Energy Security and Economics of Indian Biofuel Strategy in a Global Context

The emergence of biofuel as a renewable energy source offers opportunities for climate change mitigation and greater energy security for many countries. At the same time, biofuel represents the possibility of substitution between energy and food. For developing countries like India, which imports over 75% of its crude oil, fossil fuels pose two risks - global warming pollution and negative economic impacts of oil price hikes. This paper examines India's options for managing energy price risk in three ways: biofuel development, energy efficiency promotion, and food productivity improvements. The overall results suggest that biodiesel shows promise as a transport fuel substitute that can be produced in ways that fully utilize marginal agricultural resources and hence promote rural livelihoods. First-generation bioethanol, by contrast, appears to have a limited ability to offset the impacts of oil price hikes. Combining the biodiesel expansion policy with energy efficiency improvements and food productivity increases proved to be a more effective strategy to enhance both energy and food security, help mitigate climate change, and cushion the economy against oil price shocks

Navigating a Changing World Economy: ASEAN, the People's Republic of China, and India

Most projections envision continued rapid growth in the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the People's Republic of China (PRC), and India (collectively, ACI) over the next two decades. By 2030, they could quadruple their output, virtually eliminate extreme poverty, and dramatically transform the lives of their more than 3 billion citizens. The impact will be felt across the world. This study - a background paper to an Asian Development Bank report - used a Computable General Equilibrium model to examine the likely effects of the region's growth on trade, resources and the environment, as well as the implications of the many risks the region's growth path faces from its internal and external environment

Adventures in the Enormous: A 1.8 Million Clone BAC Library for the 21.7 Gb Genome of Loblolly Pine

Loblolly pine (LP; Pinus taeda L.) is the most economically important tree in the U.S. and a cornerstone species in southeastern forests. However, genomics research on LP and other conifers has lagged behind studies on flowering plants due, in part, to the large size of conifer genomes. As a means to accelerate conifer genome research, we constructed a BAC library for the LP genotype 7-56. The LP BAC library consists of 1,824,768 individually-archived clones making it the largest single BAC library constructed to date, has a mean insert size of 96 kb, and affords 7.6X coverage of the 21.7 Gb LP genome. To demonstrate the efficacy of the library in gene isolation, we screened macroarrays with overgos designed from a pine EST anchored on LP chromosome 10. A positive BAC was sequenced and found to contain the expected full-length target gene, several gene-like regions, and both known and novel repeats. Macroarray analysis using the retrotransposon IFG-7 (the most abundant repeat in the sequenced BAC) as a probe indicates that IFG-7 is found in roughly 210,557 copies and constitutes about 5.8% or 1.26 Gb of LP nuclear DNA; this DNA quantity is eight times the Arabidopsis genome. In addition to its use in genome characterization and gene isolation as demonstrated herein, the BAC library should hasten whole genome sequencing of LP via next-generation sequencing strategies/technologies and facilitate improvement of trees through molecular breeding and genetic engineering. The library and associated products are distributed by the Clemson University Genomics Institute (www.genome.clemson.edu)

Socioeconomic Impacts of Cross-Border Transport Infrastructure Development in South Asia

Although the overall economic performance of economies in South Asia in recent years has been impressive, there is concern that an aging and increasingly inadequate infrastructure may limit the potential for further growth and economic development. A critical infrastructure component is the transportation network, and there are currently several transportation infrastructure projects in the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) region, connecting Nepal, eastern India, Bangladesh, and Bhutan. This paper uses computable general equilibrium (CGE) methods to address how these infrastructure developments might affect the broader economy in SASEC, and in particular impact on income distribution and poverty. The paper describes a new CGE model for South Asia, covering India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan, which incorporates modifications to household structure in order to capture the implications of reform for changes in intra-household income. The scenarios that are considered reflect proposed investments in land transport infrastructure in the SASEC region. These should result in reductions in the land transport component of international transport margins, which vary bilaterally by commodity. We found that all SASEC economies would benefit from the reductions in terms of aggregate welfare, with the largest gains accruing to India in absolute terms, but the largest relative gains to Nepal, followed by Bangladesh and Sri Lanka when the margin reduction is prorated to intra-South Asian trade rather than just SASEC. In terms of household level distribution, the picture was mixed, with clearly pro-poor outcomes in some countries, such as Nepal, but more ambiguous impacts in others. In terms of potential adjustment costs, examination of the extent of predicted structural changes suggests that these would be minor, although somewhat more significant for the smaller economies in the region

Agricultural biotechnology and globalization: U.S. experience with public and private sector research

This paper examines the challenges and opportunities facing the agricultural biotechnology sector as it works to sustain innovations and further propagate its benefits into the new century. Drawing on US experience, we survey the milestones of technological, legal and economic precedence and discuss institutional mechanisms for public and private partnership that can help agricultural biotechnology fulfil its immense promise. In particular, we emphasize the importance of the public sector in facilitating private agency, via promotion of basic research, dissemination of innovations, and as a guarantor of property right

An assessment of the ex-post socio-economic impacts of global rinderpest eradication: Methodological issues and applications to rinderpest control programs in Chad and India

Rinderpest was once one of the world’s most feared diseases of livestock, responsible for the deaths of millions of livestock. However, rinderpest is just one of two diseases that has been successfully eradicated globally. A major gap in the history of rinderpest concerns the socio-economic impacts of its control and eradication. While much has been documented on the epidemiological, technical, and institutional lessons resulting from rinderpest control and prevention, very little has been written on the implications for society at local, national, regional and global levels. In this paper, we provide a more rigorous methodological approach to the estimation of the global impact of rinderpest eradication that highlights the different levels of impacts and benefits associated with different groups of stakeholders. Our methodology is applied to the cases of Chad and India

A general Equilibrium Approach to trade and Industrial Policy : The Case of Spain.

economic equilibrium ; social welfare ; trade policy