Increased Biofuel Production in the US Midwest May Harm Farmers and the Climate

By Angela Scafidi and Haley Leslie-Bole 

U.S. production of biofuels has increased more than fivefold in the past two decades and nowhere has felt the impact more than the Midwest — especially among farmers and rural communities.

Driven by U.S. policies like the 2005 Renewable Fuel Standard, there’s been a steep increase in production of food crops, such as corn and soybeans to create biofuels aimed at reducing climate-harming greenhouse gas emissions while increasing U.S. energy security.

But new WRI research based on both an extensive review of peer-reviewed studies and engagement with diverse Midwestern decision-makers shows the Midwest has an opportunity to rethink the role that crop-based biofuels (known as first-generation biofuels) should play in the region’s future to better support people, nature and the climate.

The Potential Climate Impact of Biofuels

In the U.S., first-generation biofuels  or those made from growing food crops specifically to produce energy  are the dominant type of biofuels created, over advanced biofuels, which can be created from agricultural wastes and residues. However, first-generation biofuels such as ethanol or biodiesel also have large land footprints, which drive climate-harming emissions when land is converted from natural landscapes, such as forests or grasslands, to specifically grow crops for biofuels.

The U.S. currently grows corn and soybeans, the two most dominant biofuel feedstock crops, on 178 million acres of farmland concentrated mostly in Midwest states — including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

When corn and soy are used to create transportation fuels, they require significant land use for minimal fuel supply. Of the 92 million acres of corn grown in the U.S., roughly one-third  about 30 million acres or about the size of the state of Mississippi  is used for ethanol production. However, despite this massive land footprint, ethanol from corn only supplied 4% of U.S. transportation fuel in 2022. And while more than 40% of the U.S. soybean oil supply has been used for biofuels each year since 2022, biodiesel made from soybeans supplied less than 1% of U.S. transportation fuel in 2022.