Comparative Air Pollutant Emissions of Selected Biofuel Feedstock Production in 2022

Biofuels are promoted to replace a significant portion of fossil fuels for climate and energy security reasons. Recognition of differences between biofuels and fossil fuels has motivated research that considers air quality impacts of potential changes to the magnitude, location, timing and type of air pollutants emitted. To inform decisions about development of advanced biofuel production, we develop a county-level inventory of air emissions for current and future biofuel feedstock production. We find that in most US counties, production of cellulosic feedstocks using advanced practices exhibits lower air emissions than from current corn grain production. An analysis of the sources contributing to each of the seven evaluated pollutants helps identify emission reduction opportunities. Compared to the baseline national emissions inventory, production of cellulosic biofuel feedstocks in 2022 typically represents small increments in emissions, though for certain pollutants and counties, a threshold may be reached whereby further examination may be warranted.