EIA: US capacity to produce biofuels increased 7% in 2023

Other biofuels include renewable heating oil, renewable jet fuel (also known as sustainable aviation fuel [SAF]), and renewable naphtha and gasoline.

Given continued state and federal tax incentives, regulatory policies, plant expansions, and projected new plant construction, the EIA expects US biofuels production capacity to continue increasing.

Capacity at US producers of renewable diesel and other biofuels totalled 4.3 billion gal/yr in January 2024, 1.3 billion gal. more per year than in 2023. Fuel ethanol — primarily produced from corn kernel starch and blended with gasoline — accounts for most of US biofuels production capacity. US fuel ethanol production capacity increased about 2% between January 2023 and January 2024, reaching 18. billion gal./yr U.S. biodiesel production capacity stayed essentially flat, totalling 2.1 billion gal./yr in January 2024.

Most US biofuels production capacity is located in Iowa, with more than 5.4 billion gal./yr Fourteen states located largely in the Midwest, the Gulf Coast, and the West Coast regions account for 90% of US biofuels production capacity.

In January 2024, biofuels producers in 22 states reported adding renewable diesel and other biofuels capacity, compared with 17 states in 2023. New plants started producing renewable diesel and other biofuels in Alabama, California, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

Louisiana in the Gulf Coast region and California in the West Coast region each have more than 1 billion gal. of renewable diesel and other biofuels production capacity. These two regions represent more than 80% of US renewable diesel and other biofuels production capacity.

Biodiesel capacity increased by 3.8 million gal./yr between January 2023 and January 2024. Even though there were new reporting plants, located in Florida and Kentucky, there were also plant closures in Georgia, Iowa, Oregon, and South Carolina.

Fuel ethanol production capacity increased by 2% in the US between January 2023 and January 2024. The Midwestern states of Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Indiana each have more than 1.4 billion gal. of fuel ethanol production capacity. This Midwest region has considerable corn production, which is the primary feedstock for fuel ethanol production.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/clean-fuels/17102024/eia-us-capacity-to-produce-biofuels-increased-7-in-2023/