Why Aren't Biofuels More Common?

Written By Teacher: Teresa Pettitt-Kenney

Hi there! My name is Teresa and I just finished my Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science and am excited to pursue environmental education in the future! I am extremely passionate about climate change, equitable climate action, and how education can work to address these issues. 

When we discuss climate change in our classroom, there are so many exciting solutions to talk about. However, with all these solutions, students start to wonder why we haven’t implemented these fixes everywhere to resolve our climate issues. Biofuels is one of these solutions, and investigating the benefits and limitations can help shed light on the complicated nature of climate change solutions in general. Start by reading more below to learn more about the limitations of biofuels and take it a step further by investigating the world of climate solutions with your classroom! You can start small and engage younger students with resources like this Climate Science Solutions Read Aloud Guide or this Solutions for Climate Change Game. For older students, utilize hands-on learning with activities and simulations in lessons like En-ROADS Climate Change Solutions.

Written By: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative

The MIT Climate Change Engagement Program, a part of MIT Climate HQ, provides the public with nonpartisan, easy-to-understand, and scientifically-grounded information on climate change and its solutions.

When we burn fossil fuels, we take carbon that had once been trapped safely underground and release it into the atmosphere. But when we burn biofuels, we're simply recycling carbon through our atmospheric system: the carbon begins in the air, is absorbed by plants as they grow, and then goes back into the air when we burn fuel made from those plants. Burning biofuels, therefore, doesn’t increase the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and has the potential to help slow climate change.

In 2005, Congress wanted to take advantage of these benefits, while also reducing dependence on foreign oil and supporting US farmers. They passed the Renewable Fuel Standard, which required U.S. gasoline manufacturers to include a certain amount of biofuels into the mix of commercial gasoline. Today, most gas sold at gas stations includes about 10 percent bioalcohol fuel. This is usually ethanol, which is produced from corn or other vegetable byproducts and is, by far, the most prevalent biofuel in the country.

But there are limits to how much biofuel vehicles can handle.