Normally, one would expect scientific publications to lead the way in quantity: this is confirmed by the data. In fact, there is sharp rise in the number of scientific publications related to biofuels from 2006 to 2016. But contrary to what one would expect, patents are at the origin of this explosion, in fact, between 2006 and 2011, patents were more important. What appears to happen is that patents are guiding the direction of research, when their number rises; publications tend to rise, with some delay. When patents fall, publications fall sharply. This could be explained by the fact that biofuels is an “industry first” technology and that it is also becoming a more mature technology which is way past its exploration phase. This pattern repeats when looking at particular feedstock terms, where a small change in the rate of patenting, seems to disturb the rate of research on that particular term, with a certain delay.