The biodiesel industry was built from the ground up – and much of that ground is planted with soybeans. Using more than 5.5 billion pounds of U.S. soybean oil last year, more than any other feedstock, the biodiesel industry is a significant customer for U.S. soybean farmers.
That figure is expected to grow, says Alan Weber of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB).
“The biodiesel industry wants to produce 10 percent of transportation diesel on the market by 2022,” explains Weber, NBB’s feedstock development program manager. “The industry will have to consume greater volumes of fats and oils in order to reach that level of production.”
That means an even larger customer for U.S. soy that is well on its way to achieving the ambitious goal.
“The biodiesel industry proved its capacity by producing at the highest annual volume last year,” says NBB CEO Joe Jobe. “Those rates would amount to nearly 5 percent of the diesel fuel supply, utilizing the soybean oil from one-fourth of the domestic crush.”
Weber says it’s no coincidence that biodiesel producers depend on soybean oil. Demand for the fuel has a direct impact on soybean prices, and those prices drive the number of soybean acres planted and overall supply.
“Soybean supply is able to respond to demand, and not all biodiesel fuel sources are able to do that. Future growth in the biodiesel industry will come in part from soybeans because of the additional supply required.”
Source:unitedsoybean.org