Land Allocation between Food and Energy

Ujjayant Chakravorty (1) , Marie-Hélène Hubert (2) , Michel Moreaux (3)

1 Tufts University [Medford]
2 CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management
3 TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics

Many countries are promoting biofuels as a substitute for scarce oil. This paper develops a dynamic model of land allocation between food and energy and shows how the model can be calibrated using standard optimization techniques. Some possible implications of the trade-offs between food and energy are discussed. Specifically, we show that the effect of mandates is mainly felt through increased land conversion, which increases indirect carbon emissions. Crude oil prices do not decrease significantly because of leakages.

Mots clés: biofuel; mandate; land allocation; energy; food

Domaines: Economies et finances

Ujjayant Chakravorty, Marie-Hélène Hubert, Michel Moreaux. Land Allocation between Food and Energy. Frontiers of Economics in China, 2014, 9 (1), pp.52-69. ⟨10.3868/s060-003-014-0004-8⟩. ⟨halshs-01117644⟩