This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.

January 30, 2013

Biodiesel Production Tops 1 Billion Gallons in 2012

The U.S. biodiesel industry broke the billion-gallon mark in 2012 for the second consecutive year, according to year-end production figures from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) noted that the total volume of nearly 1.1 billion gallons exceeded the 2011 production by 6 million gallons.

December production totaled just 59 million gallons, the lowest monthly volume of the year. The National Biodiesel Board attributed the production drop to uncertainty over the biodiesel tax incentive. Congress renewed the $1-per-gallon incentive on New Year's Day as part of the so-called "fiscal cliff" legislation. Biodiesel production is reported under the EPA's Biomass-based Diesel category in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The fuel is made from a mix of resources, such as recycled cooking oil, soybean oil, and animal fats. See the NBB press release and the EPA's RFS Web page.