The clean-fuels industry strengthened its foundation in 2025 behind record policy targets, new engine capabilities and proven performance, setting expectations for continued growth in 2026.

“Government agencies, fleets, manufacturers and consumers in 2025 recognized that biodiesel and renewable diesel have stepped forward and taken a leadership position in fueling our nation’s transportation systems,” said Donnell Rehagen, the CEO of Clean Fuels Alliance America. “Clean-fuel use has grown dramatically in recent years, and for the first time, policymakers took full account of that growth.”

RFS sets aggressive targets

Last year, for the first time in the history of the Renewable Fuel Standard, U.S. EPA proposed robust biomass-based diesel volumes that accurately reflected the industry’s potential.

EPA proposed a renewable volume obligation of 5.61 billion gallons for 2026, and a growth path of annual volume increases for 2027 and beyond.

In doing so, EPA acknowledged the industry’s investments in production capacity and domestic-feedstock supplies produced by U.S. farmers.

“Today’s RFS proposal is a welcome and timely signal to U.S. biodiesel, renewable diesel and SAF producers as well as America’s farmers and agricultural businesses,” said Kurt Kovarik, Clean Fuels’ vice president of federal affairs, following the June announcement.

The industry now awaits the long-overdue final rule on these volume targets from EPA.

John Deere announces B30 biodiesel compatibility

Over the past decade, the Clean Fuels technical team has worked closely with John Deere to build confidence in biodiesel performance and quality through the BQ-9000® program.

That collaboration helped lay the groundwork for John Deere’s August announcement approving B30 biodiesel use across its entire portfolio of Tier 4 engines.

This opens opportunities for farmers who provide soybeans and other feedstocks to use even more of the products they support.

BQ-9000

The eighth annual BQ-9000® Biodiesel Quality Report once again demonstrated that accredited producers consistently deliver fuel that exceeds ASTM requirements.

This assurance has helped original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and fleets embrace higher blends, from John Deere’s equipment approvals to PepsiCo’s fleet of more than 700 B100-capable assets.

Clean fuels support US economy

Clean Fuels unveiled a new study in 2025 that updated the impact of biodiesel and renewable diesel production on America’s economy.

According to the report, clean fuels support:

• $42.4 billion in economic activity.

• 107,400 jobs.

• $6 billion paid in annual wages.

Environmental scoring improves

The environmental impact of soy-based biodiesel was shown to be even better than previous reports.

Argonne National Lab in 2025 updated its GREET model for carbon-intensity (CI) scoring with the latest data on soy production, resulting in a 40 percent decrease in soy biodiesel’s CI score over the past five years.

Clean fuels support soybean demand

All of these factors and more in 2025 set the stage for continued growth in clean-fuel production and use and improved stability for soybean markets and U.S. farmers.

Biodiesel and renewable diesel production represent 10 percent of the value of all soybeans grown in the United States, providing an expanding market for half of all the soybean oil processed domestically.

Today, the industry consumes on average more than 1 billion pounds of soybean oil every month.

Looking ahead, Clean Fuels envisions that by 2030, total biodiesel and renewable diesel use across on-road, off-road, air transportation, electricity generation and home-heating applications will exceed 6 billion gallons, using 18 billion pounds of soybean oil.