Reidy, Susan. “Funding to Expand Availability of Biofuels in the US.” WorldGrain, World Grain, 12 Jan. 2024, www.world-grain.com/articles/19499-funding-to-expand-availability-of-biofuels-in-us . 

The funding of 19 million to the Department of Agriculture increases the availability of biofuels to 22 states. These funds will be made available through the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program, these wide spread biofuels to the states by providing grants to fueling stations and distribution facilities. Prior to this they have sent an $5 million grant in order to install an ethanol blend to 111 fuel stations in multiple states. The program further uses the money that they receive from these states in order to increase their use of ethanol by 50 million gallons of biofuels a year. States like Illinois have started to fund this, giving the company $200k in order to install two 30k gallon biodiesel tanks with piping at the Hartford fuel distribution center. This has made the trend of other states joining along with the change such as Maryland which has made the move to install two ethanol fuel dispensaries and one ethanol storage tank, they aim to further supply their ethanol supply by 106k gallons a year. 

States transitioning to cleaner fuel sources inspires more states to transition as well. I hope that the more that the states begin to make the transition the more funding for biofuels there will be in order to make advancements with this sort of fuel consumption, in order to refine this fuel source and make it overall cleaner for the environment. 

Tina Casey “Algae Biofuels Rises From Grave To Haunt Fossil Fuels Stakeholders” CleanTechnica Dec 2023 https://cleantechnica.com/2023/12/19/algae-biofuel-haunts-fossil-fuel-stakeholders/ 

Algae provides a massive benefit for the environment, and it has a massive potential for fuel; algae has been farmed because of this potential but it’s not used commonly because of the difficulty it is to farm. Algae is a delicate crop to care for and an algae farm can be destroyed by one pest infestation; but the pay off is massive algae acts as a sponge for CO2 so placing a farm massively reduces carbon emissions. Algae has also been found to have the potential to be used as a fuel source. Algae biofuel is carbon recycling, the carbon that was used to grow the algae is released back when the algae is being used as fuel, allowing for it to be carbon neutral meaning that there won’t be an excessive amount of CO2 when released back out. The Gingko project aims to find a way to better grow algae by preventing pest infestation. This project is focusing on short chains of amino acids that exhibit antimicrobial activity. They plan to go further with algae if their method of pest prevention succeeds, as they find more opportunity with algae, finding that it can be commercially viable, as they believe it can be used for cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and can be used as bioplastics.

I find it amazing that algae has so much potential. I knew that it had been used commercially in cities in order to reduce the amount of carbon, but I hadn’t known that it could be used as fuel. I find its drawback to be that it’s carbon neutral. Algae biofuel, is only using the CO2 it has consumed to then be used as fuel, but I can see how this can be viable further in the future, if the excessive amount of carbon emissions has dropped algae can be helpful because if its necessities to be farmed is refined, algae farms can produce a lot of algae and can aid in the amount of fuel that the nation needs.

In 2023, U.S. Renewable Diesel Production Capacity Surpassed Biodiesel Production Capacity – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=60281 . Accessed 20 Jan. 2024, Published Sep 2023

By 2023 the U.S. renewable biodiesel and other variations of biofuels had reached over 3 billion gallons per year, and for the first time surpassed their  biodiesel production capacity; due to the state and federal program raising their targets. Data for the production of renewable biodiesel began in 2021 and since then renewable fuels productions have tripled in size, and nationwide renewable fuels has reached 23 billion gallons per year, showing in 2023 having an 6% increase in production capacity since 2022, this allowed for 13% of fuel used to be renewable in 2023. We’ve been able to increase our production capacity for biofuels by 1.25 billion per year, the use of biofuels has been spreading through the states as well by 2023 11 states have shown reports of the use of renewable biofuels, this is an increase of 6 states since 2022; this includes the states of Texas which has now begun to grow their capacity of renewable fuels; in 2023 Texas had 537 million gallons of renewable biofuels, having the second highest amount beating Louisiana. Renewable biofuels have begun to catch up to biodiesel, causing the biodiesel capacity to shrink by 169 million gallons in 2023. The midwest now has 70% biodiesel capacity, the fuel ethanol producers in the midwest continue to have the most capacity in the U.S. biofuels market having theri fuel ethanol increase by 283 million gallons in 2023.

The increased integration of renewable biofuel in the U.S. shows how the U.S. is beginning to be more proactive about the climate by taking action now before it is too late. It was shocking to see how even Texas is also integrating renewable biofuel into their society as they are some of the main supporters of oil companies. I hope due to the participation of Texas that other Midwestern states begin to join in beginning to realize the benefits in renewable fuels. If more support and funding go into renewable biofuels the negative impact that biofuels have on the climate will begin to decline, and will also make renewable biofuels more reliable to use more often, persuading other states to begin the transition.

Biden Administration to Spend $450 Million on Higher-Blend Biofuels, www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/biden-administration-spend-450-million-higher-blend-biofuels-2023-06-26/ . Accessed 21 Jan. 2024. 

