WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor sent a letter to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm calling on the department to address the most recent inaccurate and misleading study by Tyler Lark and others that claims to have been partially funded by the department.
The study directly contradicts conclusions from DOE’s own Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) model, which has been tracking the impacts of corn-ethanol’s lifecycle emissions since 1996. Last May, DOE’s Argonne National Lab stated that, “for the United States, biofuels like corn ethanol can play a critical role in reducing our carbon footprint.”
“Failing to address this research’s inconsistencies and departure from mainstream science could have negative consequences in our nation’s quest to decarbonize the transportation sector—both on the ground and in the air. According to recent research by the Rhodium Group, our industry’s contributions in reaching net-zero emissions targets and decarbonizing the transportation sector will be necessary,” wrote Skor.
“The ethanol industry is continually finding new ways to innovate and reduce emissions throughout its production cycle, including by creating new applications for hard-to-decarbonize industries like aviation. We must rely on the best and most widely accepted science to achieve our climate goals and attain net-zero emissions by 2050.”
You can read the full letter here and more about the study here. This letter follows Growth Energy’s submission of supplemental comments on EPA’s proposed 2020, 2021, and 2022 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs), which further refute the Lark study’s erroneous and misleading claims. Read more about the supplemental comments here.