Renewable Diesel’s Rising Tide
by Tom Bryan (Biodiesel Magazine) An update on U.S. renewable diesel projects—operational, expanding, under construction and proposed—giving new purpose to aging oil refineries. The report represents a transformative volume of nearly 5.5 billion gallons of new or potential capacity.
The appeal of stacking the $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax credit on top of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard credits, while reducing RIN exposure for those that have it, has encouraged a race for renewable diesel production capacity that will likely transform America’s biomass-based-diesel industry over the next few years.
The federal tax credit is guaranteed only through 2022, but that’s runway enough for developers to continue transforming half a dozen U.S. oil refineries into renewable diesel plants, even as two existing renewable diesel producers—both in Louisiana—proceed with massive expansions. As 2020 expired, Biodiesel Magazine was aware of four operational renewable diesel plants in the United States: the two expanding facilities, capable of producing 90 MMgy and 275 MMgy prior to upsizing; a newly commissioned 184 MMgy plant in North Dakota; and a 4 MMgy unit in Kansas.
That existing 553 MMgy of capacity, while impressive by itself, will soon be eclipsed by six more renewable diesel plants under construction, plus the expansions. Altogether, this first big wave of construction represents over 2 billion gallons of biobased-diesel capacity. And what’s poised to come next could be even more extraordinary. At least five additional proposed renewable diesel facilities—each of them massive—represent another 3.3 billion gallons of potential capacity. Altogether, the 14 facilities in this overview represent nearly 5.5 billion gallons of new or potential capacity, which is double the U.S. biodiesel industry’s current size.
It will take years to know how much renewable diesel capacity is ultimately built out, and what impact it has on North America’s current fleet of 100-plus operational biodiesel plants, but it is increasingly clear that the biobased-diesel industry’s two segments—sharing markets, incentives and feedstock—are veering toward unification, politically and logistically.
Bakersfield Renewable Fuels
UNDER CONSTRUCTION / 230 MMgy
Bakersfield, California
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CVR Energy Inc. – Wynnewood
UNDER CONSTRUCTION / 100 MMgy
Wynnewood, Oklahoma
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Diamond Green Diesel – Norco
UNDER EXPANSION / 675 MMgy
Norco, Louisiana
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Diamond Green Diesel – Port Arthur
PROPOSED / 400 MMgy
Port Arthur, Texas
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HollyFrontier Corp. – Artesia
UNDER CONSTRUCTION / 110 MMgy
Artesia, New Mexico
…
HollyFrontier Corp. – Cheyenne
UNDER CONSTRUCTION / 90 MMgy
Cheyenne, Wyoming
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Grön Fuels LLC
PROPOSED / 900 MMgy
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
…
Marathon Petroleum – Dickinson
OPERATIONAL / 184 MMgy
Dickinson, North Dakota
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Marathon Petroleum – Martinez
PROPOSED / 736 MMgy
Martinez, California
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Next Renewable Fuels
PROPOSED / 575 MMgy
Port Westward, Oregon
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Phillips 66 – Rodeo Renewed
PROPOSED / 680 MMgy
Rodeo, California
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REG Geismar LLC
UNDER EXPANSION /340 MMgy
Geismar, Louisiana
…
Ryze Renewables – Las Vegas
UNDER CONSTRUCTION / 100 MMgy
Las Vegas, Nevada
…
World Energy – Paramount
UNDER CONSTRUCTION / 330 MMgy
Paramount, California
