Biodiesel 2015: The Top 14 Trends for the New Year

January 21, 2015

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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) New technologies, new markets, new research and most of the same policy challenges, as we look at the 14 top trends for 2015. ...

1. Falling oil prices – what’s the impact?

The headlines in recent months have revolved almost exclusively around falling commodity prices — and to be sure they have been felt in biodiesel too.

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2. Policy uncertainty

But the challenges have been not only about prices, but about the hit that production is taking from policy uncertainty, particularly in the US.

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3. Tax Credits

The good news is that the biodiesel tax credit did pass in the US in a tax extenders package which extended the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit retroactively throughout 2014, on a 76-16 vote. Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden voted against the bill in the end, stating that “this tax bill doesn’t have the shelf life of a carton of eggs. The only new effects of this legislation apply to the next two weeks.” Yep, they all expired on December 31, 2014...

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4. Broader global distribution

At the same time, distribution opportunities ere expanding, and globally.

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5. A winner on emissions

The reasons? For one, biodiesel keeps showing up a winner on emissions, as we saw last week when we highlighted a report showing animal fat biodiesel reducing GHG emissions by 85%.

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6. Higher blends

Increased blending opportunities also appeared last month when ASTM voted to approve performance specifications for blends of 6 to 20 percent biodiesel with traditional heating oil.

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7. New processing technologies

It wasn’t the only innovation in sight this year. All year, we’ve been tracking the rise of new technologies to handle high free fatty acid (FFA) feedstocks such as brown grease. READ MORE