Energy return for biodiesel up sharply on new data

In Missouri, newly published research from the University of Idaho and U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that for every unit of fossil energy needed to produce biodiesel, the return is 5.54 units of renewable energy. This energy-in, energy-out ratio is called “energy balance” or “fossil energy ratio.”

“No other fuel available in the U.S. comes close to such a high energy balance,” said Don Scott, director of sustainability for the National Biodiesel Board. Scott noted the most recent data available for this study was from 2006.  “Using data from 2009 or 2010 would likely show an even greater gain in energy efficiency,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Energy and USDA completed the first comprehensive life™]cycle assessment for biodiesel produced in the U.S. in 1998.  That study found a 3.2 – to – 1 energy balance.  The energy inventory for this analysis was updated in 2009 using 2002 data, finding the ratio had improved to 4.56 – to – 1.