RFA study shows RFS reduced CO2 emissions by nearly 1 billion metric tons through 2020

In Washington, new analysis from a renowned carbon accounting firm finds that the greenhouse gas emission reductions achieved under the Renewable Fuel Standard far exceed the reductions originally projected by EPA. Between 2008 and 2020, the use of biofuels under the RFS has resulted in cumulative savings of 980 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions.

The research, which updates the results from a previously published study, was conducted for the Renewable Fuels Association by Stefan Unnasch and Debasish Parida of Life Cycle Associates.

The greater-than-expected GHG savings are attributable to several factors: corn ethanol provided larger GHG reductions than anticipated by EPA; the actual carbon intensity of gasoline and diesel was worse than estimated by EPA; and use of biodiesel and renewable diesel exceeded EPA’s original expectations.