Source: Our World In Data

Data Table

Instructions: Study the graph and data table above to answer the questions.

Question 1: What economic, environmental, or political factors might the United States and Brazil have in common that could account for their high production of biofuels? 

Question 2: Compare the growth in biofuel energy production of Indonesia and China. Even though China far surpasses Indonesia in terms of population and land mass, why might Indonesia’s biofuel production have grown much more sharply than China’s since 2010?

Question 3: Why do you think some large developing countries like China and India have experienced only slow growth in biofuel production over the last few decades? 

Question 4: Imagine you are a policy-maker in Mexico, which has low biofuel production. Would you introduce policies to expand biofuel use in your country? Explain your reasoning.

Question 5: By 2040, do you think the gap between high producers and lower producers of biofuel will widen or shrink? Use evidence from the trends to justify your answer.