Biofuel Production has reached significant level in France
By
Ashwani Kumar | October 27th 2009 11:02 PM |
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Liquid biofuel support program launched in 1993 in France is implemented through tax exemptions to biofuels produced by agroindustrial
chains. Activity levels are fixed by decree and allocated by the government to the different chains. Based on earmarked
budget increase voted in the parliament, total quantity of biofuels will be increased by 50% in the horizon 2002–2003. A microeconomic
biofuel activity model containing a detailed agricultural sector component, that is represented by 700 farms, is used to
estimate costs and surpluses generated by the activity at the national level as well as tax exemption levels. Furthermore, Monte Carlo
simulation has been used to search for efficient tax exemptions policies in an uncertain environment, where biofuel profitability is
significantly affected by petroleum price and soja cake prices. Results suggest that, for the most efficient units both at the industry
level (large size biomass conversion units) and at the agricultural sector level (most productive farms), unitary tax exemptions could
be decreased by 10–20% for both biofuels, ethyl ether and methyl ester, with no risk for the viability of any existing chain.
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