Kiel Working Papers, Kiel Institute for World Economics
No 1184:
Tax Exemption for Biofuels in Germany: Is Bio-Ethanol Really an Option for Climate Policy?
Jan M. Henke, Gernot Klepper and Norbert Schmitz
Abstract: Last year the German Parliament exempted biofuels from the
gasoline tax. The promotion of biofuels is being justified by allegedly
positive effects on climate, energy, and agricultural policy goals. The
paper takes a closer look at bio-ethanol as a substitute for gasoline. We
analyze the basic conditions that provide the setting for the production
and promotion of biofuels and show that the production of bio-ethanol in
Germany is not competitive. Using energy and greenhouse gas balances we
demonstrate that a possible increased use of bioethanol to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions is inefficient and that there are preferred
alternative strategies. In addition, scenarios on the development of the
bio-ethanol market are derived from a model that allows for variations in
decisive variables and reflects the production and trade chain of
bio-ethanol.
Keywords: biofuels, ethanol, climate policy, agricultural policy, gasoline tax, energy balances, GHG balances; (follow links to similar papers)
JEL-Codes: D61,; H23,; Q25,; Q42; (follow links to similar papers)
36 pages, September 2003
Before downloading any of the electronic versions below
you should read our statement on
copyright.
Download GhostScript
for viewing Postscript files and the
Acrobat Reader for viewing and printing pdf files.
Downloadable files:
kap1184.pdf
Download Statistics
Report other problems with accessing this service to Sune Karlsson ()
or Helena Lundin ().
Programing by
Design Joakim Ekebom