2014 Iowa biodiesel production down amidst policy uncertainty

In Iowa, 2014 biodiesel production went down from 2013 numbers, coming in at 227 million gallons, 3 million gallons down from the 2013 record of 230 million gallons.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association attributed the drop to policy instability as Congress allowed the federal biodiesel blenders tax credit to expire, renewing it only in mid-December, too late to spur meaningful demand.  They also noted that the EPA went through the entire year without setting a biodiesel number for the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).  IRFA claims that the one-two punch led to a nationwide biodiesel production reduction.  Due to Iowa’s state-level biodiesel production tax credit, producers in Iowa were able to essentially maintain production in the face of the federal uncertainty.

Despite the slight decrease in biodiesel production, ethanol production for 2014 improved upon 2013 numbers, coming in at 3.9 billion gallons, up from 3.7 billion gallons in 2013.
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