Biodiesel Production Hit 1 Billion Gallons in 2011

The U.S. biodiesel industry produced more than 1 billion gallons of fuel in 2011, the National Biodiesel Board said.

The record volume of nearly 1.1 billion exceeded the 800 million gallons required by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard, NBB said Friday.

The trade association said the biodiesel milestone was reached after Congress reinstated a $1-per-gallon tax credit for the fuel in December 2010 and as the EPA’s RFS program for biodiesel completed its first full year. Production had dropped dramatically in 2010 without those policies in place, NBB said.

The tax incentive expired again on Dec. 31 and the biodiesel industry is urging Congress to reinstate it, the association said. The industry is also calling for the EPA to boost its RFS biodiesel volume requirement to 1.28 billion gallons in 2013, NBB said.