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Slower growth in U.S. biofuel production capacity in 2024  

2025-11-10View Original

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 Recently, the latest biofuel capacity report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that the pace of expansion in U.S. biofuel production capacity slowed down in 2024, with capacity increasing by only 3% from the beginning of 2024 to the beginning of 2025. The main reason for the slowdown in growth is the significant decline in capacity expansion in the \"renewable diesel and other biofuels\" category; sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable naphtha, and renewable propane account for almost all of the other biofuels.   In 2024, the annual production capacity of renewable diesel and other biofuels in the United States increased by only 391 million gallons, which is less than one-third of the increases seen in 2022 and 2023. Only two new production capacities were put into operation during the year, both located in California: Phillips 66 converted its Rodio refinery entirely to biofuel production, and Renewable Fuels LLC built a new facility in Bakersfield. After the renovation of the Rodeo plant, its annual production capacity increased from 180 million gallons as reported last year to 767 million gallons, making it the second-largest renewable diesel plant in the United States, second only to Diamond Green Diesel’s plant in Natchitoches, Louisiana, which has an annual capacity of 982 million gallons.   However, the expansion of Rodio’s production capacity and the increase in capacity at Bakersfield’s plant with a capacity of 138 million gallons per year were partially offset by the closure of capacities at four plants: Monroe Energy stopped processing renewable diesel at its refinery in Trainer, Pennsylvania; Chevron stopped doing so at its refinery in El Segundo, California; and Vertex Energy and Jaxon Energy closed their plants in Mobile, Alabama, and Jackson, Mississippi, respectively. The shutdown of renewable diesel production capacity at 4 plants reflects the changes in profits from biofuels and oil refining since 2020. Between 2020 and 2021, low refining profits and high credit values for biofuels drove a wave of plans to expand renewable diesel production capacity. However, as more projects came online and biofuel production exceeded target levels, the credit value and profit margins of biofuels declined in 2023. At the same time, oil refining profit margins are much higher than their lows in 2020, leading to a slowdown in investment in renewable diesel production capacity in the coming years.   A notable change in biofuels in 2024 is the increased focus on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). SAF is an alternative to petroleum aviation fuel and is classified under “other biofuels”. Other biofuels are usually produced as by-products of renewable diesel or directly replace renewable diesel in the SAF context. Upon completion of the upgrades in 2024: The Phillips 66 Rodio plant will be able to convert approximately 150 million gallons per year of its renewable diesel production capacity to SAF, while the Diamond Green Diesel plant will be able to convert about 235 million gallons per year of its production capacity to SAF.   Apart from renewable diesel, biodiesel production capacity also declined slightly in 2024 due to low profits; the closure of 8 plants resulted in a loss of approximately 100 million gallons per year in production capacity. Meanwhile, the production capacity for fuel ethanol has increased despite the overall trend, accounting for 73% of the total biofuel production capacity in the United States, with production mainly concentrated in the Midwestern regions of the country where corn is abundant. As domestic ethanol consumption has stabilized, new production capacity is primarily used to increase exports.

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