Second-generation biofuel crops like the perennial grasses Miscanthus and switchgrass can efficiently meet emission reduction goals without significantly displacing cropland used for food production, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Illinois and collaborators published their findings in the inaugural edition of the journal Nature Energy. The researchers call it the most comprehensive study on the subject to date.
Second-generation biofuel crops like the perennial grasses Miscanthus and switchgrass can efficiently meet emission reduction goals without significantly displacing cropland used for food production, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Illinois and collaborators published their findings in the inaugural edition of the journal Nature Energy. The researchers call it the most comprehensive study on the subject to date.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Renewable Fuel Standard sets an annual production goal of 16 billion gallons of second-generation biofuel -- fuels from plant stems and leaves rather than from fruit or grains -- and 15 billion gallons of ethanol by 2022. The study found that even though previous emission reduction estimates were overly optimistic, meeting the federal biofuels goal will reduce annual U.S. transportation emissions by 7 percent.
Under the rules of the renewable fuel standard, corn ethanol production can theoretically be reduced as other biofuel production increases, until second-generation biofuels account for the 31-billion-gallon total. If that happened, greenhouse gas savings in the transportation sector would go from 7 to 12 percent, according to the researchers.
By giving second-generation biofuel producers a tax credit, the researchers say corn ethanol could eventually be phased out, because it gives second-generation biofuels an edge.
Before that happens, Khanna said two things need to take place: The market for biofuel needs to grow, meaning the amount of cars that can take high ethanol fuel needs to increase, and biofuel producers need to be certain that the policy will stay intact. "We need a continuity of policies so that this effort doesn't stop," she said. "A lot of people now are saying the standard isn't delivering the amount of benefits that it should have, but that's all based on corn ethanol. The moral of this whole story is that we need to find a way to expand the production of the second-generation biofuel crops and maybe even displace corn ethanol."
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