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Abstract
Recent reforms in the Common Agricultural Policy and the sugar regime caused serious concerns for the future
of the European sugar industry. At the same time, the European Commission considers transportation bio-fuels as a key
factor for reducing reliance on imported fuels, emission levels of greenhouse gases and to meet rural development goals.
Matching the sugar sector with bio-ethanol production may create opportunities for sustainable management of the existing
sugar industry infrastructure and also serve bio-fuel policy targets.
A partial equilibrium economic model is used in order to evaluate the shift from sugar to bio-ethanol production in Thessaly,
Greece. In the agricultural feedstock supply and industrial processing sub-models are articulated indicating optimal crop
mix for farmers and the best technology configurations for industry. The joint ethanol-biogas option appears to be
preferable using sugar beet and wheat, whereas capacity selected amounts at 120 kt of ethanol.