Bio-Fuels Energy Policy and Grain Transportation Flows: Implications for Inland Waterways and Short Sea Shipping
Record Type: UTC
This project (1) estimates the effect of expanded United States ethanol/biodiesel production (bio-fuels energy policy) on domestic and international grain flows and patterns (2) evaluates the effect of U.S. bio-fuels energy policy on Mississippi/Illinois Rivers grain traffic and its impact on lock congestion in the lower reaches of these Rivers, and (3) examines the economic potential for reducing U.S. highway and rail congestion with short sea shipping opportunities. The primary deliverable of this project is an updated and expanded spatial equilibrium model of world grain economy. The updated model reflects recent changes in dynamics of grain production, consumption and transportation in reaction to explosive growth of the biofuel market in the U.S. and possibly incorporate the transportation dimension associated with other commodities. An improved and modified spatial equilibrium model will be extremely useful for addressing a variety of questions with respect to transportation infrastructure, traffic congestion, and international trade issues. In particular, principal investigators will use the improved model as a platform for future research in order to • gain insight into potential long-term effects of the current energy policy on grain and biofuel-related transportation flows along the inland waterways; • outline requirements and justifications for targeted development of infrastructure in order to mitigate projected congestion of all transportation modes; • examine the potential opportunities for switching rail and truck-transported commerce between the Canada, U.S., and Mexico to the inland and intracoastal waterways.
Start date: 2008/4/1
End date: 2010/1/31
Status: Active
Contract/Grant Number: DTRT06-G-0044
Secondary Number: 00023
Total Dollars: 70773
Source Organization: University Transportation Center for Mobility
Date Added: 04/24/2008
Index Terms: Inland water transportation, Inland waterways vessels, River ports, Short sea shipping, Grain, Grain terminals, Biomass fuels, Traffic congestion, Intermodal transportation, Research projects,
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University Transportation Center for Mobility
http://utcm.tamu.edu
Texas Transportation Institute
Texas A&M University System
3135 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3135
USA
Phone: (979) 845-2538
Fax: (979) 845-9761
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Tooley, Melissa S
Phone: (979) 845-8545
Fax: (979) 845-9761
Email: m-tooley@tamu.edu
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Texas A&M University, College Station
http://agecon.tamu.edu/
Department of Agricultural Economics
2124 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-2124
USA
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Vedenov, Dmitry
Phone: (979) 845-8493
Email: vedenov@tamu.edu
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