Iowa Biodiesel Board seeks increased blending obligations

by | Aug 1, 2019 | 5 Ag Stories, News

Iowa?s economy heavily relies on the agriculture industry.

The industry is struggling in the face of unusual challenges.

Dave Walton, of Wilton, Iowa, testified Wednesday ahead of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Walton, director for the Iowa Soybean Association and Iowa Biodiesel Board, spoke to the value of renewable fuels within the agriculture community.

?As many people know, biodiesel is critical for surplus oil in the system. The value-added is about 62-cents a bushel for farmers in Iowa, and that?s real money. The biodiesel industry is viable,” Walton said.

The proposed Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO), under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), for biomass-based diesel (BBD) for 2021 is 2.43 billion gallons. The Iowa Biodiesel Board encourages EPA officials to increase the blending obligation by 500 million gallons to 2.76 billion gallons. The proposed obligation is in line with last years’ volumes.

?Their concern is that it can?t be produced with available feed stocks and the refining capacity is not there, which is simply not true,? Walton said. ?If you look at the soybean carryout, we are just short of 800 million bushels of soybeans. That would equate to almost a billion gallons of biodiesel. The other factor is refining capacity. Iowa is running well below its capacity, and plants have expansion plans in place, if we could get some certainty, which we are not seeing from the EPA right now.?

Walton speaks to the opportunities available through increased volume obligations.

“It would be an additional outlet for soybean oil. Anytime we find new uses or expanded use for products, is a good thing for our economy. As far as dollar and cents, I don?t know what that would be. But as you know, we?re in the middle of a trade war and the demand for our soybeans have decreased, so anytime we can increase demand for soybeans that?s going to help us in the long-run, especially with the domestic based product,” Walton said.