Ethanol and the Environment

Lifecycle Energy & GHG Impacts

GHG Emissions Reductions due to the RFS2 - A 2022 Update

Unnasch, S., Parida, D., & Healy, B., Life Cycle Associates

February 2023

Pathways to Net-Zero Ethanol

Informed Sustainability Consulting LLC

February 2022

Carbon intensity of corn ethanol in the United States: state of the science

Scully, M.J., Norris, G.A., Alarcon Falconi, T.M., & MacIntosh, D.L.

January 2021

GHG Benefits of 15% Ethanol (E15) Use in the United States

Air Improvement Resource Inc.

November 2020

A global meta‐analysis of soil organic carbon response to corn stover removal

Hui Xu, Heidi Sieverding, Hoyoung Kwon, David Clay, Catherine Stewart, Jane M. F. Johnson, Zhangcai Qin, Douglas L. Karlen & Michael Wang

May 2019

The Greenhouse Gas Benefits of Corn Ethanol – assessing recent evidence

Jan Lewandrowski, Jeffrey Rosenfeld, Diana Pape, Tommy Hendrickson, Kirsten Jaglo & Katrin Moffroid

March 2019

GHG Emissions Reductions Due to the RFS: A 2018 Update

Life Cycle Associates

February 2019

Review of John DeCicco et al. Article titled “Carbon balance effects of U.S. biofuel production and use”

Steffen Mueller, PhD; University of Illinois at Chicago Energy Resources Center

September 2016

Re-Examining Corn Ethanol’s Energy Balance Ratio

Renewable Fuels Association

March 2016

2015 Energy Balance for the Corn-Ethanol Industry

U.S. Department of Agriculture-Office of the Chief Economist

February 2016

GHG Emissions Reductions Due to the RFS2

Boland, S., and S. Unnasch, Life Cycle Associates, LLC

November 2015

Well-to-Wheels Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis of High-Octane Fuels with Various Market Shares and Ethanol Blending Levels

Han, J., Elgowainy, A., and Wang, M., U.S. DOE-Argonne National Laboratory

July 2015

Land Use Impacts

Ethanol - Climate and Land Considerations

Isaac Emery, Ph.D., WSP USA

June 2022

Indirect land use change for biofuels: Testing predictions and improving analytical methodologies

Kim, S., & Dale, B.E., Michigan State University (Publication available for purchase)

September 2021

A Cautionary Tale: A Recent Paper’s Use of Research Based on the USDA Cropland Data Layer to Assess the Environmental Impacts of Claimed Cropland Expansion

Joshua Pritsolas and Randall Pearson, GeoSpatial Mapping, Applications, and Research Center (GeoMARC), Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

June 2021

Critical Review of Supporting Literature on Land Use Change in the EPA’s Second Triennial Report to Congress

Joshua Pritsolas and Randall Pearson, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Laboratory for Applied Spatial Analysis

July 2019

Biofuel impact on food prices index and land use change

D.S. Shresthaa, B.D. Staaba and J.A. Duffieldb

March 2019

The social inefficiency of regulating ILUC due to biofuels

Khanna et al., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

June 2017

Measured extent of agricultural expansion depends on analysis technique

Dunn et al., U.S. DOE-Argonne National Laboratory, Genscape & University of Illinois at Chicago

December 2016

Response to Environmental Research Letters article, “Cropland expansion outpaces agricultural and biofuel policies in the United States” (Lark et al.)

Dunn, J. et al., U.S. DOE-Argonne National Laboratory, University of Illinois at Chicago & U.S. DOE-Oak Ridge National Laboratory

April 2015

Human Health & Air Quality

Ethanol and Ground-Level Ozone

Janet Yanowitz, P.E., Ph.D., Ecoengineering Inc.

June 2022

Emissions Impacts of Eliminating the 1-psi RVP Waiver for E10

Janet Yanowitz, Ecoengineering Inc.

November 2021

An Assessment on Ethanol-Blended Gasoline/Diesel Fuels on Cancer Risk and Mortality

Mueller S, Dennison G, Liu S. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(13):6930

January 2021

Quantification of gasoline-ethanol blend emissions effects

Clark, N. et al. (Publication available for purchase)

April 2020

Impact of gasoline aromatic and ethanol levels on the emissions from GDI vehicles

Yang, J. et al. (Publication available for purchase)

September 2019

Comparison of real-world vehicle fuel use and tailpipe emissions for gasoline-ethanol fuel blends

Yuan, W. et al. (Publication available for purchase)

August 2019

Effects of E15 Ethanol Blends on Tailpipe & Evaporative Pollutant Emissions in CA

Janet Yanowitz, Eco Engineering Inc. and Robert McCormick, National Renewable Energy Lab

March 2018

Evaluation of Ethanol Fuel Blends in EPA MOVES2014

Wyle Laboratories & Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

January 2016

Sustainability and Ethanol

Agricultural Productivity Growth in the United States: Measurement, Trends, and Drivers

Wang, S.L., Heisey, P., Schimmelpfennig, D., and Ball, E., U.S. Department of Agriculture

July 2015