The ethanol disaster unveiled a bigger problem

Jul 18, 2025

In this engaging discussion, Michael Grunwald, a seasoned journalist and author of 'We Are Eating the Earth,' dives into the overlooked role of agriculture in climate change. He reveals how ethanol production is often more harmful than beneficial due to land use costs. Grunwald critiques popular solutions like regenerative farming, pointing out their limited emissions impact. The conversation emphasizes the need for agricultural innovation that mirrors advancements in energy, highlighting the urgent challenge of decarbonizing food systems.

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ANECDOTE

Tim Searchinger's Biofuels Revelation

Tim Searchinger discovered that biofuel carbon accounting ignored the land's carbon opportunity cost.
Growing fuel crops displaces food production, leading to deforestation and net higher emissions.

INSIGHT

Politics Over Science in Biofuels

The political power of farmers blocked land use impact analysis in biofuel policy.
California's low-carbon fuel standard ignored land use to protect the ethanol industry.

INSIGHT

Sustainable Aviation Fuels Repeat Mistakes

Sustainable aviation fuel policy repeats biofuel mistakes by ignoring land use impacts.
New subsidies encourage crop-based biofuels despite them being worse for the climate.

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The story of climate change is usually told through fossil fuels — pipelines, coal plants, oil companies. But there's another story that accounts for nearly a third of global emissions: agriculture. And we've barely begun to grapple with it.

In this episode of Open Circuit, we're joined by Michael Grunwald, longtime journalist and author of the new book "We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate." Grunwald spent years investigating why agriculture lags decades behind energy in decarbonization, and what it would take to catch up.

First, we tackle food-based fuels. Grunwald profiles researcher Tim Searchinger, who discovered that biofuels accounting ignored land use. While ethanol was hailed as a homegrown climate solution, it was actually worse than gasoline once you factored in the "carbon opportunity cost" of using land for fuel instead of food. Why did it take so long to recognize?

This land use blindness persists today. Despite the science showing the climate impact of biofuels, the government is backing a sustainable aviation fuel program with tens of billions in new biofuel subsidies — including explicit language preventing regulators from considering land use impacts.

Then, we tackle feel-good agricultural solutions like regenerative agriculture, vertical farms, and local food systems that may have ethical benefits, but often don’t have meaningful emissions impacts.

Finally, we ask what ag tech can learn from energy's scaling playbook: How do we deploy high-yield agriculture and synthetic biology solutions in a rapid, ethical way?

Open Circuit is brought to you by Natural Power. Natural Power specializes in renewable energy consulting and engineering, supporting wind, solar, and battery storage projects from concept through financing. Discover how we're creating a world powered by renewable energy at naturalpower.com.

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Learn more about 38 North Solutions’ Policy Pulse, providing highly curated, actionable snapshots of the political developments shaping the clean tech landscape.

Credits: Co-hosted by Stephen Lacey, Jigar Shah, and Katherine Hamilton. Produced and edited by Stephen Lacey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand.