Integrating Biofuels into Comprehensive Climate Policy

An Overview of Biofuels Policy Options

Author(s): Christopher Galik, Wyley Hodgson, Craig Raborn, Patrick Bean

Published: November 2009

download: policy brief (.pdf) >

Recognizing that GHG emission reduction is but one policy objective that biofuels may potentially serve this brief evaluates current and potential biofuel policies, and ultimately how effective these policies are in achieving emission reductions. While other reports provide comprehensive catalogs of the policy mechanisms affecting biofuels (e.g., Koplow 2006), the focus of this brief is on the potential GHG implications of individual policies. To provide context to the discussion, an overview of the current policy environment is included below. This is followed by summaries of multiple biofuel policy options, each with a focus on potential GHG implications. The brief concludes with a series of policy design considerations. Polices are reviewed at greater depth in an attached Primer, which provides much of the analytical basis for the discussion here.