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Economic and environmental evaluation of the role for waste CO2 from ethanol fermentation to decarbonize transportation in the US
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Economic and environmental evaluation of the role for waste CO2 from ethanol fermentation to decarbonize transportation in the US

Niamh Keogh, James Abel, Christoph Falter, Gary Grimes and Florian Allroggen
Biomass & bioenergy, Vol.210, p.109096
07/2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2026.109096
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01-j.biombioe.2026.109096_pub4.58 MBDownloadView
CC BY-NC-ND V4.0,  Open Access

Abstract

Biofuels Carbon abatement cost Carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and utilization Electrofuels Life-cycle assessment Sustainable aviation fuels Techno-economic analysis
Transitioning to alternative energy carriers is one of the primary options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions attributable to transportation. In the US, ethanol from corn grain covers 10.5% of gasoline demand from road transport today. Its production could be scaled-up further to also make sustainable aviation fuel. Additionally, the biogenic CO2 produced during fermentation could provide an option for carbon removal or for additional fuel production. In this study, we investigate the economic and environmental impacts of using the CO2 from ethanol fermentation either through capturing and sequestering the CO2 (CCS) or through the production of electrofuels (CCU), via fischer-tropsch and methanol-to-jet as conversion technologies. We find that CCS can increase the total offset CO2 by 135% compared to ethanol-to-jet plants while increasing the minimum selling price (MSP) of the produced biofuel by 5-7%. Comparatively, there is significant variation in the results for CCU pathways, increasing the total offset CO2 by 90 - 205%; however, the MSP of the electrofuels produced is 36 – 218% higher than the biofuels produced. This study highlights the trade-offs between fuel carbon intensity, costs, production volumes and output fuel mix for renewable fuel facilities, with the optimal configuration being dependent on the project's primary objectives. •Evaluates the use CO2 from ethanol fermentation for sequestration or fuel production.•Economic and environmental comparison of fischer-tropsch and methanol to jet pathways.•CCS increases total offset CO2 by 135%, while increasing fuel cost by 5 -7%.•CCU increases total offset CO2 by 90-205%, while increasing fuel cost by 36 -218%.•Highlights trade-offs between carbon intensity, cost, production volume and fuel mix. Limited research exists on the most effective use of carbon in ethanol plants to decarbonize transportation. This study reports that incorporation of sequestration or electrofuel production can improve economic efficiency of emissions reduction.

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