Are Biofuels Economically Competitive with Their Petroleum Counterparts? Production Cost Analysis for Zambia
With increased global interest in biofuels, Zambia, a Sub- Saharan African country that entirely depends on imports for its petroleum supply, is planning to implement blending mandates for biofuels. But, a large number of issues—including production costs of biofuels, land requirements to meet...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/06/17913855/biofuels-economically-competitive-petroleum-counterparts-production-cost-analysis-zambia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15858 |
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okr-10986-158582021-04-23T14:03:23Z Are Biofuels Economically Competitive with Their Petroleum Counterparts? Production Cost Analysis for Zambia Sinkala, Thomson Timilsina, Govinda R. Ekanayake, Indira J. Biofuels production costs With increased global interest in biofuels, Zambia, a Sub- Saharan African country that entirely depends on imports for its petroleum supply, is planning to implement blending mandates for biofuels. But, a large number of issues—including production costs of biofuels, land requirements to meet the mandates, and environmental benefits—have not yet been explored. This study aims to contribute in filling this gap. It finds that depending on feedstock type, costs of ethanol production range from US$0.360 a liter to US$0.680 a liter while the costs for biodiesel production range from US$0.612 a liter to US$0.952 a liter. Even if lower energy contents of biofuels are taken into account, the analysis shows that biofuels are cheaper than their petroleum counterparts. Considering the cost advantage of these biofuels over petroleum products and the availability of surplus agricultural land, Zambia is likely to benefit from the development of a biofuel industry. Biofuels is expected to reduce Zambia’s petroleum import bill, which currently stands at more than US$700 million, enhance food security by providing incentives to increase yields, and increase affordability and accessibility to modern energy in the country where 77 percent of the population still lacks access to modern energy. It could also stimulate rural employment and development. 2013-09-26T15:49:13Z 2013-09-26T15:49:13Z 2013-06 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/06/17913855/biofuels-economically-competitive-petroleum-counterparts-production-cost-analysis-zambia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15858 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6499 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Africa Zambia |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
Biofuels production costs |
| spellingShingle |
Biofuels production costs Sinkala, Thomson Timilsina, Govinda R. Ekanayake, Indira J. Are Biofuels Economically Competitive with Their Petroleum Counterparts? Production Cost Analysis for Zambia |
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Africa Zambia |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6499 |
| description |
With increased global interest in biofuels, Zambia, a Sub-
Saharan African country that entirely depends on imports
for its petroleum supply, is planning to implement
blending mandates for biofuels. But, a large number
of issues—including production costs of biofuels, land
requirements to meet the mandates, and environmental
benefits—have not yet been explored. This study aims to
contribute in filling this gap. It finds that depending on
feedstock type, costs of ethanol production range from
US$0.360 a liter to US$0.680 a liter while the costs
for biodiesel production range from US$0.612 a liter
to US$0.952 a liter. Even if lower energy contents of
biofuels are taken into account, the analysis shows that
biofuels are cheaper than their petroleum counterparts.
Considering the cost advantage of these biofuels over
petroleum products and the availability of surplus
agricultural land, Zambia is likely to benefit from the
development of a biofuel industry. Biofuels is expected to
reduce Zambia’s petroleum import bill, which currently
stands at more than US$700 million, enhance food
security by providing incentives to increase yields, and
increase affordability and accessibility to modern energy
in the country where 77 percent of the population still
lacks access to modern energy. It could also stimulate
rural employment and development. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Sinkala, Thomson Timilsina, Govinda R. Ekanayake, Indira J. |
| author_facet |
Sinkala, Thomson Timilsina, Govinda R. Ekanayake, Indira J. |
| author_sort |
Sinkala, Thomson |
| title |
Are Biofuels Economically Competitive with Their Petroleum Counterparts? Production Cost Analysis for Zambia |
| title_short |
Are Biofuels Economically Competitive with Their Petroleum Counterparts? Production Cost Analysis for Zambia |
| title_full |
Are Biofuels Economically Competitive with Their Petroleum Counterparts? Production Cost Analysis for Zambia |
| title_fullStr |
Are Biofuels Economically Competitive with Their Petroleum Counterparts? Production Cost Analysis for Zambia |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Are Biofuels Economically Competitive with Their Petroleum Counterparts? Production Cost Analysis for Zambia |
| title_sort |
are biofuels economically competitive with their petroleum counterparts? production cost analysis for zambia |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/06/17913855/biofuels-economically-competitive-petroleum-counterparts-production-cost-analysis-zambia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15858 |
| _version_ |
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