For the past twenty years, federal law has required gasoline and diesel to be blended with increasing volumes of renewable fuels, also known as biofuels. Under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), tens of billions of gallons of corn ethanol, soy-based biodiesel, and other biofuels are added to U.S. transportation fuel each year.

Despite this mandate—and decades of lucrative subsidies—the biofuels industry has failed to deliver meaningful benefits for American taxpayers or consumers. Instead, continued federal support distorts markets, drives up food and fuel prices, wastes taxpayer dollars, and encourages the conversion of carbon-rich land into cropland. The industry has yet to prove that producing and consuming biofuels yields long-term, tangible public value. Yet taxpayers still spend billions each year subsidizing biofuel producers, agricultural operations, oil refiners, and fueling infrastructure through an array of federal programs.

Biofuel is an energy source derived from biological raw materials. Most U.S. biofuels are made from corn starch (ethanol) or soybean oil (biodiesel and renewable diesel). These fuels are primarily used as transportation fuels blended with gasoline and diesel, but the RFS also awards compliance credits for renewable natural gas and certain electricity generation.

The industry has marketed biofuels as tools for achieving energy independence, reducing emissions, and boosting rural economies. But the RFS has instead burdened taxpayers with long-term liabilities while failing to deliver on its climate promises.

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