MITCHELL, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) U.S. biofuel production ballooned in the early 2000s, mostly in the Midwest, and has been touted as Biofuels are painted as a “greener” energy alternative to fossil fuels, but a new study shows the industry produces plenty of its own air pollutants. American biofuel plants reported emitting nearly 13-million pounds of hazardous air pollution in 2022, according to a report from the Environmental Integrity Project, trailing only slightly behind the 14-point-5 million pounds that oil refineries released. Tom Pelton with the nonprofit says that South Dakota’s 16 biofuel plants, which mostly make ethanol from corn, produce about 1-point-7 million pounds of greenhouse gases each year and 350-thousand pounds of air pollution, including known carcinogens. Biofuel production is concentrated in the Midwest, and Pelton says people living nearby could suffer health impacts.

   “It’s hard to detect and hard to track, but a person living downwind from one of these plants might have a few percentage points more chance of getting cancer over their lifetime. “

The report recommends that the E-P-A increase monitoring and control of air pollutants, improve the accuracy of emissions reporting and end current exemptions for ethanol manufacturers under the Clean Air Act

It also suggests ending government subsidies for biofuels, which benefit area farmers and communities. According to the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council, ethanol production supported nearly 30-thousand jobs in the state in 2022 and more than 4-billion dollars in corn production. But Pelton says expanded agricultural production for the industry can have other negative impacts.

  “When you subsidize growing corn to make ethanol, more kind of questionable lands are converted from grasslands and forests into row crops of corn. And that takes away habitat for birds and for insects and for wildlife.”

Those conversions may also lead to the use of more chemical fertilizers, he says, which can lead to algae blooms and other problems in waterways. Among the 32 U-S biofuel projects proposed or underway, according to the report, is a new diesel facility in Lake Preston, South Dakota.