Bio-Fuels Energy Policy and Grain Transportation Flows: Implications for Inland Waterways and Short Sea Shipping

This project develops a foundation for analysis of the effects of U.S. biofuel energy policy on domestic and international grain flows and patterns. 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 the dynamics of grain production, consumption, and transportation particularly in reaction to explosive growth of the biofuel market in the U.S. An improved and modified spatial equilibrium model will be extremely useful in addressing a variety of questions with respect to transportation infrastructure, traffic congestion, and international trade issues. In particular, principal investigators plan to 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 on inland waterways, outline requirements and justifications for targeted development of transportation infrastructure in order to mitigate projected traffic congestion, and examine potential opportunities for switching rail and truck-transported commerce on North American transport corridors to the inland and intra-coastal waterways.