Renewable Fuel Standards
Overview and Policy Issues
High petroleum and gasoline prices, concerns over global climate change, and the desire to promote domestic rural economies have raised interest in biofuels as an alternative to petroleum in the U.S. transportation sector. Biofuels, most notably corn-based ethanol, have grown significantly in the past few years as a component of U.S. motor fuels. For example, nearly half of all U.S. gasoline contains some ethanol (mostly blended at the 10 percent level or lower). However, current supply represents only about 4 percent of annual gasoline demand on a volume basis, and only about 3 percent on an energy basis. In 2006,…
