The US Senate voted to nix restrictions on the military's biofuels program last week, ScienceInsider reports. Earlier this year, the Senate Armed Services Committee adopted amendments to prevent the military from purchasing alternative fuels like biofuels if they cost more than petroleum-based fuel and from building biofuel refineries.
Biofuels do typically cost more than conventional fuels, but the Department of Defense has said that its focus on biofuels is "not economic." In addition, in a letter from over the summer, retired military officials argued that reducing reliance on fossil fuels is vital to national security.
For this recent vote, Mark Udall (D-Colo.) said, according to ScienceInsider, that while biofuel prices are high now, they will fall, and they "will continue to drop if we keep making smart investments in smart technologies."