Clean Fuels for the Midwest

The document advocates for a transition to cleaner transportation fuels in the US Midwest, highlighting the region's leadership in biofuels and wind energy. It proposes clean fuels standards as a mechanism to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation, promote higher ethanol blends, and accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).

• The US Midwest is a primary producer of biofuels and wind energy, yet over 90 percent of its transportation energy needs are still met by petroleum-based fuels imported from other regions and countries.
• Six Midwestern states—Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, and South Dakota—produce 70 percent of the domestic ethanol supply. Life cycle emissions for ethanol from a typical production facility are approximately 20 percent lower than those of gasoline.
• Agricultural practices significantly impact biofuel emissions; for corn ethanol, fertilizer use and application account for about 25 percent of total life cycle emissions. Sustainable practices like cover cropping and improved nutrient management can reduce nitrous oxide and nitrate pollution.
• Electric vehicles (EVs) in the Midwest currently have emissions roughly half those of typical gasoline vehicles. While the region's grid is carbon-intensive due to coal, the share of coal-fired power in the largest Midwestern grid region dropped from 74 percent in 2005 to 52 percent in 2016, while wind energy rose from 2 percent to 21 percent.
• Replacing diesel transit buses with electric models can reduce life cycle carbon dioxide emissions by 50 percent and lower tailpipe pollution in densely populated areas.
• Clean fuels standards are proposed as a technology-neutral, performance-based policy that uses life cycle carbon intensity to encourage fuel producers to reduce emissions. Such standards could support the transition to higher ethanol blends (beyond E10), which is necessary because ethanol demand may otherwise fall as gasoline demand declines.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2019). Clean Fuels for the Midwest. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-11/CleanFuelsforMidwestFactSheet.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Clean Fuels for the Midwest. 2019. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-11/CleanFuelsforMidwestFactSheet.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Clean Fuels for the Midwest |date=December 2019 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-11/CleanFuelsforMidwestFactSheet.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2019clean, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Clean Fuels for the Midwest}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2019}, month = dec, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-11/CleanFuelsforMidwestFactSheet.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }