Biodiesel Production Sets New Record
According to the latest government figures, U.S. biodiesel production has already set a new record this year.
National Biodiesel Board (NBB) is proud to report that the industry has produced more than 802 million gallons of biodiesel in plants from Florida to Iowa to Washington state, more than doubling last year’s production of about 315 million gallons and breaking the previous record of about 690 million gallons set in 2009.
The main reason for the increased production is reinstatement of the federal tax incentive for biodiesel, which is once again due to expire at the end of this year without congressional action. Without the incentive last year, production dropped dramatically as dozens of plants shuttered and thousands of jobs were lost. This year’s increased production will support more than 31,000 jobs – up from fewer than 13,000 last year – while generating at least $3 billion in GDP and $628 million in federal, state and local tax revenues, according to a recent economic study conducted by Cardno-Entrix.
“This tax incentive is without a doubt stimulating production of biodiesel and creating jobs. We’re clearly seeing that from our members across the country,” said NBB VP of federal affairs Anne Steckel. “We have a little over a month before it could expire again, and it is past time that Congress step up and pass an extension to keep this industry’s momentum going.”
4 Comments
Lance Stokes
The need for a reliable and continuous oil feedstock also impacts biodiesel production. A crop, such as pennycress, would make achievement of the federal mandate of 1 billion gallons by 2012 a reality. Plus production of the crop would markedly help the small and midsized farmers, particularly given the major cuts in the farm bill. Pennycress oil allows the production of the best biodiesel in the world and has a cold filter plug point of -28 degrees Celsius. This allows biodiesel to be used year round in colder climates. Growing and crushing pennycress across the nation would increase the job market substantially and would help us excel to achieve freedom from the use of foreign oil as well as substantially reduce our carbon footprint. Because pennycress is not a food crop, there is no food vs fuel argument.
Jake
This is awesome, but still under the 50% of total BIO capacity in the USA with existing production facilities that are in place. Also, to put it in perspective, according to the EIA, the USA uses (2009) 55 billion gallons of distillates in a year, and that would equate out to about 1.4% of total diesel consumption by BIO. Lots of room to grow!
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