Life Cycle Assessment of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007: Ethanol—Global Warming Potential and Environmental Emissions

Heath, Garvin; Hsu, David; Inman, Daniel; Aden, Andy; Mann, Margaret

doi:10.1115/es2009-90037

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…PAYD charges for auto insurance according to miles driven and is reportedly equivalent to a 40% increase in gas prices; gasoline demand-price elasticity (; Table ) can be applied to estimate short-run and long-run behavior change triggered by PAYD. Several states have also proposed renewable fuels standards and clean car feebate programs; national policies have since followed in both areas, although the clean cars program does not go into effect until 2014. More near-term regional policies have also been proposed for Colorado, such as mandating sale of low rolling-resistance tires that can achieve 1–2% fuel economy gains without compromising safety…”

Section: Transportation Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying Carbon Mitigation Wedges in U.S. Cities: Near-Term Strategy Analysis and Critical Review

Ramaswami

Bernard

Chávez

et al. 2012

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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A case study of Denver, Colorado explores the roles of three social actors-individual users, infrastructure designer-operators, and policy actors-in near-term greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation in U.S. cities. Energy efficiency, renewable energy, urban design, price- and behavioral-feedback strategies are evaluated across buildings-facilities, transportation, and materials/waste sectors in cities, comparing voluntary versus regulatory action configurations. GHG mitigation impact depends upon strategy effectiveness per unit, as well as societal participation rates in various action-configurations. Greatest impact occurs with regulations addressing the vast existing buildings stock in cities, followed by voluntary behavior change in electricity use/purchases, technology shifts (e.g., to teleconferencing), and green-energy purchases among individual users. A portfolio mix of voluntary and regulatory actions can yield a best-case maximum of ~1% GHG mitigation annually in buildings and transportation sectors, combined. Relying solely on voluntary actions reduces mitigation rates more than five-fold. A portfolio analysis of climate action plans in 55 U.S. cities reveals predominance of voluntary outreach programs that have low societal participation rates and hence low GHG impact, while innovative higher-impact behavioral, technological, and policy/regulatory strategies are under-utilized. Less than half the cities capitalize on cross-scale linkages with higher-impact state-scale policies. Interdisciplinary field research can help address the mis-match in plans, actions, and outcomes.

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Section: Transportation Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying Carbon Mitigation Wedges in U.S. Cities: Near-Term Strategy Analysis and Critical Review

Ramaswami

Bernard

Chávez

et al. 2012

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…TEM also simulates changes in C, N and water associated with ecosystem recovery after human and natural disturbance (McGuire et al, 2001;Balshi et al, 2007;Melillo et al, 2009;Reilly et al, 2012;Kicklighter et al, 2014). TEM (and ISAM) can determine bioenergy potential, focusing on 1st-3rd generation biofuels, emerging bioenergy technologies, and impacts of biofuels on land, energy, water, and climate (Heath et al, 2009;Warner et al, 2013;NREL, 2014).…”

Section: Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (Tem)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The C-FEWS framework: Supporting studies of climate-induced extremes on food, energy, and water systems at the regional scale

Vörösmarty

Melillo

Wuebbles

et al. 2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Climate change continues to challenge food, energy, and water systems (FEWS) across the globe and will figure prominently in shaping future decisions on how best to manage this nexus. In turn, traditionally engineered and natural infrastructures jointly support and hence determine FEWS performance, their vulnerabilities, and their resilience in light of extreme climate events. We present here a research framework to advance the modeling, data integration, and assessment capabilities that support hypothesis-driven research on FEWS dynamics cast at the macro-regional scale. The framework was developed to support studies on climate-induced extremes on food, energy, and water systems (C-FEWS) and designed to identify and evaluate response options to extreme climate events in the context of managing traditionally engineered (TEI) and nature-based infrastructures (NBI). This paper presents our strategy for a first stage of research using the framework to analyze contemporary FEWS and their sensitivity to climate drivers shaped by historical conditions (1980–2019). We offer a description of the computational framework, working definitions of the climate extremes analyzed, and example configurations of numerical experiments aimed at evaluating the importance of individual and combined driving variables. Single and multiple factor experiments involving the historical time series enable two categories of outputs to be analyzed: the first involving biogeophysical entities (e.g., crop production, carbon sequestered, nutrient and thermal pollution loads) and the second reflecting a portfolio of services provided by the region’s TEI and NBI, evaluated in economic terms. The framework is exercised in a series of companion papers in this special issue that focus on the Northeast and Midwest regions of the United States. Use of the C-FEWS framework to simulate historical conditions facilitates research to better identify existing FEWS linkages and how they function. The framework also enables a next stage of analysis to be pursued using future scenario pathways that will vary land use, technology deployments, regulatory objectives, and climate trends and extremes. It also supports a stakeholder engagement effort to co-design scenarios of interest beyond the research domain.

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“…Therefore, this work addresses a gap in the study of N impacts related to corn ethanol production. The global warming potential, energy, and water use impacts of corn ethanol are well-studied, − and researchers have found that consideration of ethanol coproducts has a significant impact on results and is essential to accurately estimate environmental impacts of corn ethanol production. Studies of the potential eutrophication impacts of ethanol have thus far not considered ethanol coproducts. , Additionally, while some studies of global warming potential of animal food products have considered replacement of other feeds with ethanol coproducts, , studies of N impacts have not considered inclusion of distillers’ grains and other ethanol coproducts in animal diets. − …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating Virtual Nitrogen Inputs to Integrated U.S. Corn Ethanol and Animal Food Systems

Algren

Landis

Costello

2021

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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To accurately assess contributions of human activities to nitrogen (N) cycle disruption, we must consider how systems such as food and renewable fuel production are connected. N impacts of food and biofuel systems have been studied separately, but links between them have not been sufficiently considered. Since 2002, corn ethanol production in the United States has increased sixfold, and ethanol coproducts' roles in animal diets have increased similarly. In this study, we estimated virtual N in ethanol fuel and animal products using the commodity-specific Net Anthropogenic Nitrogen Inputs (CSNANI) model, which uses national corn ethanol, crop, and animal production data to estimate animal diets and the corresponding virtual N inputs to agricultural commodities. Virtual N attributable to ethanol fuel was 30 to 35 g N per liter of ethanol. As ethanol coproduct inclusion in animal diets increased from 1997 to 2012, N per kilogram of beef protein decreased by 19% and N per kilogram of milk protein decreased by 13%. With allocation of virtual N between ethanol and ethanol feed coproducts, the virtual N of both ethanol fuel and products from animals consuming ethanol coproducts is reduced relative to estimates from studies that do not consider the connection between these systems.

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Life Cycle Assessment of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007: Ethanol—Global Warming Potential and Environmental Emissions

Cited by 5 publications

References 11 publications

Quantifying Carbon Mitigation Wedges in U.S. Cities: Near-Term Strategy Analysis and Critical Review

Quantifying Carbon Mitigation Wedges in U.S. Cities: Near-Term Strategy Analysis and Critical Review

The C-FEWS framework: Supporting studies of climate-induced extremes on food, energy, and water systems at the regional scale

Estimating Virtual Nitrogen Inputs to Integrated U.S. Corn Ethanol and Animal Food Systems

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