Jul 19, 2024
An opinion piece published in the Republican Eagle on July 12 by the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance presented a one-sided view of the environmental benefits of ethanol and mislead readers into believing that ethanol is not a climate-friendly alternative to petroleum (“Maintain Climate Guardrails in Farm Bill”).
Contrary to the assertion in the piece, research from federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have confirmed that ethanol is a low-carbon fuel with 40-50 percent less emissions than petroleum on a lifecycle basis.
The 2022 study cited by the authors to claim that ethanol is worse for the climate has been debunked by climate scientists upon peer review. Those researchers noted that the discredited study made “questionable assumptions,” “double counted” emissions, and used “outdated and inaccurate projections” to come to a biased conclusion against ethanol.In reality, ethanol not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions but also replaces toxic aromatic compounds in gasoline and reduces carcinogenic emissions like benzene, toluene, xylene, and other hydrocarbons that increase the risk of cancer, according to research conducted by the Minnesota-based Hormel Institute.
Had the authors undertaken a comprehensive review of the science, they would have found that the evidence overwhelmingly shows that ethanol has positive climate and human health benefits.
While we may not see eye-to-eye on that point, we agree with the authors on the need to maintain climate funding in the Farm Bill as a way to further assist Minnesota growers in implementing conservation practices like cover crops and no-till farming that will sequester more carbon in the soil, reduce runoff, and lower the carbon intensity of ethanol on a lifecycle basis.
We look forward to working with them, and our congressional federal delegation, to support Minnesota’s environment and economy through a timely Farm Bill reauthorization.
Brian Werner
Executive Director, Minnesota Biofuels Association
Read the original letter here.