Renewable fuel offers significant benefits

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LINCOLN, NE‹Even though the nation¹s cars don¹t run on diesel fuel, every American consumer is saving money as soy biodiesel adds to the fuel supply for the trucking industry. As gasoline for the nation¹s consumer vehicles heads north of four dollars a gallon, the nation¹s trucking industry faces five-dollar-plus diesel fuel‹adding further pain for consumers as prices for transporting goods and services rise as well. Believe it or not, it could be worse. Without biofuels such as soy biodiesel, fuel prices would be about 15% higher, according to Merrill Lynch commodity strategist Francisco Blanch. An estimated 450 million gallons of biodiesel were produced in the U.S. in 2007, up from about a half million gallons in 1999‹adding to the nation¹s total fuel supply and putting downward pressure on diesel fuel prices. Demand for biodiesel is expected to increase to nearly 650 million gallons by 2015. ³America¹s soybean farmers are helping our nation¹s trucking industry and our entire economy by providing a domestic and renewable source of diesel fuel that reduces America¹s dependence on expensive imported oil,² said Debbie Borg, an Allen, Nebraska producer and president of the Nebraska Soybean Association. ³The trucking industry is pivotal to our nation¹s distribution system and soy biodiesel is helping lower costs for both truckers and consumers.² Transportation, both on- and off-highway, accounts for about 70 percent of total U.S. diesel fuel use. Virtually every consumer and industrial product‹from food to clothing to manufacturing equipment‹travels by truck at some point. When diesel prices rise, that cost is eventually passed along to the end user. While the rise in demand and cost for grains for biofuel production has been blamed for rising food prices, Borg noted that recent studies have shown that energy costs have three times the effect on food prices as do the price of commodities. ³Energy costs affect food production and distribution at every step, from the diesel fuel we soybean farmers use in our tractors and combines to the cost to truck soybeans from the farm to the crushing plant‹to shipping food products from the food processor to the grocery store,² she added. Some have criticized the use of grain commodities in biofuels production, saying that food production should be the priority. ³The fact is we¹re not taking food out of people¹s mouths to feed the soy biodiesel industry,² Borg added. ³In 2007, only 12 percent of the U.S. soybean production and four percent of global soybean production was used by the U.S. biodiesel industry to produce fuel‹and exports of soy products were at record levels.² According to the National Biodiesel Board, biodiesel has substantial carbon benefits and the best ratio of energy input to energy output of any liquid fuel. ³In 2007 alone, biodiesel¹s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions was equivalent to removing 700,000 passenger vehicles from the nation¹s highways,² Borg added. ³Clearly, biodiesel is one of the most environmentally friendly fuels available.² While corn-based ethanol tends to be more visible due to its presence in the consumer fuel market, Borg says that soy biodiesel is also a critical component in America¹s long-term energy security strategy. ³From trucking to construction equipment, the hard work of America is done by diesel engines‹and we need to continue building a domestic fuel supply for this sector due to its profound influence on our economy and our quality of life,² Borg said.