According to new data just released by the USDA, corn ethanol is even more environmentally-friendly than we originally thought! Corn ethanol releases 43% fewer greenhouse gases than gasoline, which is a huge increase than previous estimates.
But the reason why is the awesome part!
The amount of greenhouse gas emissions released by ethanol takes into consideration everything from the farm to the refinery to your car. But because farmers have made so many advances in how we grow and produce those kernels, the estimates of how clean it is have gone up. Reduced tillage, cover crops, better nitrogen management, and other conservation practices is making the fuel better and better. In fact, by 2022, it is estimated that the number could get even better and ethanol could have only half the emissions that gasoline has.
While it isn’t perfect yet, and not a complete solution for climate change, we’re only going to get better at producing corn more efficiently. That means that number will likely increase.
