Moving Away from Oil: Biofuels and Biobased Products

The author advocates for a shift away from oil in the United States by implementing carbon or petroleum taxes to reduce demand and replacing petroleum-based fuels and materials with sustainable alternatives. The text highlights the potential for biofuels in transportation and heating, as well as the use of biomass for industrial chemicals and building products, emphasizing that such a transition must be grounded in sustainability to protect ecosystems.

• To reduce oil dependence, the United States should implement policies that reflect the true social and environmental costs of petroleum, such as carbon taxes, petroleum taxes, or a declining cap on fossil carbon emissions.
• Biofuels are a significant component of the transition; in 2008, they met approximately seven percent (9.2 billion gallons) of U.S. gasoline demand, mostly via corn starch ethanol. The Congressional Renewable Fuel Standard targets 36 billion gallons of biofuel per year by 2022.
• Approximately seven percent of U.S. households (eight million) rely on heating oil, with a concentration in the northeast where 3.8 billion gallons were consumed in 2008. States including Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have established renewable biofuel standards for home heating oil, some requiring a 20 percent renewable blend by 2020.
• Petroleum is used in the production of about 23 percent of industrial chemicals and consumer products, as well as various building materials like asphalt roofing shingles and vinyl flooring, most of which can be replaced by biomass-derived alternatives.
• The United States can achieve the necessary volumes of biobased feedstocks by improving the productivity of existing forests and agricultural lands, utilizing abandoned and marginal lands, recycling urban and agricultural waste, and developing algae-based products.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2010). Moving Away from Oil: Biofuels and Biobased Products. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/moving-away-from-oil-biofuels-and-biobased-products

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Moving Away from Oil: Biofuels and Biobased Products. 2010. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/moving-away-from-oil-biofuels-and-biobased-products.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Moving Away from Oil: Biofuels and Biobased Products |date=30 June 2010 |url=https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/moving-away-from-oil-biofuels-and-biobased-products |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2010moving, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Moving Away from Oil: Biofuels and Biobased Products}}, publisher = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2010}, month = jun, url = {https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/moving-away-from-oil-biofuels-and-biobased-products}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }