A look back and ahead for biodiesel, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuels

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A look back and ahead for biodiesel, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuels

The trade organization representing biodiesel and now renewable diesel and sustainable aviation is celebrating 30 years.

Clean Fuels Alliance America, formerly National Biodiesel Board, is celebrating milestones from the past three decades and looking ahead to the future.

The organization, originally known as the National SoyDiesel Development Board, started representing biodiesel in 1992 and has expanded to include renewable diesel and now sustainable aviation fuels. The industry has grown from 500,000 gallons in 1999 and 500 million gallons in 2007 to over three billion in 2022.

Doug Whitehead is the chief operating officer with Clean Fuels Alliance America.

“The future is trending up and the future is bright for all our products and all our markets,” he says.

Clean Fuels Governing Board Member Mike Devine with World Energy says he expects corporations to turn to biofuels to reach emission reduction goals in the next 10 years.

“Our business, our fuels, and the agriculture community collectively are going to be essential to getting there,” he says. “So, if it’s reducing carbon intensity, greenhouse gas emissions, and local particulate emissions, biodiesel, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuels have to be part of the mix in meeting and achieving these goals.”

John Jansen, vice president of strategic partnerships with the United Soybean Board, says soybean growers will continue to meet demand for biodiesel and renewable diesel feedstocks.

“The existing United Soybean Board feels that soy will be there, and they intend for soy to be there as the dominant feedstock in renewables going forward,” he says.

Whitehead, Devine, and Jansen spoke during the final session of the 2022 National Biodiesel and Expo.

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