New Assessment Shows Soy Carbon Footprint is Lower

Cindy Zimmerman

A new Life Cycle Assessment conducted by Sustainable Solutions Corporation (SSC) for the United Soybean Board (USB) and the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) finds a significant reduction in the lifecycle carbon footprint for U.S. soy.

According to the assessment, there is a 22% decrease in the carbon footprint associated with U.S. production of crude soy oil, which translates into reductions in CI across the clean fuels industry, since soybean production and oil processing constitute more than 40% of the carbon intensity (CI) score for soy biodiesel.

Clean Fuels Alliance America assisted USB and NOPA in ensuring the data collected for processors in the report aligns with data specifications for GREET, so it could be easily integrated into GREET model updates.

“We look forward to working with Argonne National Laboratory through the data quality assessment process to update the GREET model to reflect the latest improvements in the industry,” said Veronica Bradley, Environmental Scientist at Clean Fuels Alliance America.

The Life Cycle Assessment of U.S. Soybeans, Soybean Meal, and Soy Oil report can be found here.

advanced biofuels, Biodiesel, Clean Fuels Alliance, Soybeans, USB