Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Impacts Of U.S. Biofuels Mandates On Environmental And Energy Security, Mohammad Alshawaf

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 to reduce dependency on foreign oil by increasing the use of biofuels. EISA mandates 36 billion gallons of biofuel production in 2022, representing an increase of 118% in eight years. Existing and new farmland are expected to be employed to produce corn and other feedstock necessary to fulfill the biofuel mandate. There is little research on the potential environmental impact on water resources of meeting the ESIA biofuel mandates.

The objectives of this EISA study were twofold. First, the study measured the …