Effects of Demographics and Attitudes on Willingness-to-Pay for Fuel Import Reductions through Ethanol Purchases

Kimberly Jensen, Christopher Clark, Burton English and Dustin Toliver
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Dustin Toliver: Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, The University of Tennessee, 302 Morgan Hall, 2621 Morgan Circle, Knoxville, TN 37996-4518, USA

Agriculture, 2012, vol. 2, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: One potential means to ameliorate consumer concerns over energy security is to increase the domestic production of alternative fuels. However, in the United States, the public’s attitude toward ethanol, one of the most readily available alternative fuels, has been somewhat ambiguous. This study examines consumer attitudes related to energy security and how import levels influence preferences for ethanol blends using an online survey of fuel consumers across the United States. The results suggest that while consumers generally favor both environmental protection and energy security, they are less clear about how to pursue these goals, with no clear majority agreeing with additional drilling or potential effect of corn ethanol production on food prices. The results do suggest that consumers are willing to pay a premium for fuel blends that contain a lower percentage of imported fuel and that the amount of this premium is influenced by both consumer demographics and views on energy security and environmental issues.

Keywords: ethanol; willingness-to-pay; energy security (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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