Ethanol-blended Fuel

By using 13 billion gallons of ethanol in our nation's motor fuel supply, 21.9 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were avoided from motor vehicles. That is the equivalent of removing 3.5 million vehicles from the road.

Challenges to Ethanol's Green Credentials

Detractors of renewable fuels like ethanol are seeking to assess unproved and speculative carbon penalties on such fuels. Specifically, the flawed and unproved theory of international indirect land use change (ILUC) penalizes U.S. ethanol production with carbon emissions resulting from the land use decisions made by farmers and others in nations around the world. However, such a theory does not stand up to scrutiny.

The dramatic improvements in on-farm productivity are allowing farmers to meet market demands through virtual acres. Since 1980, American farmers have been able to produce twice as much corn on just 3 percent more acres due to the dramatic increases in yields per acre. Meanwhile, exports of corn and ending surplus have all remained steady, if not increasing.

An Unfair Dichotomy

Similar penalties are not being assessed to other potential sources of motor fuels such as Canadian tar sands, oil shale, and electric generation from coal. All of these fuel sources have significant indirect environmental impacts which are accounted for in the same manner ILUC is charged to ethanol. By disadvantaging domestic renewable fuels, the playing field is tilted to favor imports of fuel, including ethanol and petroleum.