On National Biodiesel Day, Ernst Continues Efforts to Recognize Environmental Benefits of Biodiesel

WASHINGTON—On National Biodiesel Day, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), an unwavering advocate for Iowa’s renewable fuel industry, is pressing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to update its greenhouse gas (GHG) modeling for biodiesel before the end of the year.

 

In a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Ernst and her colleagues write, “As the Department of Agriculture (USDA) works to ensure the inclusion of agriculture-based biofuels as part of the effort to decarbonize our fuel supply, it’s critical that lifecycle carbon assessments of biofuels be based on current and sound science. Fuels like biodiesel offer a sustainable, readily available source of emissions reductions, but full acknowledgement of such contributions requires accurate data and modeling.”

 

The senators continue, “We were encouraged by your response to a question for the record in your confirmation hearing, in which you committed to ‘request a review of the current literature and an evaluation of the benefit of a new study focused on biomass-based diesel.’ We write in support of such a review and request that you instruct USDA complete a full lifecycle assessment of soybean oil-based biodiesel, including direct and significant indirect emissions, before the end of the year…We believe an updated assessment will show significant reductions in the overall lifecycle emissions of biodiesel, reinforcing the fact that America's soybean farmers and biodiesel producers are among the most sustainable in the world.”

 

Background :

Last month, after a new report found that greenhouse gas emissions from corn ethanol are 46% lower than gasoline, Ernst helped reintroduce bipartisan legislation that will require the Biden Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update its greenhouse gas modeling for ethanol and biodiesel and to fully recognize biofuel’s environmental benefits.