Economics of Cassava Biofuel Production in the Fiji Islands

摘要

It appears that one of the fundamental causes of the current global recession has been the erratic price of fossil fuels.In late 2008.the price of crude oil had reached all time high of over USD 160 a barrel.Obviously,this high price led to price increases in other basic items,including food in small island economies like Fiji.The resulting rise in cost of living was compounded with rising unemployment.Given this scenario,it was time to explore alternative sources of fuel.The Chinese Government,in its efforts to provide economic assistance to Fiji introduced the idea of cassava biofuel.With an abundance of arable land,high unemployment and high price of fossil fuels,cassava biofuel seemed like a way forward.While cassava biofuel was given a great deal of publicity in Fiji,the idea was gradually abandoned as the crude oil price declined below USD40 a barrel.Fears of food scarcity was perhaps another reason that the cassava biofuel idea was not pursued by the Fiji Government.However,with current rise in the price of fossil fuels,the idea of cassava biofuel is being revived as a viable alternative to imported fossil fuel.With the likely assistance from the People's Republic of China,this paper explores the potential of cassava biofuel production in Fiji.