The Renewable Fuel Standard mandates that a specific volume of certain biofuels be used each year in transportation fuel. One category of biofuels in the mandate is biomass-based diesel. For many years, biodiesel filled that part of the mandate. Biodiesel production grew steadily in the early 2000s to hit a peak of 1.8 billion gallons during the 2018-2019 marketing year. Renewable diesel has displaced biodiesel’s share of the market. Production of renewable diesel has grown from 40 million gallons in the 2010-2011 marketing year to 2.3 billion gallons in 2022-2023, surpassing biodiesel production for the first time. Combined, biodiesel and renewable diesel pushed total biomass-based diesel production to an all-time high in 2022-2023. As that part of the biofuels sector has mostly expanded since 2001-2002, an increasing share of soybean oil produced in the U.S. is now used for the biofuel, going from one percent in 2001-2002 to 46 percent in 2022-2023.
Renewable diesel production surpasses biodiesel
