Street Journal. Excerpt: " In the span of one growing season, ethanol has gone from panacea to pariah in the eyes of some. The critics, which include industries hurt when the price of corn rises, blame ethanol for pushing up food prices, question its environmental bona fides and dispute how much it really helps reduce the need for oil." |
| Corn-Based Ethanol in Illinois and the U.S.: A Report |
November 2007 report from farmdoc at the University of Illinois.
Summary: "The U.S. ethanol boom – what are the causes, attendant effects on Illinois and U.S. agriculture, and alternative futures? The goal of this report is to provide objective information to Illinois stakeholders, cutting through the emotional, political and economic self-interests that often dominate discussions about ethanol production and use. |
| Oil Prices: It Gets Worse |
November 2007, TIME Magazine. "The dire predictions of a key report on international oil supplies released Wednesday suggest that oil prices could move irreversibly over the $100-a-barrel threshold in the not too distant future, as the global economy faces a serious energy shortage." |
| Biofuels: Is The Cure Worse Than The Disease? |
Report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's "Round Table on Sustainable Development," edited by Richard Doornbosch and Ronald Steenblik, Paris, 11-12 September 2007. Includes an an "alternative policy agenda" starting on page 42. The link to the original document on the OECD website is not working, so we've linked to a copy of the report on Environmental Valuation & Cost-Benefit News |
| Emerging Biofuels: Outlook of Effects on U.S. Grain, Oilseed, and Livestock Markets |
CARD staff report, May 2007. |
| The Growth and Direction of the Biodiesel Industry in the United States |
CARD working paper, May 2007. |
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