Renewable Fuel Standard: Overview and Implementation Issues

Established by Congress as an amendment to the Clean Air Act, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandates that U.S. transportation fuel contain a minimum volume of renewable fuel. The mandated minimum volume increases annually and must be met using both conventional biofuel (e.g., cornstarch ethanol) and advanced biofuel (e.g., cellulosic ethanol). For a renewable fuel to be applied toward the mandate, it must be used for certain purposes (transportation fuel, jet fuel, or heating oil) and meet certain environmental and biomass feedstock criteria.