Soy Biodiesel — Horsepower for a Sustainable Future
Soy biodiesel presents a huge, largely untapped new market for soybeans. Biodiesel is a domestically-produced renewable fuel that can be manufactured from virtually any vegetable oil, animal fat or even recycled restaurant grease.
Since American farmers produce billions of bushels of soybeans every year and every bean is about 20 percent oil, soybeans have become a leading renewable source of biodiesel. Today, about 50 percent of all biodiesel in the U.S. is made from soybean oil. Soybean farmers, through their contributions to the soybean checkoff, have contributed to the development of the industry by testing biodiesel to ensure performance and establishing quality standards, which are helping biodiesel gain acceptance by engine and equipment manufacturers.
The potential market for soybeans in biodiesel production is staggering. If every U.S. farmer used a B2 blend of biodiesel — 2 percent soy biodiesel with conventional diesel — or higher, that alone would consume more than 50 million bushels of U.S. soybeans each year. Consider the demand for soybeans if every diesel truck on the highway was burning a soy biodiesel blend.
Biodiesel is the fastest-growing energy source in the United States, according to the United States Energy Information Administration, and is the only alternative fuel to meet all of the testing requirements of the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act.
To learn more about biodiesel, visit the National Biodiesel Board's website.
- Fuel Fact Sheets on Biodiesel
- Frequently Asked Questions About Biodiesel
- Fuel Quality and Performance Guide
Find biodiesel anytime, anywhere in the U.S. with a convenient toll-free number
1-866-BIODIESEL or call the Biodiesel Helpline at 1-800-929-3437 for answers to general diesel or biodiesel questions.