The Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO, Brian Jennings, submitted written testimony this week (Feb. 15, 2023) underscoring the vital function low-carbon biofuels and local weather good agriculture practices can play in making certain federal clear gasoline coverage meets transportation decarbonization objectives because the Senate Surroundings and Public Works (EPW) Committee holds a listening to on “The Way forward for Low Carbon Transportation Fuels and Issues for a Nationwide Clear Fuels Program.” ACE additionally joined a various group of over 20 organizations a part of the DriveClean Initiative in submitting rules upon which a Clear Gas Customary may very well be drafted.
“Institution of a federal Clear Gas Customary could be a strong software to assist the U.S. meet the 2050 GHG emission discount goal for the U.S. transportation sector,” Jennings stated. “The ethanol business and U.S. farmers are primed to be a part of the answer. To take action, nonetheless, means federal insurance policies like a Clear Gas Customary should be technology-neutral and guarantee truthful and correct accounting and crediting of GHG reductions from local weather good agriculture practices.”
ACE has been on the forefront of discussions on how the ethanol business and U.S. farmers can additional contribute to GHG discount objectives. Guided by its Board of Administrators’ goal for ethanol manufacturing to succeed in net-zero lifecycle GHG emissions by 2050, ACE is concerned in coverage improvement and work to offer real-world validation of lifecycle GHG advantages of local weather good agriculture practices at scale.
“A correctly crafted federal Clear Fuels Customary would extra shortly incentivize U.S. ethanol firms and farmers to put money into manufacturing processes and deployment of local weather good agriculture practices to succeed in these net-zero carbon depth objectives in a significant timeframe to deal with the present local weather challenges,” Jennings added.
ACE’s testimony notes how state Low Carbon Gas Customary applications and GHG fashions considerably undervalue the local weather advantages of immediately’s farming practices. ACE is proactively working to doc the advantages of local weather good practices on the carbon depth of corn ethanol via its South Dakota-based, USDA-funded Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) venture, in partnership with high land-grant scientists and Sandia Nationwide Lab. The purpose is to create a scientifically confirmed, non-proprietary measurement and validation software that clear gasoline regulators, renewable gasoline producers and farmers can use to credit score these GHG contributions in state and federal clear gasoline applications.
Within the submission to the Committee, ACE supplied scientific proof and financial evaluation exhibiting that adoption of local weather good agriculture practices is likely one of the quickest and most cost-effective areas for GHG emission mitigation. ACE performed county stage evaluation utilizing USDA’s GHG predictive COMET-Planner software to measure local weather good practices deployed in an expanded model of the South Dakota RCPP venture throughout a 10-state area. The evaluation confirmed a discount in CO2 emissions of 364,098 metric tons per yr, and if LCFS market entry was secured, roughly $530 million in new revenues yearly based mostly on present carbon pricing, with farmers incomes roughly $263 per acre yearly.