Biofuels have always been political in the sense that the biofuels industry operates through government subsidies and mandates. In the early years, the three leading biofuels areas — Brazil, the USA and the EU — all used subsidies to promote biofuels, but more recently all three areas have turned to mandates to avoid the budgetary cost of government subsidies. Thus, there has always been government involvement in the sector. Originally in the USA, there were three main objectives of government intervention in the biofuels arena: Promote agricultural and rural development; Reduce GHG emissions; Reduce dependence on foreign oil [1].
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