BIOFUELS

Ethanol is described as a renewable biofuel because it is made from biomass. A clear, colorless alcohol made from a variety of biomass materials called feedstocks(the raw materials used to make a product), fuel ethanol feedstocks include grains and crops with high starch and sugar content such as corn, sorghum, barley, sugar cane, and sugar beets. Ethanol can also be made from grasses, trees, and agricultural and forestry residues such as corn cobs and stocks, rice straw, sawdust, and wood chips.

Corn is the main feedstock for fuel ethanol in the United States because of its abundance and low price. The starch in corn kernels is fermented into sugar, which is then fermented into alcohol. 

Even though ethanol advocates claim that it is a green fuel source, industrial-scale corn farming comes with a large environmental footprint. Corn requires an average of 138 pounds of fertilizer per acre. The overuse of nitrogen fertilizer is what emits nitrous oxide (N2O), a GHG 300 times more potent than CO2, and increases nutrient run-off. Thus, corn ethanol may be worse for the environment than fossil fuels when considering the impacts associated with its production – i.e., plowing, growing, harvesting, transporting, and processing.

In 2005, The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was established by the Energy Policy Act and upgraded in 2007. In a nutshell, the RFS, which is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), required petroleum refiners to add increasing amounts of renewable alternatives into the nation’s transportation fuels. The motive behind the RFS was to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, curb America’s addiction to foreign oil, and catalyze the development of new biofuels. Of the 36 billion gallons of biofuel which were required by 2022, up to 15 billion gallons were produced from corn. Corn now contributes about 10% of fuel in the U.S. through the widespread use of ethanol blends in gasoline. 

Approximately 45% of US corn croplands are used for ethanol production.

By displacing about 10% of petroleum at the gas pump, the ethanol mandate has done little more than expand the supply of gasoline, thereby helping keep fossil fuel prices low. As a result, people can drive more while buying less efficient vehicles.

In June 2023, the EPA released updated standards for the RFS: 11.96% renewable fuels in 2023, 12.50% in 2024, and 13.13% in 2025.

In June 2025, the EPA released the standards for 2026 and 2027, along with two major proposed changes to the RFS program: determining the value of a biofuel based on whether it is from domestic or foreign sources, and removing electricity as a qualifying renewable fuel in alignment with President Trump’s goal of eliminating the electric vehicle mandate.