Study finds that increase to 15 Bgy corn ethanol production will cause no indirect land-use changes or emissions

Air Improvement Resource released a study concluding that increasing the production of ethanol from con to 15 billion gallons per year would not result in the conversion of non-agricultureal lands in the US or elsewhere. The study’s findings, downloadable here, are in direct contrast to indirect land-use simulations that have attributed massive indirect greenhouse gas emissions to corn ethanol production owing to the conclusion that rising demand for ethanol would force the conversion of non-agricultural land to corn production.

Tom Darlington, President of AIR and author of the report, wrote: “the best estimate of land use impacts of expanding corn ethanol in the U.S. between 2001 and 2015 is zero.” The study projected that rising corn yields, instead, would satisfy the increased demand for corn.

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