KDF Search Results

This paper estimates household preferences for ethanol as a gasoline substitute. I develop a theoretical
model linking the shape of the ethanol demand curve to the distribution of price ratios at which individual
households switch fuels. I estimate the model using data from many retail fueling stations. Demand
is price-sensitive with a mean elasticity of 2.5�3.5. I find that preferences are heterogeneous with many
households willing to pay a premium for ethanol. This reduces the simulated cost of an ethanol content

This report is an update of the original version, which was published in October 2008. This updated report includes results from the complete 16-vehicle fleet (the original report included only the first 13 vehicles tested) as well as corrections to minor errors identified in some of the originally reported data. Conclusions drawn from the complete dataset are nearly identical to those from the
original 13-vehicle fleet but with increased statistical confidence.

We quantify the emergence of biofuel markets and its impact on U.S. and world agriculture for the coming decade using the multi-market, multi-commodity international FAPRI (Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute) model. The model incorporates the trade-offs between biofuel, feed, and food production and consumption and international feedback effects of the emergence through world commodity prices and trade.

The objective of the research here is to more carefully investigate the claims of localized
impacts on two fronts. The first is the impact a local ethanol plant has on the rate of agricultural
land conversion to other uses (if an ethanol plant increases the value of local agricultural land as
a result of increased commodity prices, one might expect a slower rate of conversion relative to
other communities). Second, we investigate whether the siting of an ethanol plant has had a
negative impact on local residential land values.

This study is a statistical analysis to estimate the significance of factors that influence the volume of E85 sales to the general public in Minnesota from 1997 to 2006.

This report identify the issues associated with intermediate ethanol blends with an emphasis on the end-use or
vehicle impacts of increased ethanol levels and compile a current and complete bibliography of key references on intermediate ethanol blends.

The market for E85�a fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline�is small
but growing rapidly. I use data for E85 sales at fueling stations in Minnesota to estimate
demand for E85 as a function of retail E85 and gasoline prices. I find that demand is
highly sensitive to price changes, with an own-price elasticity as high as -13 and a gasolineprice
elasticity as high as 16 at sample mean price levels. Demand is most sensitive to
price changes when the relative price of E85 is at an intermediate level, at which point

Discussions of alternative fuel and propulsion technologies for transportation often overlook the infrastructure required to make these options practical and cost-effective. We estimate ethanol production facility locations and use a linear optimization model to consider the economic costs of distributing various ethanol fuel blends to all metropolitan areas in the United States. Fuel options include corn-based E5 (5% ethanol, 95% gasoline) to E16 from corn and switchgrass, as short-term substitutes for petroleum-based fuel.

Technology for producing transportation fuel from biomass is moving out of the laboratory and into the marketplace. In the past decade, advances in biotechnology have allowed us to reduce the projected cost of bioethanol by nearly 25%.

Limited fuel availability is a critical factor in the marketability of new fuels. A survey of us households is used to estimate the value of fuel availability and its influence on choice of fuel for a fuel-flexible vehicle and the choice of a dedicated-fuel engine for a vehicle. The marginal value of availability decreases as the percent of stations offering a new fuel increases. For fuel-flexible vehicles the cost of lack of availability decreases from us $0.35/gallon at 1% to US $0.02/gallon when 50% of stations offer the fuel.

Traffic flows in the U.S. have been affected by the substantial increase and, as of January 2009, decrease in biofuel production and use. This paper considers a framework to study the effect on grain transportation flows of the 2005 Energy Act and subsequent legislation, which mandated higher production levels of biofuels, e.g. ethanol and biodiesels. Future research will incorporate changes due to the recent economic slowdown.

Ethanol use in the U.S. rose sharply in recent years due to public policy and a spike in petroleum prices, and remains high. Public support for ethanol includes mandated minimum levels of use nationwide. However, rather little is known about consumer demand for ethanol and much less about demand by type of blend and ethanol source. We used trial survey data and conjoint analysis to overcome the lack of historical data on consumers’ preferences for ethanol blend fuels.

This paper examines the possibilities of breaking into the cellulosic ethanol market in south Louisiana via strategic feedstock choices and the leveraging of the area’s competitive advantages. A small plant strategy is devised whereby the first-mover problem might be solved, and several scenarios are tested using Net Present Value analysis.

This paper introduces a spatial bioeconomic model for study of potential cellulosic biomass supply at regional scale. By modeling the profitability of alternative crop production practices, it captures the opportunity cost of replacing current crops by cellulosic biomass crops. The model draws upon biophysical crop input-output coefficients, price and cost data, and spatial transportation costs in the context of profit maximization theory. Yields are simulated using temperature, precipitation and soil quality data with various commercial crops and potential new cellulosic biomass crops.

This article addresses development of the Illinois ethanol industry through the period 2007-2022, responding to the ethanol production mandates of the Renewable Fuel Standard by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The planning for corn-based and cellulosic ethanol production requires integrated decisions on transportation, plant location, and capacity.

Events external to agriculture have set in motion the conditions for structural change in the marketing of corn in the U.S. These included a rapid increase in the price of crude oil from $40 per barrel to over $100 caused by hurricanes, geopolitical events, an increased global demand for energy from countries like China and India, and in December 2007, the U.S. raising the renewable fuel standards. The results of this research show that there could be significant changes in the historical utilization and marketing of corn in the U.S.

In the corn ethanol industry, the ability of plants to obtain favorable prices through marketing decisions is considered important for their overall economic performance. Based on a panel of surveyed of ethanol plants we extend data envelopment analysis (DEA) to decompose the economic efficiency of plants into conventional sources (technical and allocative efficiency) and a new component we call marketing efficiency.

Ethanol Industry Outlooks from past years are made available by the renewable Fuels Association. The reports include the latest trends,developments happening with regard to the ethanol industry.

The Federal Trade Commision performs a market concentration analysis of the ethanol production industry to determine whether there is sufficient competition among industry participants to avoid price-setting and other anticompetitive behaviour.The FTC must report its findings to Congress and to the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. This link presents the FTC’s
concentration analysis of ethanol production up to year 2009.

This is an overview of transportation issues facing a rapidly expanding U.S. ethanol industry in the context of the U.S. corn market—currently the main source of ethanol production in the United States. The aim of the report is to present a frame of reference as the ethanol industry continues to grow and additional transportation benchmarks and indicators develop by providing analysis of transportation requirements for corn-based ethanol and its impact on grain transportation.