Guide to Biofuels: Glossary

The document defines key terms in the biofuels sector, highlighting the dominance of corn ethanol in the US and sugar cane in Brazil. It details specific US financial mechanisms, such as the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC), which provides a $0.45 cents/gallon credit to oil companies and costs over $5 billion annually, and the 'blend wall' currently set at 10 percent ethanol in gasoline.

• In the United States, corn is the dominant biomass used for biofuels, and corn ethanol receives 75 percent of federal subsidy money designated for renewable energy.
• The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC), also known as the blender’s tax credit, provides $0.45 cents per gallon to oil companies blending ethanol with gasoline, costing more than $5 billion per year.
• The 'blend wall' refers to the limit of ethanol that can be mixed into a gallon of gasoline, which is currently 10 percent, though the ethanol lobby is seeking to increase this to 15 percent due to production exceeding demand.

APA

Fox, A. (2010). Guide to Biofuels: Glossary. Friends of the Earth. https://foe.org/blog/2010-05-guide-to-biofuels-glossary/

Chicago

Fox, Audrey. Guide to Biofuels: Glossary. Friends of the Earth, 2010. https://foe.org/blog/2010-05-guide-to-biofuels-glossary/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Fox |first1=Audrey |title=Guide to Biofuels: Glossary |publisher=Friends of the Earth |date=19 May 2010 |url=https://foe.org/blog/2010-05-guide-to-biofuels-glossary/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fox2010guide, author = {Fox, Audrey}, title = {{Guide to Biofuels: Glossary}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth}, year = {2010}, month = may, url = {https://foe.org/blog/2010-05-guide-to-biofuels-glossary/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }