Bioeconomy and Transportation Infrastructure Impacts: A Case Study of Iowa's Renewable Energy

Abstract

The federal government is aggressively promoting biofuels as an answer to global climate change and dependence on imported energy sources. As a result, ethanol production in the United States (U.S.) grew at an annual rate of 32% between 2005 and 2008 spurred on by the U.S. Department of Energy's goal of having 20% of U.S. transportation fuels to come from biological-based sources by 2030. This will require a dramatic increase in the present levels of ethanol and biodiesel production and distribution and have significant infrastructure implications as transportation of raw materials to the biorefineries and biofuel to markets will not only create additional transport demand but also competition and significant growth in other major freight categories. The present chapter first discusses the physical and fiscal impacts of biofuel plants and wind power industries. Then, using a sample of 24 counties in the north, west, and south part of Iowa, which were identified through a local agency survey as having a large number of diverse facilities, one-way panel data regression models are presented that estimate pavement condition and maintenance costs as a function of vehicle miles traveled, plant capacity and years of operation, corn and soybean production, and soil and environmental conditions. © Springer-Verlag London Limited 2012.