Highlights

Production - U.S. production of biodiesel was 116 million gallons in March 2017. Biodiesel production during March 2017 was 22 million gallons higher than production in February 2017. Biodiesel production from the Midwest region (Petroleum Administration for Defense District 2) accounted for 66 percent of the United States total. Production came from 97 biodiesel plants with capacity of 2.3 billion gallons per year.

Sales - Producer sales of biodiesel during March 2017 included 51 million gallons sold as B100 (100% biodiesel) and an additional 61 million gallons of B100 sold in biodiesel blends with diesel fuel derived from petroleum.

Feedstocks - There were a total of 857 million pounds of feedstocks used to produce biodiesel in March 2017. Soybean oil remained the largest biodiesel feedstock during March 2017 with 369 million pounds consumed.

Background

The Monthly Biodiesel Production Report provides data on operations of the U.S. biodiesel industry as part of EIA's response to section 1508 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which directed EIA to publish information on renewable fuels including biodiesel. Data are provided for the U.S. and in selected cases by state and region.

The source of data is Form EIA-22M Monthly Biodiesel Production Survey, used to collect the following information from registered producers of biodiesel.

• plant location, operating status, and annual production capacity
• production of 100% biodiesel (B100)
• biodiesel coproduct production
• stocks
• feedstock, alcohol input, and catalysts used in biodiesel production
• sales of B100 and blended biodiesel from producing plants
• sales of biodiesel to end-users

Form EIA-22M provides data necessary to monitor growth of the biodiesel industry in order to allow Congress to assess whether objectives of Section 503 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and Section 1508 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 are being achieved.