Nat'l Biodiesel Board
3337A Emerald Ln.
P O Box 104898
Jefferson City, MO  65110-4898
(573) 635-3893 phone 
(800) 841-5849
(573) 635-7913 fax
www.biodiesel.org

News Release

Contact: Jennifer Weaver / ASG Renaissance
734-904-3822
Amber Thurlo Pearson / NBB
800-841-5849This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

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Support Energy Independence This Summer

Summer Travelers Can Benefit from Biodiesel

JEFFERSON CITY, MO – As Memorial Day kicks off the summer travel season, many Americans may be choosing to stay closer to home rather than the pain of skyrocketing fuel prices at the pump.  But as bad as fuel prices may be, they could be much worse if not for domestically produced, renewable biofuels such as biodiesel adding to the nation’s fuel supply.  In fact, Merrill Lynch commodity strategist Francisco Blanch says that oil and gasoline prices would be about 15 percent higher now if biofuel producers were not increasing their output.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, some of the major factors contributing to the rising cost of regular petroleum diesel fuel include restricted supplies of crude oil, tight refining capacity and increasing global demand.  National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe says that production of biodiesel is helping to offset some of those factors.

“The petroleum industry is raking in record profits and refusing to use those record profits to expand their investments in new development and refining, whereas the biofuels industry is infusing significant investment in new, renewable refining capacity and new developments in plant science research and developments in non-food feedstocks and helping to reduce America’s reliance on imported petroleum,” Jobe said.

In 2007, U.S. biodiesel production hit the 500 million gallon mark, displacing 20 million barrels of petroleum imports, while also creating nearly 22,000 new jobs nationwide and adding $4.1 billion dollars to the economy.  In addition, biodiesel reduces lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 78%, while producing 3.5 units of energy for every 1 unit of energy it takes to make the fuel.  

Jobe says Americans who do choose to hit the road this holiday season can feel better about spending extra money at the pump when they fill up with renewable fuels like biodiesel.

“If you want to go have fun and enjoy your life and enjoy your family, consider using renewable fuels,” he said.  “Homegrown, American-grown renewable energy is a very good idea and it’s something we need to continue as an energy policy.”

Travelers who would like to know where they can fuel up diesel vehicles nationwide can visit http://www.biodiesel.org/buyingbiodiesel/retailfuelingsites/ .  

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Facts about How Biodiesel Helps

As a drop-in replacement for diesel fuel, biodiesel blends can extend our diesel fuel supply.  If we replaced 5 percent of our on-road petroleum diesel fuel with biodiesel, this would replace about 1.85 billion gallons of diesel fuel a year, or the entire amount of diesel fuel currently refined from crude oil imported from Iraq.  
 
Biodiesel provides additional U.S. refining capacity.  The U.S. biodiesel industry is currently equipped with more than 2 billion gallons of installed production capacity from 171 plants across 40 states.  This wide geographic spread of biodiesel production facilities helps to bolster our national energy security, as well as soften the blow of negative events impacting the existing oil refining industry, such as the Gulf of Mexico hurricanes that caused diesel prices to soar in 2005.

Biodiesel is produced throughout the U.S. and can be used locally, helping to lower transportation costs. With nearly 3,400 biodiesel retailers and distributors located in all 50 states and in close proximity to biodiesel producers, consumers can benefit from lower transportation costs to move the fuel from the producer to the retail pump.

Biodiesel Improves the performance of Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel fuel (ULSD) without the need for costly lubricity additives.  The removal of sulfur from ULSD fuel to meet federal mandates results in much lower lubricity values for the ULSD fuel, potentially causing excess wear and tear on engines.  However, the use of biodiesel even in blends as low as B2 (2% biodiesel blended with 98% petroleum diesel) completely restores that lost lubricity and improves engine life and performance.

The Federal Excise Tax Credit for Biodiesel helps make biodiesel blends more cost competitive.  This tax credit provides a $1 per gallon incentive to biodiesel blenders, helping to bring the cost of biodiesel to consumers more in line with the cost of diesel fuel.

For more information about using biodiesel, including manufacturers’ warranty positions, visit www.biodiesel.org .  Additional information from the Energy Information Administration can be found at (http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp ).  This material sponsored by the USDA Biodiesel Education Program. 

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