ABSTRACT

Some of the most important public policy issues in recent years relate to global warming, air pollution, and energy security (e.g., Jacobson 2009, Wang et al. 2008, Yergin 2006). With the increasing global population, food security has also become a major public policy issue (e.g., Lal 2004). The development of biofuels generated from the biomass has been a longawaited solution to these global problems (e.g., Demirbas 2007, Goldemberg 2007, Lynd et al. 1991). However, the development of the early biofuels produced from the agricultural plants, such as sugarcane (e.g., Goldemberg 2007), and agricultural wastes, such as corn stovers (e.g., Bothast and Schlicher 2005), has resulted in a series of substantial concerns about the food security (e.g., Godfray et al. 2010).