Choice Experiment Approach Assesses Farmers' Attitudes for Growing Energy Crops

Researchers from the Swedish Environmental Research Institute, the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden (Energy Technology), and Örebro University (Sweden) report the use of the "Choice Experiment Approach" to assess Swedish farmers' values with regard to growing bioenergy crops. Choice modeling (related information below) reportedly "attempts to model the decision process of an individual or segment in a particular context", and it is also used to "estimate non-market environmental benefits and costs". In the first choice experiment (CE), the farmers were asked for their preference of two bioenergy crops and six of associated characteristics of the bioenergy crop. In a second CE, the farmers were asked how many hectares they would be be willing to grow the bioenergy crops in two scenarios: (1) on arable land with an energy crop subsidy, and (2) on set-aside land without energy crop subsidy. Some highlights of the results are: (1) for Swedish farmers who choose to grow bioenergy crops, "the choice is based on those crops that maximize their utility", and the size of the utility is said to depend on both net income and the crop's cultivation characteristics, (2) willow was seen to be the bioenergy crop with the highest potential, but requires specialized machinery for planting/harvesting, and has a long rotation period (20 years), (3) "Farm characteristics such as leased land, rented land, share of set-aside land, and type of farming had an insignificant effect on the willingness to grow energy crops". The full results are published in the Biomass and Bioenergy journal (URL above).

Related information on the choice experiment method: http://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/2859/1/gunwpe0052.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice_modelling