The Digest’s 2026 Multi-Slide Guide to Pipeline Access for Biofuels

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Biofuels are excluded from common-carrier pipelines not through explicit refusal letters, but via published product specifications applied uniformly to all shippers. Because non-discrimination rules are legally satisfied, these technical exclusions never generate regulatory complaints before FERC. Dedicated ethanol pipelines account for merely twenty-two miles nationwide, forcing the industry to construct a permanent, parallel rail logistics architecture moving ninety-five percent of interregional volumes. Renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel face identical specification barriers, making product code negotiation a vital commercial priority. READ MORE

Excerpt from TrainsPRO: “As a company focused on connecting American agriculture to domestic and global markets, we view this transaction through the lens of market access, supply chain efficiency, and the long-term competitiveness of American bioethanol and agricultural products, with an ultimate opportunity to benefit American farmers,” Ben Sweat, the company’s chief operating officer, wrote in a letter to the Surface Transportation Board this week.

POET uses rail to ship bioethanol, distillers dried grains, and other agricultural products from its facilities, which sit in the so-called watershed area within a few hundred miles of the Mississippi River.

The watershed — the de facto dividing line between the eastern and western Class I railroads — has posed a problem for east-west rail shipments due to the challenges of interchange and the relatively short haul for one or both railroads involved in the move.

UP and NS say much of the carload growth projected from their merger will come from introducing single-line service to and from the watershed. They expect to gain 105,000 additional carloads annually by converting freight from truck to rail in the watershed.

“While many facilities effectively access western and southern markets, substantial portions of our Iowa production network have limited participation in eastern markets due to the economics associated with two-railroad service,” Sweat wrote. “Approximately 70% of Union Pacific-originated POET bioethanol and DDGS traffic originates from several of our midwestern facilities. These plants are located within the transportation ‘watershed’ surrounding the Mississippi River, where the two-line rail movements are currently economically uncompetitive. As a result, the vast majority of bioethanol and DDGS produced at these locations moves south and west, with limited access to eastern markets.”

“A combined rail network could unlock meaningful new opportunities for POET’s production facilities by providing competitive single-line access to major eastern and western markets. Eliminating interchange requirements could create new customer opportunities, increase transportation competition, and improve marketing flexibility for bioethanol, DDGS, corn oil and CO2 volumes that today have limited access to these destinations,” Sweat wrote.

POET also said the merger should improve the economics of rail moves through single-line service.

Although more than 500 shippers now support the merger, the transcontinental combination faces opposition from the National Industrial Transportation League and trade associations representing chemical and fertilizer producers as well as agricultural interests. They say the merger will reduce shipper options and lead to higher rates. READ MORE