U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard incentivizes land use change with environmental consequences

The latest news from the Grassland 2.0 team on grassland-based agriculture and sustainable agriculture.

U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard incentivizes land use change with environmental consequences

In order to address global climate change, the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) aims to increase the use of biofuel in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to a new study by Tyler Lark of UW-Madison and co-authors, including several members of Grassland 2.0, the RFS may have missed the mark in reducing emissions – in fact, the greenhouse gases produced consequentially negate any advantages of corn ethanol over gasoline. Why? The RFS policy makers did not predict the full-scale impacts of the land use change that would result from its implementation – mainly more corn and less pasture.