Biodiesel's Environmental Benefits Highlighted on Earth Day

Jefferson City, Mo.– As the nation prepares to celebrate Earth Day, and many individuals and organizations renew their commitment to environmental protection, biodiesel fuel is increasingly being recognized as a rising tide that lifts many ships. Not only does biodiesel reduce emissions, it adds green jobs to the economy, reduces dependence on foreign oil and increases feed and food supplies, while lowering their costs.

"Some have inaccurately portrayed the environmental impact of biodiesel," said Emily Bockian Landsburg of Philadelphia Fry-O-Diesel and Chair of the National Biodiesel Board's Sustainability Task Force. "The facts are clear. An overwhelming body of data demonstrates that biodiesel has substantial carbon benefits and the best ratio of energy input to energy output of any liquid fuel. Biodiesel is already one of the most environmentally friendly fuels available, and as an industry we’re going even further, continually increasing those environmental benefits."

Biodiesel also has a 78 percent life cycle carbon dioxide reduction, according to the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy. This takes into account everything from planting the soybeans – for soy-based biodiesel - to delivering biodiesel to the pump. The use of biodiesel also substantially reduces unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. In 2007 alone, biodiesel's contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions was the equivalent of removing 700,000 passenger vehicles from America's roadways.

Landsburg explained that the U.S. biodiesel industry is also working to advance feedstock development from non-food sources, and further improve the environmental footprint of existing oilseed crops as agriculture technology continues to develop. Biodiesel can be made from any vegetable oil or waste animal fat. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has calculated that of the land that could be used for agriculture today, only 3.7 billion acres of the 10.4 billion acres are used, and of that, only 1 % of that area is used for biofuels, which includes ethanol.

In addition to its environmental benefits, the 500 million gallons of biodiesel produced in 2007 offset nearly 12 million barrels of oil. And, some are crediting biodiesel with helping to prevent further increases in oil prices. Recently, a Merrill Lynch commodity strategist, Francisco Blanch, said that oil and gasoline prices would be about 15 percent higher if biofuel producers were not increasing their output.

Finally, increased demand for soybean oil leads to lower cost protein meal (80 percent of the bean), which is used to feed livestock and humans. According to the University of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI), rising use of soybean oil to produce biodiesel has strengthened soybean oil prices while weakening protein meal prices. The FAPRI baseline projects U.S. consumption of soybean meal and exports to increase, with the price of the meal dropping more than $80/ton. The U.S. continues to be the largest exporter of soybeans.

Based in Jefferson City, the NBB is the national trade association of the biodiesel industry and is the coordinating body for biodiesel research and development in the U.S. Its membership is comprised of biodiesel producers, state, national, and international feedstock and feedstock processor organizations, fuel marketers and distributors, and technology providers.

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