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Environment

EPA Gives Boost To Corn-Based Ethanol

by Jeff Johnson
February 8, 2010 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 88, Issue 6

Jackson
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Credit: Eric Vance/EPA
Credit: Eric Vance/EPA

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson has announced a determination by the agency that corn-based ethanol qualifies as a renewable energy fuel if made in a modern, low-carbon-dioxide-emitting facility. This determination, made last week, allows producers of corn-based ethanol to have their product designated as a "renewable fuel" and therefore potentially increase future sales by having their ethanol output count toward meeting a national production target: 36 billion gal of renewable motor fuel by 2022. EPA's decision reverses an earlier one that said corn-based ethanol's CO2 emissions were comparable with those of gasoline and therefore could not qualify as a renewable fuel. To qualify, Jackson said, corn-based ethanol must be produced in a highly efficient facility that uses natural gas, rather than coal, as an energy source. EPA's determination also aids corn growers by providing an exemption for currently operating ethanol plants that use coal-based energy sources. Under the decision, these plants can be designated as renewable fuel producers, too. Also last week, the Obama Administration created an interagency government panel to develop within 90 days a plan to have five to 10 commercial-scale carbon capture and sequestration demonstration projects on-line by 2016.

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