Biotech Updates

US Researchers Release National Low Carbon Fuel Standard

August 10, 2012

Researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of California, the University of Illinois, the University of Maine, Carnegie Mellon University and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) have released a series of studies designed to establish a national low carbon fuel standard.

Energy Security Expert Paul Leiby of Oak Ridge National Laboratory said that low carbon fuel standard would substitute domestic resources like ethanol, natural gas, and electricity for imported oil, providing energy security savings of up to $22 a barrel.

The researchers further expect that the national low carbon fuel standard would encourage farmers to grow crops that are especially suitable for conversion to fuel, rather than selling food crops into the biofuel markets. That would ease pressure on food prices while giving farmers profitable options for degraded cropland.

See UC Davis' news release at http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10289.