New study: U.S. fuel ethanol could achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050
Jeff Cooper, president and CEO of the American Renewable Fuels Association, said at the 2021 Bioethanol Annual Conference that the U.S. fuel ethanol industry can fully achieve the goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, which will be the history of the bioethanol industry. the greatest value creation opportunity.
The biofuel ethanol industry has made great strides in reducing carbon emissions because today's corn-based ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by about 50 percent compared to gasoline, Cooper said. That's according to a newly released report, which provides a roadmap for completing the second half of the journey to carbon neutrality in bioethanol.
"By investigating more than 24 potential mitigation actions across the corn ethanol supply chain and prioritizing them based on technical feasibility, scale of mitigation, and cost, the study proposes a series of ways to achieve net-zero CI through [[ carbon intensity] pathways to corn ethanol to 2050," Emory wrote. "The updated corn ethanol lifecycle emissions projections from 2020 to 2050 show that the industry can achieve net negative CI ethanol by adopting near-term technologies and best practices for expanding corn cultivation.
The report proposes the following actions that will form the "core pathway" to net zero emissions: corn and ethanol producers use renewable energy;
Expanded use of corn kernel fiber fermentation in dry mills;
Industry-wide efficiency improvements;
Carbon capture and storage at ethanol facilities;
Corn growers expand conservation tillage and other low-carbon practices.
In all, the study identifies five different pathways to net-zero corn ethanol emissions by 2050, based on a set of 28 mitigation actions considered.
"With the right chemistry and technology, bioethanol could not only serve as a low-carbon fuel for future jets, ocean liners, trucks and agricultural equipment, but also as a fundamental building block for sustainable chemicals and plastics," Cooper said . "You can actually do anything with a barrel of crude oil, we can do anything with a barrel of renewable ethanol.
