The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was first put in place by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and then was more than quadrupled by the Energy Independence and Security Act two years later—both bills signed by President George W. Bush. The RFS requires increasing amounts of biofuels to be blended with transportation fuel such as gasoline. Congress and the Bush Administration created the RFS schedule based on what they thought future demand for transportation fuels would be when they wrote the legislation. But they were dreadfully wrong.
Supporters of the bills in Congress and the Bush Administration thought that transportation fuel consumption would increase year after year, but after 2007 oil consumption plateaued. The requirement to blend ever-increasing amounts of ethanol has now left the nation with a “blend wall,” hitting up against the 10 percent mark of ethanol blended in gasoline. This means that the law is requiring more ethanol to be produced than can be consumed in a 10 percent blend by gasoline vehicles.
