The Future Of Biodiesel

Our editor (at the Des Moines Register) wondered about the future of biodiesel and it contribution to our energy goals.

The amount of biodiesel currently being produced is relatively small, around 200 million gallons last year compared with a total of almost 70 billion gallons of conventional diesel fuel. However, its use is expected to grow as fuel suppliers seek flexibility in complying with the requirements of the 2005 Energy Policy Act and with the ultra-low sulfur diesel regulations. This growth will be aided by incentives contained in the Act and by recent EPA regulations that could potentially allow the use of non-petroleum resources, such as soy oil or animal fat as a feedstock at a petroleum refinery (renewable diesel). In response, efforts are being made to increase production and research is being performed to reduce biodiesel production costs by companies such as Chevron who is investing in efforts to produce biodisel on a commercial basis.

... The increase in crude and hence diesel prices over the last several months, as well as the $1 per gallon subsidy for biodiesel that was enacted last year are reducing, if not eliminating, the biodiesel cost disadvantage. If these trends continue, and if the cost of soybean oil as a blendstock moderates, biodiesel is posed to make a meaningful, if limited, contribution to energy diversity.

http://blogs.dmregister.com/?p=5157