Full Title: Assessment of Biofuels Policy: Effectiveness of Emissions Reductions
Author(s): Fuels Institute
Publisher(s): Fuels Institute
Publication Date: June 14, 2022
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Reducing emissions from the U.S. transportation section will be a challenge requiring the utilization of a range of solutions. Biofuels represent one of the most practical solutions to lowering U.S. transportation emissions in the near-term.
Biofuels have helped to significantly reduce CO2 emissions in the U.S. transportation sector and represent practical options for carbon emissions reduction today. Taken as a whole, the renewable fuel standard (RFS), blender’s tax credit (BTC), and LCFS programs cost about $22.6 billion in 2019 while total U.S. emissions reductions from ethanol, biodiesel, and RD were just over 98 MMT, which is equal to about a $231/metric ton of CO2e emissions reductions in 2019. While there are many other alternative fuel options, practicality, timeline, and costs should be considered when evaluating the best options to avert carbon emissions and their negative impact on the environment. Within this framework, fuel ethanol stands out as a promising means to achieve further emission reductions in the U.S. transportation sector. Current policy incentives make the adoption of low-carbon fuel ethanol likely in California and Oregon, and increased emphasis on CI in other state- or federal-level decarbonization policies can expand the wider uptake of low-carbon fuels in the U.S.