Optimizing Biofuels Production in an Uncertain Decision Environment

Jadwiga R. Ziolkowska

No 150219, 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Abstract: The question of increasing biofuels production and the development of different biofuels production technologies has become controversial. On the one hand, production of corn-based biofuels creates a ‘food/feed vs. fuel’ tradeoff condition, along with subsequent uncertainties for both consumers and producers (farmers). On the other, advanced biofuels (from, e.g., switchgrass, miscanthus, algae), although acknowledged as environmentally friendly, are not available yet on a large commercial scale. In addition, the resource availability for the production of biofuels feedstocks and the question of a sustainable biofuels production are major issues impacting decision making. By using a multi-objective optimization model and fuzzy logic, the paper presents an approach of modeling sustainable biofuels production from conventional and advanced biofuels feedstocks, under the condition of limited resources and uncertainty resulting from incomplete information or missing knowledge about resource availability for biofuels production.

Keywords: Environmental Economics and Policy; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; Resource/Energy Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 15
Date: 2013
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-env
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aaea13:150219

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.150219

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