Are Biofuels More Environmentally Friendly? The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Impacts of Increased Biofuel Production
摘要
During the last decade, the negative consequences of climate change have become more intense and severe. The substitution of gasoline with biofuels can potentially reduce global emissions and help mitigate these negative impacts. However, most studies concentrate on CO2 emissions and non-CO2 emissions, which have significantly larger global warming potential than CO2 emissions alone, have largely been overlooked. Non-CO2 emissions account for more than 19 percent of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States. In this paper, we link the Global Trade Analysis Project Biofuels (GTAP-BIO) model and the Global Trade Analysis Project model with Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) and Greenhouse Gas emissions (GTAP-AEZ-GHG) model with the updated database incorporating non-CO2 emissions to analyze the impact of increased biofuel production on the global economy and emissions. This enables a more comprehensive and holistic analysis of the economic and environmental impacts of substitution of gasoline with biofuels in various countries. We find that global GHG emissions decrease with increased biofuels production. However, emissions reduction is higher in developed counties than in developing countries. We also find that increased biofuel production increases the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP).