The United States saw a slight increase in operable biofuel production capacity in March, according to a report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on May 30. While more feedstock was used compared to February, overall usage was slightly lower than in March 2024, reports Biomass Magazine.
The total production capacity reached 25 billion gallons in March, an increase of 10 million gallons per year (MMgy) from February, and up by 1.274 billion gallons compared to the same time last year.
Ethanol production capacity rose to 18.436 billion gallons in March, up by 10 MMgy from February and 551 MMgy from March 2024. Biodiesel capacity remained steady at 1.984 billion gallons, unchanged from both the previous month and the same month last year.
Capacity for renewable diesel and other related fuels — including renewable jet fuel, gasoline, and heating oil — held steady at 4.58 billion gallons, a level unchanged since September 2024. However, it was up by 723 MMgy compared to March last year.
Feedstock usage climbed to 28.513 billion pounds in March, up from 26.079 billion pounds in February, though slightly lower than the 29.51 billion pounds consumed in March 2024.
Corn remained the most-used feedstock, with 25.362 billion pounds consumed, up from 23.617 billion pounds in February but down from 26.436 billion pounds in the same month last year. Grain sorghum usage rose to 447 million pounds, significantly higher than both February’s 371 million pounds and March 2024’s 91 million pounds.
Soybean oil consumption rebounded to 832 million pounds, with biodiesel plants using 502 million pounds and renewable diesel facilities using 331 million pounds. This marked an increase from February’s total of 576 million pounds, but a decrease from the 1.026 billion pounds used in March 2024.
Corn oil usage increased to 385 million pounds, compared to 290 million pounds in February and 322 million pounds last year. Canola oil use rose sharply to 234 million pounds from 92 million pounds in February, but was still down from 326 million pounds in March 2024. The EIA did not disclose details on where corn and canola oil were used, to protect company privacy.
Other fats and oils used included 704 million pounds of tallow, 487 million pounds of yellow grease, and 51 million pounds of white grease. All three showed increases from February, though yellow grease and white grease usage were down from March 2024.
Only 10 million pounds of other waste oils, fats, and greases were used in March, a drop from 20 million pounds a year earlier. The EIA did not release data for February for this category.
To prevent revealing information about specific producers, the EIA withheld data for several other feedstocks, including poultry fat, other vegetable oils, recycled materials, agricultural residues, and forestry byproducts.
