Biofuel Infrastructure and Agriculture Product Market Expansion

The Inflation Reduction Act provided $500 million for grants intended to “increase the sale and use of agricultural commodity-based fuels through infrastructure improvements for blending, storing, supplying, or distributing biofuels.” Past U.S. Department of Agriculture subsidies for similar projects (such as specialized gasoline pumps designed to dispense higher blends of ethanol) have primarily benefited first-generation biofuel industries. First-generation biofuels include corn ethanol and soy biodiesel, both derived from food crops. The Environmental Protection Agency has linked production of these types of biofuels to negative impacts on water, air, and soil quality as additional acreage was shifted from carbon-rich grasslands, for instance, to commodity crop production over the past 15 years. Independent experts have also questioned these industries’ ability to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.