California Ethanol & Power, a Brawley, Calif.-based company that plans to build a 60 MMgy sugarcane-to-ethanol and sugarcane-to-electricity plant in California’s Imperial Valley, has released a technical analysis of the company’s prospective fuel that indicates 95.2 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions would be emitted producing the fuel than are emitted producing petroleum gasoline.
As well, the company said it would also emit 77 to 83 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than are emitted producing Brazilian ethanol consumed in California.
The analysis, completed by Life Cycle Associate LLC, was determined using the California-modified version of Argonne National Laboratory’s latest Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model, which can be used to calculate the GHG impact of a variety of fossil fuels and biofuels. Life Cycle Associations is a Palo Alto, Calif., consulting firm that analyzes the life cycle energy and emissions of fuels. The firm is currently supporting the California Air Resources Board through the development of the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
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“California Ethanol & Power is pleased that the report’s findings reflect significantly less greenhouse gas emissions attributable to its California-produced sugarcane-derived ethanol than not only gasoline, but other biofuels, including sugarcane ethanol imported from Brazil,” said O. Wayne Mitchell, executive vice president for technologies and operations for California Ethanol & Power. “We look forward to becoming a leading provider of domestically produced ethanol to the Southwest United States, and in particular to the California marketplace.”
