The Biodiesel Tax Credit passed and was signed into law on December 18th. 

The bill was for retroactive production of 2015, and forward production of 2016 will be eligible for a $1.00 per gallon subsidy for each gallon of biodiesel produced and sold.  The credit was originally designed to be a producer’s credit for 2016, but was modified to remain as a blender’s credit.   This initially spelled a problem, but at the same time the oil export ban was lifted, meaning that a significant portion of exported diesel fuel may now contain biodiesel.  That could mean an expanding market for US biodiesel.

Coupled with the recent EPA RFS mandates volumes being finalized for previous and upcoming years, this should mean a good year in 2016 for the biodiesel industry.    If the politics further sway towards Republicans in the 2016 election, it would ironically point to better times for the renewable fuel industry.

The biodiesel industry has suffered not from lowering oil prices or increased feedstock  prices.  Well… okay, it has, but not nearly as much as it has suffered at the hands of an indecisive Legislative body that will not consistently pass a biodiesel tax credit subsidy, AND from an ever more indecisive Executive branch that will not implement and enforce RFS policy that has already been established.   Both of these issues are resolved for 2016 finally, so perhaps we can get on with the process of making biodiesel now (and making money).