<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
document.write('<div id="oa_widget"></div>');
document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src="https://beta.openaire.eu/index.php?option=com_openaire&view=widget&format=raw&projectId=undefined&type=result"></script>');
-->
</script>

COPY SCRIPT

For further information contact us at helpdesk@openaire.eu

Comment on ‘Carbon intensity of corn ethanol in the United States: state of the science’

descriptionPublicationkeyboard_double_arrow_right Article , Journal , Preprint 06 May 2021Publisher:California Digital Library (CDL)Journal:Environmental Research Letters, volume 16, page 118,001 (eissn: 1748-9326,

Authors: Seth A Spawn-Lee; Tyler J Lark; Holly K Gibbs; Richard A Houghton; Christopher J Kucharik; Chris Malins; Rylie E O Pelton; +1 Authors

doi: 10.32942/osf.io/cxhz5 , 10.1088/1748-9326/ac2e35

Comment on ‘Carbon intensity of corn ethanol in the United States: state of the science’

- Summary
- Subjects
- Metrics

Abstract

Abstract In their recent contribution, Scully et al (2021 Environ. Res. Lett. 16 043001) review and revise past life cycle assessments of corn-grain ethanol’s carbon (C) intensity to suggest that a current ‘central best estimate’ is considerably less than all prior estimates. Their conclusion emerges from selection and recombination of sector-specific greenhouse gas emission predictions from disparate studies in a way that disproportionately favors small values and optimistic assumptions without rigorous justification nor empirical support. Their revisions most profoundly reduce predicted land use change (LUC) emissions, for which they propose a central estimate that is roughly half the smallest comparable value they review (figure 1). This LUC estimate represents the midpoint of (a) values retained after filtering the predictions of past studies based on a set of unfounded criteria; and (b) a new estimate they generate for domestic (i.e. U.S.) LUC emissions. The filter the authors apply endorses a singular means of LUC assessment which they assert as the ‘best practice’ despite a recent unacknowledged review (Malins et al 2020 J. Clean. Prod. 258 120716) that shows this method almost certainly underestimates LUC. Moreover, their domestic C intensity estimate surprisingly suggests that cropland expansion newly sequesters soil C, counter to ecological theory and empirical evidence. These issues, among others, prove to grossly underestimate the C intensity of corn-grain ethanol and mischaracterize the state of our science at the risk of perversely affecting policy outcomes.

Related Organizations

Michigan State University
United States
Ave Maria University
United States
Michigan State University
United States
University of Minnesota Morris
United States
Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center
United States

View all View all

Keywords

bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Geography|Physical and Environmental Geography, Energy Policy, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Studies, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering, bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration|Energy Policy, bepress|Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, land intensification, GE1-350, bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Environmental Studies, bepress|Physical Sciences and Mathematics|Environmental Sciences, soil carbon, bepress|Physical Sciences and Mathematics|Environmental Sciences|Sustainability, TD1-1066, bepress|Life Sciences|Agriculture|Agricultural Economics, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Agricultural and Resource Economics, Geography, bepress|Life Sciences|Plant Sciences|Agricultural Science, Physics, Q, Life Sciences, Agriculture, Biogeochemistry, CCLUB, Environmental Policy, bepress|Life Sciences|Agriculture, bepress|Physical Sciences and Mathematics|Environmental Sciences|Oil, Gas, and Energy, Sustainability, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Life Sciences, Physical and Environmental Geography, bepress|Physical Sciences and Mathematics|Earth Sciences|Biogeochemistry, yield price elasticity, bepress|Physical Sciences and Mathematics, land use change, Science, QC1-999, bepress|Physical Sciences and Mathematics|Earth Sciences, Soil Science, bepress|Life Sciences|Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Agricultural Science, corn ethanol life cycle assessment, bepress|Physical Sciences and Mathematics|Environmental Sciences|Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Plant Sciences, bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Geography, bepress|Physical Sciences and Mathematics|Earth Sciences|Soil Science, Environmental sciences, bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration|Environmental Policy, Agricultural and Resource Economics, bepress|Life Sciences|Plant Sciences|Agronomy and Crop Sciences Life Sciences, bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences, Earth Sciences, bepress|Life Sciences|Plant Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Economics

Impact byBIP!

	citations This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).	12
	popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.	Top 10%
	influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).	Average
	impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.	Top 10%