Reid Thompson, a farmer in central Illinois, checks the progress of corn seed at a farm in Gibson City on May 8, 2024.
Corn could be the key to solving another clean energy dilemma, though. But, before corn ethanol-to-jet fuel can be a viable alternative to conventional jet fuel, the emissions associated with corn ethanol production must come down. This will require farmers to change their practices on the field and ethanol plants to implement controversial technologies like carbon sequestration.
Electric vehicles, on the other hand, have no tailpipe emissions. So, in pursuit of the national mission to achieve net zero by 2050, the federal government has shifted its efforts from cleaning gasoline-powered cars to promoting battery-powered cars with emissions mandates and tax credits. Electric and hybrid cars accounted for over 16% of new light-duty vehicle sales last year,for passenger cars, light-duty trucks and medium-duty vehicles.
“I look at the whole EV segment as a segment that gets blown around with the winds of change. It may be popular now, but who knows what the future may be harboring,” said Jared Gregg, a seventh-generation farmer from east central Illinois. “EVs have infrastructure challenges that they’ve got to be able to clear to make this a functional reality.”
Airlines are on board. United and Delta have both signed advance purchase agreements with numerous aspiring sustainable aviation fuel producers. Currently, however, sustainable fuel only accounts for 0.1% of the jet fuel used by major U.S. airlines, according to the latest Corn ethanol-to-jet fuel doesn’t meet the 50% emissions reduction benchmark for sustainable aviation fuel under most environmental impact models. Significant emissions come from clearing land for corn fields, applying fertilizer to the field and biorefining to isolate the corn starch used to make ethanol.
“We have to hand out rewards based on the measurable ability to have an impact on reducing climate pollution into the environment,” said Mark Brownstein, senior vice president of energy transition at the Environmental Defense Fund.Gevo has been working with farmers to monitor how climate-smart agriculture practices affect emissions and distill the impact into a carbon intensity score, a number that reflects how much carbon is emitted per bushel of corn produced.
He appreciates the program and believes a marketplace based on corn’s carbon intensity will encourage more farmers to adopt climate-smart practices. Illinois farmers Thompson and Gregg, who aren’t being paid for carbon reductions but are experimenting with climate-smart practices, agree.Climate-smart agriculture practices also increase yield over time, so farmers can be more productive on less land.
“With Chicago O’Hare, Midway and Rockford — a major freight airport — we’ve got huge opportunities within 120 miles of this plant right now,” he said. Powering plants with renewable energy, such as wind and solar, will offer some emission reductions, butlast fall that the ethanol industry will need carbon capture and sequestration for corn ethanol-to-jet fuel to reach the 50% emissions reductions benchmark.