Biofuels

Enacted in September 2007, the Renewable Fuel Standard requires the use of 7.5 billion gallons of biofuels in the U.S. by 2012, encouraging the development of renewable energy sources. The U.S. produced over 5 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel in 2006. Current energy needs cannot be met with present levels of production.

If all the U.S. corn and soybeans were used in the production of ethanol and biodiesel, respectively, they would meet only 11 percent of gasoline demands and 8.7 percent of diesel demands. This creates an immense pressure to increase yields from these and other energy-focused crops in order to have any significant impact on the overall energy supplies both for the U.S. and internationally.

The USDA estimates that 2.15 billion bushels of corn will be used for ethanol in the 2006–2007 growing season – up almost 35% from the previous year. Ethanol has become a major driver for corn demand over the last few years and accounts for approximately 18 percent of corn usage in 2007 projections.