Cases / Wind, hydro and other renewables · United States · 2005
US fuel mandate required corn ethanol; reported land and carbon effects unverified
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
The US Renewable Fuel Standard, set in 2005 and 2007, required corn ethanol to be added to gasoline. The land, fertiliser and carbon effects reported from a 2022 study are not verified in the sources reviewed.
What?
A 2005 and 2007 US fuel standard required corn ethanol in gasoline; the land, fertiliser and carbon effects reported for it are not verified in the sources reviewed.
Where?
United States, national fuel market
When?
Standard set in 2005 and 2007; study reported in February 2022 ScienceDaily
Who?
Gained
- US corn producers — named in the sources as beneficiaries of the corn demand created by the mandate
- Biofuel producers and refiners — named in the sources as beneficiaries of biofuel demand
Lost
None on recordHarmed
None on recordWhy?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
A federal blending requirement created demand for corn-based ethanol
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
The US Renewable Fuel Standard, set in 2005 and 2007, required corn ethanol to be added to gasoline.
ScienceDaily reported a 2022 study in PNAS by Lark and colleagues on the mandate's effects on corn prices, cropland and carbon intensity.
The study's figures are not verified in the sources reviewed.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: the mandate raised corn prices by about 30 per cent, expanded cropland by 2.1 million hectares from 2008 to 2016 and raised fertiliser use by 3 to 8 per cent a year (Lark and colleagues, 2022).
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: ethanol from the mandate may have at least 24 per cent higher carbon intensity than gasoline (Lark and colleagues, 2022).
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: the EPA assumed in 2010 that corn ethanol would have 20 to 21 per cent lower carbon intensity than gasoline.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: the US Agriculture Department and the ethanol industry objected to the study's soil-carbon assumptions.
- Not measured Indirect harms named in the sources, including food-price increases and downstream nitrate pollution, are not measured in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers
Press and investigations
- Study of US Renewable Fuel Standard corn ethanol effectsScienceDaily · 2022-02-14