Evaluating Biofuel Energy Policies for Sustainable Transportation Sector: A System Dynamics Approach

Abstract

Energy is vital for techno-socio-economic development of global transportation sector. A country’s energy policy will aim to provide an appropriate mix of resources to meet its energy demand. Biofuels have emerged as an alternative to meet the energy requirements. The contribution of this study is the evaluation of sustainable biofuel energy policies to increase the usage of biofuels in the transport sector without affecting the country's food security and to achieve social, economic and environmental benefits. The successful implementation of complex relationship between the factors influencing the production and use of biofuels is also addressed. In the present work, a system dynamics model has been developed to evaluate biofuel production focusing food security and to assess its impact on the economy and the environment. Simulation results have shown that the maximum biodiesel blending between 3.03% to 11.01% is possible without impacting the food security. It has been noted that 20% or less of biodiesel blends can be used as direct replacements for diesel fuel in all heavy-duty diesel vehicles without any alteration or modification of their engines. It has been demonstrated that biofuel blending strategies have a positive impact on the reduction of CO2 emission in the Indian transport sector.

Keywords

• transport sector
• biofuel
• energy policy
• system dynamics
• food security
• biodiesel