The US Department of Agriculture spends 45 millions dollars in order to expand the production and availability of high end biofuels. The Biden administration views low emission biofuels as the most critical path to take in order to decarbonize transportation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has targeted their aid for the federal program in order to mix refined biofuels more with the nation’s fuel mix. The funding for thai stems from the Inflation Reduction Act and will go to the USDA’s higher blends Infrastructure Incentive Program, this is a cost share program for facilities that make infrastructure that supports biofuel blending and their distribution. This is in order for America to no longer derive their fuel from other countries and be able to provide for their own. They plan to follow Corn-derived ethanol in order to do so, as it shows that it has the possibility of cutting 52% of greenhouse gas emissions. 

In order to make progress with the climate crisis we have to make biofuels more accessible. The funding to facilities that aid biofuels accessibility will hopefully make a dent with decarbonizing transportation. The use of gas driven cars has caused critical damage to the environment, and with driving becoming more and more common it has only worsened the effect. The change to corn-derived ethanol will hopefully work as corn is a common crop that is farmed in exponential amounts; although it does have its setbacks. The farming for corn uses a lot of carbon emissions, and if we plan to use more corn for fuel it’ll only worsen that effect. I believe we should only use corn as a stepping stone to reaching higher achievements with biofuel, and to no longer perpetuate the excessive use of corn in farms. 

EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov/risk/biofuels-and-environment . Accessed 20 Jan. 2024, Published Dec 2023

2007 was the year the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) announced their goal for moving the US towards greater energy independence. They revised the Renewable Fuel Standard that was created under the Energy Policy ACT (EPA) in order to increase the 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel required for transportation in 2022. The first report of this progress was released in 2011; they provided an assessment of the environmental and resource conservation impacts that were associated with the increase of biofuels. The first report showed that the increase of biofuels were negative but had very little impact, but it had shown promises of having positive impacts in the future, and that there was methods of reducing the impact required in order for reaching their goal A second report was released in 2018 and it had only reaffirmed the first conclusion with no material changes. In 2023 they announced the draft of the third report for public comment; it focuses on the dominant biofuel sources located in the US in order to follow the procedure of the EPA.

The increase of biofuels is needed for the US in order to help with the climate crisis. Though currently the creation of biofuels has a negative output I believe that it is required in order to make any sort of progress. The future positives of biofuels are very promising to say the least and they hold much potential in order to aid in the climate crisis. So far the EISA has been on track with reaching the goal and their research has shown that the move to biofuels is a much needed change.

Douglas, L. (2023, June 26). Biden administration to spend $450 million on higher-blend biofuels. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/biden-administration-spend-450-million-higher-blend-biofuels-2023-06-26/ 

In an effort to alleviate the consequences of emissions, ones emitted from transportation in particular, the Biden administration has invested and supported the biofuel industry considerably. In the article, Amy Klobuchar, United States senator stated that “we don’t want to be dependent on other countries when it comes to energy,” which is another reason why the Biden Administration is so determined in its efforts to alleviate carbon emissions. The article continued by saying that corn-derived biofuels can cut greenhouse gas emissions in half over gasoline. Therefore, the pursuit of having a less wasteful method of transportation or cutting the release of other emissions makes the investment in biofuels from the Biden administration all the more meaningful. 

I don’t know how effective the campaign would be since the switch from fossil fuels to biofuel probably won’t be achievable within Biden’s presidency, but I support the cause and I hope that future presidents continue the effort if the Biden administration isn’t able to achieve it within the immediate future. If this funding does come in it’ll be in great support of environmental science research.

Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. (2023, August 21). NYK Tests Biofuels on Australian Voyage. MarineLink. https://www.marinelink.com/news/nyk-tests-biofuels-australian-voyage-507356 

A successful trial run of biofuels from Japan to Australia was announced. Two companies supplied biofuel via ship to ship transfer to a bulk carrier. It was supplied with biofuel and then it sailed out. They hope that through the test voyage that it’ll expand the Japanese supply chain in Japan’s Kansai and Setouchi regions. They have previously tested supplying biofuel onto other carrier vessels but more as a side experiment, but they’re now mainly putting that as their full focus. They hope to further conduct test voyages onto multiple ships at once to test biofuels limits. This is all in attempts to reduce GHG emissions to eventually achieve the decarbonization of transportation.

The use of biofuels and environmental based research is now beginning to be used in larger transportation vessels. This shows that the science in biofuels has started to show major progress, and hopefully it’ll lead to a cleaner world.

Deccan Chronicle. (2023b, June 5). With global biofuel alliance, India is breaking free from the chains of fossil fuels. Deccan Chronicle. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/environment/050623/with-global-biofuel-alliance-india-is-breaking-free-from-the-chains-o.html 

India is attempting to add biofuel more into their society. They are attempting to form an alliance with the US and Brazil. They have also participated in the IEA (Internal Energy’s association) and the TCP (Bioenergy Technology Programme); these are both programs that encourage the usage of bioenergy. Through these programs India has been pushing hard on biofuels, so they can reduce their greenhouse gasses, and to achieve sustainable development. 

Environmental science is being adapted to foreign countries as they are now attempting to use scientific studies so they can develop a healthier and cleaner country. As pollution is an increasing problem and they’re attempting to reduce it with a science based solution that involves biofuel. Reading this article I am delighted to see countries push for the further use of biofuels, but after learning about biofuels more in depth I grow concerned on how they’ll be capable of producing a gargantuan amount.