05/06/2024 (Farm Progress) - USDA’s Economic Research Service reports that in 2022-23 for the first time, renewable diesel production has surpassed biodiesel production.

Biodiesel, produced from soybean oil, corn oil, yellow grease or tallow, must be blended with traditional diesel. Production of biodiesel peaked at 1.8 gallons in the 2018-19 marketing year for soybean oil. But, it has declined slightly to 1.7 billion gallons in the 2022-23 marketing year.

Renewable diesel can be made from similar fats to biodiesel, but it does not need to be blended with traditional diesel, making it a “drop-in” biofuel. Production has grown, according to USDA Economic Research Service, from 40 million gallons in 2010-11, to 2.3 billion gallons in this most recent year.

Biodiesel and renewable diesel production combined reached an all-time high in the last year, using a share of about 46% of U.S. soybean oil production. Read more at USDA ERS - U.S. Bioenergy Statistics.

https://www.farmprogress.com/crops/renewable-diesel-production-surpasses-biodiesel