May 4, 2009 Commercial Biodiesel Production Falls to 2006 Levels National Biodiesel Industry Urges Timely Implementation of Renewable Fuels Standard JEFFERSON CITY, MO. – Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, issued the following statement after a review of recent and projected U.S. biodiesel volumes for 2009: “America is at risk of going backwards in energy security. A review of the March biodiesel production numbers shows commercial biodiesel production fell to 30 million gallons. If this continues, it will reduce industry production to half of the 700 million gallons produced in 2008.
Two-thirds of U.S. biodiesel production capacity now sits unused, reports the National Biodiesel Board. Biodiesel, a crucial part of government efforts to develop alternative fuels for trucks and factories, has been hit hard by the recession and falling oil prices.
Imperium Renewables, a biodiesel maker in Washington, is trying to hang on as a storage depot, its founder says. Evolution Fuels, an outfit that used to sell a biodiesel brand licensed by country singer Willie Nelson, has stopped production and said in a securities filing it may not be able to continue as a going concern. The company didn't return calls for comment.
Earlier this year, GreenHunter Energy Inc., operator of the nation's largest biodiesel refinery, stopped production and in June said it may have to sell its Houston plant, only a year after politicians presided over its opening. Dozens of other new biodiesel plants, which make a diesel substitute from vegetable oils and animal fats, have stopped operating because biodiesel production is no longer economical.
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