Biodiesel Fuel
Biodiesel is another clean transportation fuel, and it’s made from fats or vegetable oils. Much of the fuel is produced from soybeans, an important Kansas crop. In 2003, Kansas ranked 11th nationwide in soybean production.
Biodiesel can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a fuel blend for use in diesel engines. Terminology indicates the percentage of biodiesel in the fuel, and it can range from B2—2 percent biodiesel and 98 percent petroleum diesel—to B100. B2 is the most common blend, with more than 25 stations in Kansas offering it.
Biodiesel has the highest energy balance of any fuel. According to a 1998 study by USDA and the U.S. Department of Energy “…Petroleum diesel’s life cycle yields only 0.83 units of fuel energy per unit of fossil energy consumed.” That makes biodiesel’s energy yield 280 percent greater than that of petroleum diesel.
According to the American Soybean Association, if every farmer in the U.S. used B2 biodiesel, the fuel would require 51.1 million bushels of soybeans annually. In 2003, that would have consumed 90 percent of the entire Kansas crop. If every trucker used B2, it would consume 474 million bushels annually. Those numbers mean higher prices to farmers, more production facilities, more jobs in rural areas and cleaner air.
In an innovative project, the Hutchinson Salt Company is using B100 biodiesel to power diesel engines in the salt mines near Hutchinson. Salt mine officials say they have used biodiesel since summer 2003, resulting in notably cleaner air underground.
Governor Sebelius signed legislation passed by the 2006 Kansas Legislature to create a biodiesel producer incentive fund. Senate bill 388 created a production incentive in the amount of $.30 per gallon of biodiesel fuel sold by a Kansas qualified biodiesel fuel producer. The incentive would be similar to the one in place for ethanol and be generated from the Economic Development Incentive Fund (EDIF).
The Kansas Soybean Commission has more information about biodiesel, as does the National Biodiesel Board.