Do advanced biofuels have lower life-cycle carbon density than gasoline?
An environmental group contends advanced biofuels made from switchgrass and leftover corn stalks are greener than first-generation alternatives made from corn. An analysis by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) draws on evaluations of gasoline carbon intensity that support calls to overhaul federal biofuel mandates.
Now, some oil industry organizations and other groups have seized on these studies that question the environmental benefits of traditional corn-based ethanol. Meanwhile Corn Belt lawmakers who support the present mandates argue some of the next-generation biofuels now in production threaten the corn growers’ business model. But the working group claims the current mandate is crowding out next generation biofuels.
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