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Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Campus Access Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental and Energy Policy (PhD)
Administrative Home Department
Department of Social Sciences
Advisor 1
Kathleen E. Halvorsen
Committee Member 1
Chelsea Schelly
Committee Member 2
Richelle L. Winkler
Committee Member 3
Sam R. Sweitz
Committee Member 4
David J. Flaspohler
Abstract
Bioenergy, a renewable form of low carbon or carbon neutral energy, can be used to address issues including climate change and energy security. Given these benefits, many national governments have introduced policies promoting bioenergy consumption and production. Because bioenergy projects are generally constructed in and around rural communities, they have social, economic, and environmental impacts on those communities. The objectives of this dissertation are to increase understanding of how community members perceive local bioenergy project impacts and analyzing the roles played by bioenergy policies in the development and outcomes of a jatropha-based biodiesel project in Yucatan, Mexico and woody biomass power production in Wisconsin, USA. This dissertation has five chapters including introductory and concluding chapters. The other three chapters consist of three peer reviewed journal manuscripts. The first two contain results from qualitative interviews conducted in Mexican and USA communities proximate to recent bioenergy projects. The interviews were designed to understand how the community members perceived the projects and their socioecological impacts. The third article analyzes bioenergy policies related to the jatropha and woody biomass power projects discussed in Chapters Two and Three. The findings show that community members had mixed views about the projects; they generally appreciated increased local job opportunities, but had concerns about environmental impacts, particularly in Wisconsin, USA. Analysis of relevant Mexican and US bioenergy policies shows policy gaps that likely contributed to project failure. The results of this work can help improve future public and private bioenergy policy that better protects values at multiple spatial scales.
Recommended Citation
Banerjee, Aparajita, "THREE ESSAYS ON BIOENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES: POLICY CHOICES, POLICY COMPARISON AND PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF POLICY IMPACTS", Campus Access Dissertation, Michigan Technological University, 2016.