Post-doc: Bioenergy, Land Use, and Climate Policies
Duration: 12 to 24 months
Location: Université Paris-Saclay, PSAE, Agrocampus, Palaiseau, France
Most of the decarbonation should be achieved through the electrification of emitting activities. However, some uses are difficult to electrify (heavy transport, air transport, some industries) and the use of bioenergy is an alternative to electrification. By bioenergy we mean energy produced from biomass (wood, biomethane, biofuels…). The issues related to bioenergy concern more generally land uses and the bioeconomy (the substitution of fossil carbon molecule by biogenic carbon).
Land use plays a central role in a carbon neutral economy because of i) agricultural production, responsible for about 20% of French GHG emissions, ii) production of substitutes to polluting products including bioenergy but also timber or biochemistry… and iii) source of carbon capture and sequestration allowing to compensate some emissions. These different uses interact and there are complementarities to be taken into account (carpentry waste can be used for bioenergy). Moreover, land uses also play an essential role in the preservation and restoration of biodiversity.
The carbon balance of the different bioenergy sectors is not obvious because of the alternative uses of the land. The presumption of a neutral balance (the carbon emitted during use is captured during the growth of the biomass) is called into question if the reference is a sink, which recalls the debates on biofuels and direct and indirect land use changes. This raises a double question of allocation for the energy transition: allocation, between different uses, of bioenergy and of compensated emissions.
Research questions, accompanying a critical reading of the French National Low Carbon Strategy
1. How should land be allocated between different uses, especially bioenergy options, based on which criteria? A stylized conceptual framework should be developed that characterizes the sectors by relevant criteria inspired by the notions of Carbon Opportunity Cost (Hayek et al, 2021) and forest three S: sequestration (in products), storage (in soils and biomass), substitution (of polluting products).
2. How does this allocation depend on the public policy instruments mobilized? And how should subsidies (or other support policies) integrate alternative land uses?
3. In a dynamic perspective of energy transition, the residual emissions of the different “low carbon” technologies should be compensated by natural capture and sequestration. It is important to know how the upstream emissions of these different technologies (e.g. Electrification vs. H2 vs. Bioenergy) will be compensated, and how to integrate these compensations in the cost-benefit analysis of decarbonization projects. This practical question refers to a more conceptual question on the impact of capture and natural sequestration on the dynamics of the Social Cost of Carbon (Hotelling’s rule).
Envisioned methodology: Applied microeconomic theory, Public Economics, Numerical simulations
Job location : Agrocampus, 22 place de l'agronomie, 91120 Palaiseau, FranceNature of the job : Post-doc
Contact person : Meunier, Guy,
Application deadline : 30/09/2022