Scientists from the University of Nebraska (United States) report that "corn-ethanol systems have substantially greater potential to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reduce dependence on imported petroleum for transportation fuels than reported previously". Their findings, which appear in the Journal of Industrial Ecology, attempted to study the impacts of improved technologies in corn ethanol production on "environmental performance metrics", using life cycle assessment (LCA). The results showed that corn-ethanol can achieve between 48% and 59% reduction in GHG relative to petroleum-based transport fuels; this is about two to three times higher than previously estimated. According to the researchers, "the effectiveness of corn ethanol in reducing emissions could be even higher, depending on the technology used and the way the corn, ethanol and by-products are handled". For example, a "closed-loop bio-refinery" with an anaerobic digestion system reduces GHG emissions by 67%. The scientists concluded that improved technologies can move corn ethanol "closer to the hypothetical estimates for cellulosic ethanol"..