COMMENTARY
Biodiesel has important role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Editor’s note: This commentary was written
by Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel
Board (NBB), based in Jefferson City, Mo.
NBB is the national trade association of the
biodiesel industry and coordinates biodiesel
research and development.
Despite the recent frenzy of attacks
on biofuels, the U.S. biodiesel industry
strongly believes that cooler heads will
ultimately prevail and that the benefits
of expanded production and use of U.S.
biodiesel will be widely accepted.
Biofuels have been unfairly blamed
for everything from higher food prices
to rainforest deforestation. These claims
are largely based on faulty science,
ignoring the large body of credible
scientific evidence that shows biodiesel
is a bright spot in our fuel supply —
socially, environmentally and
economically.
U.S. biodiesel production is not a
significant factor in rising food prices.
The “perfect storm” of rising energy
costs, increased global commodity
demand and the weak dollar are the
main causes. In fact, in 2007, only 12
percent of U.S. soybean production and
4 percent of global soybean production
were used by the U.S. biodiesel industry
to produce fuel.
Of the soybeans used to produce
biodiesel, 81 percent of the yield is
protein that enters the market for either
human consumption or animal feed.
Because of the potential for biodiesel to
create new markets for soybeans, U.S.
soybean farmers — through the
Soybean Checkoff program — have
invested millions of dollars to research
and test biodiesel.
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 only 1 percent of that area is
used for biofuels, which includes
ethanol. Furthermore, according to U.S.
Census data, the United States currently
has the equivalent of more than 400
million gallons of soybean oil sitting in
inventory.
During a news conference on April
29, President Bush countered questions
about the impact of biofuels on food
prices. He said the vast majority of the
changes in world food prices are caused
“by weather, increased demand and
energy prices” — not by biofuels.
In addition, the overwhelming body
of data demonstrates the environmental
benefits of biodiesel. Consider these facts:
- For every unit of energy it takes to
make domestic biodiesel, 3.5 units are
gained.
- For every unit of energy it takes to
make domestic biodiesel, 3.5 units are
gained.
- Biodiesel reduces “lifecycle” carbon
dioxide emissions by 78 percent.
- In 2007 alone, biodiesel’s contribution
to reducing greenhouse gas emissions
was the equivalent of removing
700,000 passenger vehicles from
America’s roadways, and decreasing
CO2 by 8.06 billion pounds.
Earlier this year, the National
Biodiesel Board established a
Sustainability Task Force, charged with
overseeing the development and
implementation of a comprehensive
sustainability road map for the biodiesel
industry.
As the demand for biodiesel
continues to grow, the U.S. biodiesel
industry is also working to advance
feedstock development from non-food
sources and to further improve the
environmental “footprint” of existing
oilseed crops as agriculture technology
continues to develop. Other sources of
biodiesel feedstock — such as restaurant
grease, animal fat, corn oil derived from
ethanol production, camelina and algae
— have great potential to expand and
diversify available material for biodiesel
in a sustainable manner.
The U.S. biodiesel industry strongly
opposes rainforest destruction and nonsustainable
agricultural practices
worldwide.
President Bush further highlighted
America’s need for biofuels from an
energy security standpoint, saying, “It’s
in our national interests that our farmers
grow energy, as opposed to us
purchasing energy from parts of the
world that are unstable or may not like
us.”
The U.S. biodiesel industry is
helping to increase the nation’s refining
capacity by building plants that produce
an American-made, cleaner burning
fuel. The 500 million gallons of
biodiesel produced in the United States
in 2007 displaced 20 million barrels of
petroleum. Merrill Lynch commodity
strategist Francisco Blanch has said that
oil and gasoline prices would be about
15 percent higher if biofuel producers
were not increasing their output.
The Energy Independence and
Security Act of 2007 (EISA), enacted in
December 2007, updates the volume of
renewable fuels required in 2008 and
creates a new 36-billion-gallon program
beginning in 2009 and continuing
through 2022. For the first time, the
program provides a specific renewable
requirement for diesel fuel that
establishes a 500-million-gallon
standard for biomass-based diesel, which
includes biodiesel, starting in 2009 and
increasing to 1 billion gallons in 2012.
The U.S. biodiesel industry fully
expects to meet the 50-percent
greenhouse gas reduction requirement
for biomass-based diesel under the
federal Renewable Fuels Standard.
During the Washington International
Renewable Energy Conference 2008 in
March, the President called biodiesel
the “most promising” renewable fuel for
helping to meet these new standards.
The facts are clear. Biodiesel
significantly reduces carbon emissions,
creates good-paying, “green” jobs and
reduces our nation’s dependence on
foreign oil. The biodiesel industry looks
forward to constructively working with
policymakers, biodiesel stakeholders,
environmental organizations and the
public to meet our shared goal of
addressing climate change and energy
security.
