Bioenergy and land-use competition in Northeast Brazil

It is often claimed that dedicated energy plantations may be established on degraded lands so as to prevent competition with food production. In this paper, the economics of eucalyptus plantations in the Northeast of Brazil on “good” versus “bad” lands is investigated. It is shown that the value of the higher yields that can be expected on “good” lands generally outweighs the additional cost associated with acquiring that land. For this reason, forestry companies would find it more profitable to opt for “good” lands rather than degraded lands when establishing plantations, although exceptions do exist. Thus, governmental policies are warranted if use of degraded lands for bioenergy plantations is desired.