Biofuel Development: Assessing the Trade-off between Energy Use and Food Security on the Agricultural Sector using the GTAP Model

Abstract

The paper analyses the effects of biofuel development on food security and the agricultural sector using the global trade analysis project (GTAP) model. It attempts to quantify the economic effects of taxes and/or subsidies on the agricultural and biofuel sectors within APEC, the EU, Brazil and Sub-Saharan Africa. The balance between food security and energy security will be bleak in the future as population increases notwithstanding changes in income (i.e., changing diets, increasing demand for consumer non-durables and durables). The latter does not only increase demand for energy but puts food and energy security at odds with each other.