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A few years ago, I wrote about two cases of industrialized biofuel production, based on corn and sugarcane in the US and Brazil, respectively. Both of these sources are first-generation biofuels, and there is no doubt that second- and third-generation sources, which often don’t require land conversion or threaten food security, are better alternatives to petroleum-based fuels. A new study funded by the American Petroleum Institute and carried out by the University of Michigan Energy Institute has created headlines declaring biofuels to be non-carbon neutral, but many find the research to be too limited. Prachi Patel reports:

Biofuels have for years divided energy experts and environmentalists. Critics say that they displace farmland and cause deforestation. Proponents argue they are a green, low-carbon alternative to petroleum-based fuels.

A new analysis adds fuel to the incendiary topic. Researchers report in the journal Climatic Change that biofuels might harm the climate more than petroleum. Substituting petroleum fuels with biofuels in American vehicles has led to an increase in net carbon dioxide emissions over the eight years covered by their study, they calculate.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard has set an annual production target of 36 billion gallons of biofuel in 2022. The push for biofuels is based on life-cycle analyses, which assume that fuel crops absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, and this carbon negation effect adds up over time.

For the new study, researchers at the University of Michigan Energy Institute analyzed real-world data from 2005–2013 on crop production, biofuel production, gasoline production, and vehicle emissions. They analyzed how much carbon dioxide corn and soy plants pull from the air while growing, and how much of it they release when burned.

The result? Growing fuel crops only absorb 37 percent of the carbon dioxide that burning biofuel releases. “This shows that biofuel use fell well short of being carbon neutral even before considering process emissions,” said lead researcher John DeCicco.

Read the rest of the article at Conservation Magazine.