The nascent state of the biofuels industry calls for an important early assessment of potential environmental impacts of the alcohol components. The impact of biofuels on soil processes must be understood to allow the development of data in support of an unbiased discussion concerning the possible environmental consequences of the materials. It is most important that these data be developed before any negative situations have occurred. In this initial study, two soils (Drummer and Tracy with high and low organic matter, respectively) were treated with the 14C-liquid biofuel candidates, methanol, ethanol, propanol, and butanol. An applied concentration range from 100 to 10% alcohol was generated by diluting the alcohol with a stock mixture of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene in a 1:1:1:1 ratio. Following the application, the soil water content was held at an ideal level for microbial activity. We followed the degradation of the alcohol by trapping of 14C-alcohol that was volatilized, 14C-CO2 a result of degradation and conducting an analysis of the soil 14C residual levels, allowing a mass balance to be developed. Overall, the majority of the alcohols applied to the soil were either degraded by soil microorganisms or volatilized, as little of the alcohols remained in the soil at experiment's termination. The primary loss of alcohol for all concentrations of methanol, ethanol, and propanol was through biodegradation. Less than 10% of methanol and ethanol was volatilized; in contrast approximately 30% of propanol was volatilized. Methanol and ethanol in the soil is rapidly degraded in 10-20 days. In contrast, at concentrations greater than 10% most of the butanol was volatilized while little of it remained long-enough in the soil to be biodegraded. The exception to this is the 10% butanol treatments where most of the butanol applied was converted to 14C-CO2. The ramifications and limitations of these findings are also discussed.