In 2019, the aviation sector in the United States emitted 255 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, i.e., about five percent of the total domestic CO₂ emissions from the energy sector. The sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) derived from carinata (Brassica carinata) could reduce CO₂ emissions of the aviation sector in the United States. Therefore, it is important to estimate changes in farm economics with and without carinata for ascertaining its production feasibility. In this context, the current study first assesses a combination of 12 popular rotations of corn, cotton, peanut, and soybean with winter crops of winter wheat and carinata in South Georgia over 4 years. Then, the net present values (NPVs) of 292 feasible cropping systems over 4 years are calculated. Finally, this study develops a risk model for ascertaining the probability distributions of NPVs for selected cropping systems subject to uncertainties related to prices and yields of summer and winter crops. Carinata in the corn-corn-soybean rotation has the highest NPV ($2,996/ha). The least risky rotation is cotton-cotton-peanut, with a 58.9% probability of a positive NPV. Carinata can decrease the risk level of crop rotations by 8.1%, only if a contract price of $440.9/t is offered. Therefore, a risk averse, risk neutral, or risk acceptant farmer can potentially include carinata in the rotation. Overall, carinata would increase the profitability of farm operations and decrease risk in the SE United States, and therefore, a high likelihood exists, that farmers would adopt it for meeting the growing demand for SAF in the United States.

Biofuels’ induced land-use change (ILUC) emissions have been widely studied over the past 15 years. Many studies have addressed uncertainties associated with these estimates. These studies have broadly examined uncertainties associated with the choice of economic models, their assumptions and parameters, and a few bio-physical variables. However, uncertainties in land-use emission factors that represent the soil and vegetation carbon contents of various land types across the world and are used to estimate carbon fluxes due to land conversions are mostly overlooked. This paper calls attention to this important omission. It highlights some important sources of uncertainty in land-use emissions factors, explores the range in these factors from established data sources, and compares the influence of their variability on ILUC emissions for several sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) pathways. The estimated land-use changes for each pathway are taken from a well-known computable general equilibrium model, GTAP-BIO. Two well-known carbon calculator models (CCLUB and AEZ-EF) that represent two different sets of emissions factors are used to convert the GTAP-BIO estimated land-use changes to ILUC emissions. The results show that the calculated ILUC emissions obtained from these carbon calculators for each examined SAF pathway are largely different, even for the same amortization time horizon. For example, the ILUC emissions values obtained from the AEZ-EF and CCLUB models for producing jet fuel from corn ethanol for a 25-year amortization period are 24.9 gCO₂e/MJ and 15.96 gCO₂e/MJ, respectively. This represents a 60% difference between the results of these two carbon calculators for the same set of land-use changes. The results show larger differences for other pathways as well.

Spurred by the need to produce more food for a growing population, the agricultural sector has recently become much more resource-hungry and energy-intensive. Mismanagement and inefficiency in energy (and resource) consumption have conspicuously increased agriculture’s footprint over time. Energy use optimization necessitates a careful study of the patterns of energy and resource consumption in agriculture. This study aims to quantify the energy required for irrigated and dryland wheat production in five large wheat-producer provinces in Iran, estimating the economic value of each unit of energy input. Using energy equivalent coefficients, total energy inputs in the form of renewable and non-renewable were estimated for the period of 2001–2019. Then, to obtain the Value of Marginal Product (VMP) of the inputs, the production functions of irrigated and dryland wheat for each province were estimated. The findings show that the average marginal product and the economic value of renewable energy in the production of dryland wheat is greater than the marginal product of these inputs in the production of irrigated wheat across all provinces. Conversely, the average VMP of non-renewable energy in irrigated wheat production is greater than the corresponding amount in dryland wheat production, with the exception of Kermanshah. Renewable energy in dryland wheat has an equal economic value of 0.18 USD/ha with non-renewable energy in irrigated wheat production. Moreover, the VMP of energy contributes to about half of the price of wheat. Finally, the economic value of energy in wheat production became lower after the implementation of the Targeted Subsidies Reform Act. However, raising the energy price simply led to a shrinking of farmers’ profit margins; no improvements were achieved in the economic value of energy.

Iranian nomads’ meat and dairy products are organic and more valuable than conventional products for trading and supplying in local markets. This is due to the use of natural nutritional supplementation, without hormones and artificial chemicals, in breeding domestic animals. However, the real value of the organic products is not reflected in the market. In this regard, we studied the feasibility of forming a local market for nomads’ organic meat and milk products in Iran. This study used a sample of 366 questionnaires from nomads of five famous tribes, namely Soleimani, Mehni, Kochomi, Jebalbarezi, and Aieneyi in Kerman province and 794 questionnaires from non-nomadic consumers. The results indicate that nomads’ average willingness to accept (WTA) was 0.46 USD per liter and 5.64 USD per kg in the sale of organic milk and organic meat, respectively. Also, the consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for organic milk and organic meat was 0.50 USD per liter and 6.15 USD per kg, respectively. Since the WTA for both products was less than the WTP, the formation and development of local markets in supplying organic products are possible. The appropriate price policy for organic products in such markets can provide nomads with financial benefits and consumers with access to healthy foods.