Renewable diesel production in the USA more than doubled between 2021 and 2022 while biodiesel capacity dropped, Biodiesel magazine reported from US Energy Information Agency (EIA) data.
As of 1 January 2022, a total of 11 biorefineries in the USA were producing renewable diesel and associated biofuels – including renewable heating oil, renewable jet fuel, renewable naphtha and renewable gasoline, according to the 25 August report. The facilities had a total capacity of 6.6bn litres/year (1.75bn gallons/year), which represented a significant increase on the previous year’s figure.
In contrast, biodiesel capacity dropped by 582M litres/year (154M gallons/year) in the same period compared to the previous year, according to the EIA data published on 8 August, with 72 plants producing a combined capacity of 8.5bn litres/year (2.255bn gallons/year) as of 1 January.
Most renewable diesel is produced in the Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD) 3, a region located along the Gulf Coast, according to the report. At the beginning of the year, there were two facilities located in PADD 3 with a combined capacity of 4bn litres/year (1.082bn gallons/year), compared to two facilities with a combined capacity of 1.65bn litres/year (437M gallons/year) the previous year.
A total of five facilities, with a combined capacity of 1bn litres/year (265M gallons/year), were located in PADD 5 – which included the West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii – the report said, compared to last year’s one facility, which had a capacity of 158M litres/year (42M gallons/year).
PADD 4, located in the Rocky Mountain region, had two facilities with a combined capacity of 791M litres/year (209M gallons/year), the report said, compared to one facility with 442M litres/year (117M gallons/year) of capacity the previous year. PADD 2, which included the Midwest, had two facilities with a combined capacity of 738M litres/year (195M gallons/year), which was on a par with the previous year.
There are currently no renewable diesel plants in PADD 1, which is located along the East Coast, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the bulk of US biodiesel capacity is located in PADD 2, where 37 biodiesel plants currently had a combined capacity of 5.4bn litres/year (1.444bn gallons/year), according to the report. Although the number of plants remained steady compared to the previous year, capacity fell by 147M litres/year (39M gallons/year).
PADD 3 has 12 biodiesel plants with a combined capacity of 1.7bn litres/year (455M gallons/year), compared to 15 plants with a combined capacity of 2.19bn litres/year (580M gallons/year) the previous year.
Although PADD 5 lost one biodiesel plant in the period, total capacity increased, the report said. The district currently has nine facilities with a combined 753M litres/year (199M gallons/year) of capacity, compared to 10 facilities with 734M litres/year (194M gallons/year) of capacity last year.
The number of biodiesel plants in PADD 1 increased by one to 14 and capacity also rose to 594M litres/year (157M gallons/year), compared to 575M litres/year (152M gallons/year) in 2021.
There are currently no biodiesel plants in PADD 4, according to the report.
