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RFS Shortfall is Doubtful

There is skepticism that there might be a shortage of renewable fuel available to meet the 2009 RFS requirement. In response, the National Biodiesel Board says it is confident the U.S. biodiesel industry is fully capable of meeting any RFS shortfalls that are not filled by the domestic ethanol industry. For 2009, 10.5 billion gallons of renewable fuel must be entered into commerce.

According to Manning Feraci, NBB's Vice President of Federal Affairs, in 2008 alone, the U.S. biodiesel industry produced nearly 700 million gallons of biodiesel, which equates to 1.05 billion ethanol equivalent gallons for purposes of the RFS.

Currently, there are 176 plants in operation with the capacity to produce more than 2.61 billion gallons of biodiesel. This capacity has added jobs and $4.287 billion to the Gross Domestic Product; displaced 38.1 million barrels of petroleum; generated $866.2 million in tax revenue for federal, state and local governments; and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 11.28 tons, the equivalent of removing 980,000 vehicles from U.S. roads.