Does ethanol result in more or less greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than gasoline?

Ethanol has the potential to yield substantially less greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline. The amount of reduction is dependent on the type of feedstock and process used to produce the ethanol. Life cycle assessments indicate that ethanol produced today from corn sourced close to the processing facility yields about 15% less GHG emissions than gasoline, but if the corn is transported long distances and processed in a facility that uses coal as a process energy source the total GHG emissions are similar or even slightly higher than for gasoline. Estimates for the developing technologies to produce ethanol from a cellulosic feedstock suggest that the GHG emission reduction can be as much as 80 to 90% less than for gasoline. These dramatic reductions in GHG are due to the lower fossil fuel needs in the less intensive cultivation and farming methods to grow cellulose feedstocks and the assumption that much of the processing energy used in the processing facility would come from renewable resources.

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