New studies from the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) shed more light on the economic and environmental costs of mandates in the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), a federal program to expand the nation’s biofuels sector.
New studies from the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) shed more light on the economic and environmental costs of mandates in the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), a federal program to expand the nation’s biofuels sector.
Researchers said the studies indicate the need to adopt more targeted policies that value the environmental and ecosystem benefits of perennial bioenergy crops over cheaper options — and provide financial incentives for farmers to grow them.
The RFS was issued in 2005 and updated through the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to enhance U.S. energy security, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and promote rural development. The 2007 standards mandated blending 36 billion gallons of first-generation biofuels (made from food crops like corn, such as ethanol) and second-generation biofuels (made from the biomass of miscanthus or other energy feedstocks) with fossil fuels by 2022, to replace petroleum-based heating oil and fuel. The corn ethanol mandate has been met, with 15 billion gallons produced annually, but production of cellulosic biofuels has been negligible. Targets beyond 2022 are yet to be determined.
Read more at: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Inst5itute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment
Miscanthus is harvested from a CABBI facility at Iowa State University. CABBI researchers from ISU and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found the biofuel mandates of the Renewable Fuels Standard will lead to significant economic and environmental costs without targeted policies and incentives that value the sustainability benefits of perennial bioenergy crops like miscanthus over cheaper options. (Photo Credit: Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Biofuels Innovation (CABBI))
