Biodiesel Production Rises in 2015 as Consumers Seek Cleaner Fuels

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January 26, 2016

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(High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal) U.S. consumers used a record of nearly 2.1 billion gallons of biodiesel in 2015, reducing America’s carbon emissions by at least 18.2 million metric tons, according to new EPA data released as the industry recently kicked off its 2016 Biodiesel Conference and Expo.

Biodiesel industry leaders said the year-end figures demonstrate biodiesel’s rising popularity and its continued success as America’s first and only EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel to reach commercial-scale production nationwide.

“We’re seeing it take hold across the country. Consumers are seeking out cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels and they see biodiesel as a high-performing, cost-competitive alternative to petroleum diesel,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, the industry’s U.S. trade association. “These numbers also show without question that the Renewable Fuel Standard is delivering significant volumes of Advanced Biofuel to the American people. They prove that the RFS is absolutely working.

“Biodiesel is still a young industry, but it is becoming a mainstream American fuel that’s having a real impact in helping us cut pollution, create jobs and diversify the fuels market.”

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The figures, however, continue to show a troubling trend in which imports are increasingly flooding the U.S. market and undercutting U.S. production. According to the data, domestic production remained flat at about 1.42 billion gallons, compared with about 1.47 billion gallons in 2014 and 1.50 billion gallons in 2013. Meanwhile, imports rose from 510 million gallons in 2014 to an estimated 670 million gallons in 2015, a jump of more than 25 percent.

“While the overall numbers are positive, we are increasingly seeing subsidized, predatory imports undercutting U.S. production—in part by taking advantage of U.S. policies aimed at building up the domestic industry,” Jobe said. “This is exactly what we have been warning would happen, and it will continue until we take steps to level the playing field, including by reforming the biodiesel tax incentive as a domestic production credit.” READ MORE and MORE / MORE (National Biodiesel Board) and MORE (Platts)

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