Energy from Biomass: An Economic Analysis of Selected Biomass Energy Issues

摘要

Selected economic issues associated with large-scale energy production from biomass are studied. They include ethanol production from corn, the foreign trade implications of ethanol industry development and the potential for tradeoff between food and energy. Implications of a corn-to-ethanol program and the growth of corn exports are discussed along with the impact of energy prices on forest products demand, using the construction industry as a case study. The study indicates that as long as future energy demands impose countervailing price pressures on potential competitors of forest products, there is no reason to believe that wood will be priced out of the construction industry or any other markets where similar conditions apply. An external evaluation of this report was conducted by the Division of Policy Research and Analysis of the National Science Foundation and is appended to the main volume of this series.