EIA improves data, providing more detail on renewable diesel, biodiesel

In October, the U.S. Energy Information Administration began publishing expanded data on biofuels other than ethanol in its Monthly Energy Review, including production, imports, feedstocks, and consumption. The expanded biofuels data provide a more detailed look at fuels previously grouped under “renewable fuels except ethanol,” which is now split into “biodiesel,” “renewable diesel” and “other biofuels.”

EIA collects data on biofuels in its recently expanded Monthly Report of Biofuels, Fuels from Non-Biogenic Wastes, Fuel Oxygenates, Isooctane, and Isooctene survey. Some of the Monthly Energy Review biofuels data for years dating before 2021, when the expanded survey went into effect, come from other EIA surveys as well as the U.S. EPA. The biofuel imports data for all years come from EIA’s Monthly Imports Report survey.

In addition to providing more detailed data from its expanded biofuels survey, the new Monthly Energy Review biofuels tables highlight statistics important to emerging energy market trends:

• In July, 37 million barrels (1.55 billion gallons) of biofuels were produced in the United States, the most since the beginning of 2020

• Renewable diesel production reached a record-high 1.7 million barrels (71.4 million gallons) in July 2021

• Fuel ethanol accounted for 86 percent of total U.S. biofuels production in July, biodiesel for 9 percent, renewable diesel fuel for 5 percent, and other biofuels for less than 1 percent

• In the first half of 2021, the most renewable diesel fuel on record was produced in the U.S. at 7.8 million barrels (327.6 million gallons)

The Monthly Energy Review’s Biodiesel Overview table contains biodiesel data. The expanded biofuels data allow data users to track the growth in renewable diesel. Data on renewable diesel are available in the Monthly Energy Review’s Renewable Diesel Fuel Overview. The Other Biofuels Overview table contains data on other biofuels, which include renewable jet fuel, renewable heating oil, renewable naphtha and gasoline, biobutanol, and other biofuels and biointermediates.