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In this research we have modified the standard US MARKAL model to include a land resource base, corn stover and miscanthus feedstocks, and new cost information for biochemical and thermochemical conversion technologies. We then used this revised MARKAL model to estimate the impacts of four different policy and technology choice scenarios; 1) no government interventions in biofuel markets (no RFS or subsidies), 2) biofuels RFS targets are implemented, 3) no government intervention but technology that combines coal and biomass feedstocks is enabled, and 4) biofuels RFS targets are implemented and combined coal-biomass feedstocks are enabled. Some of the major conclusions are as follows: We have demonstrated that the standard MARKAL results can be considerably enhanced by combining richer information on the land supply data from GTAP into MARKAL. Indeed, without use of this land supply data, MARKAL and other energy models cannot reliably be used for biofuels economic and policy analysis.
