Until recently biofuel production primarily meant ethanol production, generally from corn or sugarcane. But as studies revealing the counter-productivity of corn ethanol production came out, and as worldwide fuel prices soared, more efficient practices gained momentum to fill the hole. 

Unfortunately, the bureaucracy has been unable to keep up with the pace of research and changes in economic markets. Despite a series of appeals by the State of Texas, the EPA has refused to grant any waiver of the renewable fuel standard, mandating the production of nine billion barrels of ethanol this year. 

While government subsidy is almost certainly a necessity for renewable fuel adoption, future legislation needs to engineer mechanisms for greater agility in the face of rapidly-advancing science, and market conditions that can best be described as volatile. 

Without question, the renewable energy standard is one the most promising methods to increase the adoption of clean, reliable energy sources. But as currently managed, it can leave states such as Texas overly reliant on a single source of renewable energy, forcing them to take million-dollar hits when markets are unfavorable. 

Incentives to encourage a wider variety of energy sources and bipartisan steering committees that can make rulings on rapidly changing conditions would create regulations that are significantly more beneficial, both for local markets and the environment.