Is biodiesel a more social fuel than ethanol? A comparative analysis from public policies in Brazil

Abstract

As a promising source of renewable energy, biodiesel has received incentives through public policies in various countries. While some countries have adopted policies based on economic incentives for production and consumption, political discourse in Brazil has placed emphasis on the social role that biodiesel can play. The main goal of this paper is to carry out an analysis of public policies in Brazil to identify whether there is indeed a social bias associated with biodiesel or both ethanol and biodiesel, which has had its macro-environment configured from the same footprint. The methodology uses text mining techniques to extract information from policy and program documents of the Brazilian government involving these liquid biofuels. After collection and preparation, a total of 624 official documents published between 1997 and 2006 comprised the textual basis of the research. The results indicate some similarities when the configurations of the macro-environment for ethanol and biodiesel have been compared. However, it is clear that biodiesel is more strongly identified with the social dimension. In conclusion, this study suggests that public policy in Brazil has, in fact, characterized biodiesel as a social fuel.