Which crop is most commonly used to make biofuels?

Corn (maize) is the most widely used crop for biofuel production worldwide, primarily to make fuel ethanol; sugarcane is the leading alternative in Brazil, while biodiesel commonly relies on vegetable oils such as soybean and palm. In practice, the “most common” crop depends on region and fuel type, but corn dominates because the United States is the world’s largest ethanol producer and relies overwhelmingly on corn.

Why corn dominates global biofuel production

Corn’s dominance stems from a mix of policy, scale, and chemistry. In the United States—by far the largest ethanol market—renewable fuel standards, blending mandates, and tax incentives built out a vast corn-to-ethanol industry. Starch-rich corn kernels are relatively easy to convert into sugars and then ferment into ethanol with mature, low-cost technology. The result is massive, consistent volumes: the U.S. produces tens of billions of liters of ethanol annually, most of it from corn, making corn the single most used crop for biofuels globally.

The regional picture

The type of crop used for biofuels varies by region due to climate, crop yields, agricultural economics, and policy frameworks. The following list highlights the dominant feedstocks in major producing regions.

• United States: Corn for ethanol; growing use of soybean oil and other vegetable oils/animal fats for renewable diesel.
• Brazil: Sugarcane for ethanol (very efficient due to high sucrose content and favorable climate).
• European Union: Rapeseed (canola) historically for biodiesel, with increasing use of waste oils and advanced feedstocks due to sustainability caps on crop-based fuels.
• Indonesia and Malaysia: Palm oil for biodiesel, though sustainability concerns drive efforts to increase waste/residue use.
• Argentina: Soybean oil for biodiesel; also exports biodiesel feedstocks.
• China and India: Mixed—molasses/sugarcane, grains (including corn) for ethanol; expanding use of waste oils for biodiesel/renewable diesel.

Taken together, ethanol remains the largest portion of global biofuel demand, so corn and sugarcane are the two most consequential crops—of which corn is the largest by volume given U.S. output.

Biofuel types and their typical feedstocks

“Biofuels” is an umbrella term. The most common fuels in road transport and aviation use different feedstocks and production routes.

• Ethanol (gasoline substitute/blend): Corn (U.S.), sugarcane (Brazil), and smaller volumes from wheat, sorghum, or molasses elsewhere.
• Biodiesel/FAME (diesel blend): Soybean oil, rapeseed/canola, palm oil, and used cooking oil; tallow and other animal fats in smaller volumes.
• Renewable diesel/HVO (drop-in diesel): Increasingly made from waste oils and fats (used cooking oil, tallow), plus soybean oil and other vegetable oils.
• Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): Primarily produced from waste lipids (used cooking oil, animal fats) via HEFA pathways today; emerging routes include alcohol-to-jet (using ethanol), gasification of residues, and power-to-liquid e-fuels.

Because ethanol volumes are larger than biodiesel and renewable diesel globally, the crop most tied to overall biofuel output is corn—while sugarcane, soy, palm, and rapeseed are also significant in their respective markets.

Trends and shifts as of 2024–2025

Global biofuel demand is growing gradually, with ethanol still leading total volumes and biodiesel/renewable diesel expanding in North America, Europe, and parts of Asia. The U.S. renewable diesel boom is pulling more soybean oil and waste oils into fuel, while the EU is tightening sustainability criteria and capping certain crop-based fuels, pushing a shift toward wastes and residues. Brazil continues to expand sugarcane ethanol and flex-fuel vehicle use. Cellulosic/advanced ethanol from crop residues remains a small share, though technological and policy support persist. Across markets, sustainability, land-use, and food-versus-fuel concerns are steering growth toward non-food feedstocks, but for now, corn remains the single most-used crop in biofuels due to the scale of U.S. ethanol.

Sustainability considerations

Crop-based biofuels face scrutiny over indirect land-use change, biodiversity impacts, water use, and food price linkages. Certification schemes, greenhouse-gas reduction thresholds, and caps on first-generation feedstocks are increasingly common. Waste- and residue-based fuels and advanced pathways (including cellulosic and e-fuels) aim to deliver deeper emissions cuts with fewer land-use trade-offs, but their supply chains are still scaling.

Summary

Corn (maize) is the most commonly used crop to make biofuels worldwide, chiefly for ethanol, owing to the scale of U.S. production. Sugarcane is the leading ethanol feedstock in Brazil, while biodiesel and renewable diesel rely more on soybean, rapeseed, palm, and waste oils. Although policy and sustainability pressures are nudging markets toward non-food feedstocks, corn currently remains the top crop in global biofuel output.

What is the best crop for biofuel?

Corn and, to a lesser extent, soybeans and milo are the only crops to date that have proven economically-viable for industrial-scale biofuel production in the US (large quantities of sugarcane ethanol are produced in tropical countries, such as Brazil).

What is the most common biofuel produced?

ethanol
The two most common types of biofuels in use today are ethanol and biodiesel, both of which represent the first generation of biofuel technology.

What plant does biofuel come from?

In the Northwest, oilseed crops like canola or sunflowers are used to make biofuels. For a more advanced process that requires breaking down the cell walls of plants into their most basic chemical form, energy producers use a two-step process: deconstruction followed by synthesis and upgrading.

Which crop is commonly used to produce biofuels?

Energy crops to produce biodiesel
For this fuel, species with a high oil content are used, such as rapeseed, sunflower, soybean, palm, or castor oil, to name a few. Algae and other plants of marine origin are also suitable energy crops to produce this biofuel.