National Biodiesel Board 605 Clark Avenue P O Box 104898 Jefferson City, MO 65110-4898 (573) 635-3893 phone (800) 841-5849 (573) 635-7913 fax www.biodiesel.org


### Comprehensive Survey on Energy Use for Biodiesel Production

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) has conducted the most comprehensive survey of the actual energy used by commercial biodiesel production plants in the world and is releasing th e data for public use. These numbers represent the most accurate depiction of the energy used to produce biodiesel. This data should replace all existing data in lifecycle energy and greenhouse gas models for better simulating the lifecycle analysis of biodiesel, including those used by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board for the recently rel eased rulemakings. These numbers represent total energy used at biodiesel production plants. No subtr action from total energy use has been made for coproduct generation, such as glycerin.

The average energy used to produce a gallon of bi odiesel from virgin vegetabl e oils is 3,184 BTUs. Energy use among plants that use blends of virgin oi l and recycled or reclaimed fats and oils varies, as does the composition of these feedstocks. Taking into account all of these variations, the overall industry average for all feedstocks and all production t echnologies is 4,192 BTUs per gallon of biodiesel.

Virgin Oils Industry Average (Soy & Canola) (including all feedstocks) Inputs per gal biodiesel Units Electricity 0.12 0.19 KWh (3,413 BTU/KWh)
Natural Gas 2.69 3.45 SCF (1,027 BTU/SCF)
total energy 3,184 4,192 BTU/gal

The NBB is the trade association for the US biodiesel i ndustry. Responding to requests for this data from academic institutions and government agencies, su ch as the US Department of Agriculture, NBB developed a survey that was sent to NBB’s en tire membership, including 230 biodiesel producing companies. To design a survey inst rument capable of accurately capturing the most relevant data, NBB sought input from organizations such as Argonne National Laboratories, developer of the GREET lifecycle analysis model.

The survey form used to collect this data is provi ded at the end of this document. Survey data was returned to NBB on the attached form via email. Each survey was reviewed by NBB’s Professional Engineer. When necessary, clarifying questions were asked of the producers via phone or email to verify that all the data was reported consistently, and that the data accurately represent the actual energy used to produce the reported volume for each plant.

The data reported here were weighted against actual 2008 production volumes. Maximum plant capacity remains larger than current production rates. When weighted against plant capacity rather than actual production, the weighted averages were not statistica lly different. Weighting by actual plant production provides the most accurate representation of real-wor ld production and provides a realistic estimate of energy use that can be expected as existing plants increase production volume. New plants and new technology implemented at existing plants can be expect ed to improve energy efficiency, just as has been demonstrated in recent years. No estimates for future energy improvements are included in this analysis.

2008 was a record year for the volume of biodiesel production in the US, reaching nearly 700 million gallons. The survey data returned by US producers represents 37% of that record volume. This is thefirst survey of actual data ever representing such a substantial volume of biodiesel production. This data represent an excellent cross section of biodiesel plant size, biodiesel production technologies, and biodiesel feedstocks. Equal portions of the survey pool use multi-feedstocks as the number of plants dedicated to virgin oil or recycled oil and animal fat.

Data was analyzed within the general categories repor ted here to determine whet her correlations could be made between individual feedstock types and energy use. Very little variation was found between plants that used virgin oils. Canola and soybean oil require d similar energy inputs. Only slight differences in overall averages were noted between crude, degummed, or refined vegetable oils. More variation was noted among producers using animal fats and recycled oils.

Most biodiesel producers use a combination of electri city and natural gas. Some small producers use only electricity, and several producers reported using altern ative sources of energy such as used motor oil or biodiesel. When converted to common units of en ergy, such a British Thermal Units (BTU), these producers using alternate sources consumed similar amounts of total energy as the industry average. Electricity use for blended feedstocks reached as high as 0.9 kilowatt-hours per gallon of biodiesel for a single producer. Natural gas usage for recycled oil re ached as high as 12 standard cubic feet per gallon of biodiesel for a single producer. These extreme examples represent the maximum energy use reported in the survey, and do not represent typical production.

One obstacle to acquiring this type of process-specifi c data is the reluctance of private companies to reveal trade secrets in a highly co mpetitive market. Previous estimates of the energy used during biodiesel production had to rely on process modeling and data from a very small number of plants using older technology. The results reported from this survey include no modeling. The results provided here represent actual energy consumption measured at operating biodiesel facilities.

In addition to raw energy consumption data, NBB requested information on the quantity of material inputs and outputs, so that data would be availa ble for complete lifecycle analysis. The table below summarizes the industry averages per gallon of biodiesel.

Virgin Oils Industry Average Inputs per gal biodiesel (Soy & Canola) (including all feedstocks)
Units
Feedstock 7.3285 7.7834 Lbs
Methanol 0.6735 0.7208 Lbs Sodium Methylate 0.1712 0.1832 Lbs Sodium Hydroxide 0.0072 0.0073 Lbs Potassium Hydroxide 0.0000 0.0005 Lbs Hydrochloric Acid 0.3214 0.2088 Lbs
Sulfuric Acid 0.0000 0.0010 Lbs Phosphoric Acid 0.0047 0.0025 Lbs
Citric Acid 0.0054 0.0027 Lbs
Outputs Glycerin 0.8881 0.9075 Lbs Fatty Acids 0.0153 0.0340 Lbs

June 20, 2009 

## Sample Survey Sent to NBB MembersA life cycle assessment addresses the environm ental aspects and potential environmental impacts throughout a product’s life cycle from raw material acquisition through production, use, end-of-life-treatment, recycling and disposal. A life cycle assessment is also often referred to as a cradle-to-grave analysis. It is a process by which the greenhouse gas potential, emissions and energy consumption of product inputs and production processes are weighed against the greenhouse gas, emissions and energy consumption benefits of the finished products.



## Life Cycle Stages



## Raw Materials Acquisition

Manufacturing, Processing, and Formulation

Distribution and Transportation

Use/Re-use/Maintenance

Recycle

Waste Management Energy
Raw Materials Water Effluents

Airborne Emissions

Solid Wastes

Other Environmental Release Other Systems

Product Flow

Other Systems Product Flow

System Boundaries Raw Materials Acquisition

Manufacturing, Processing, and Formulation

Distribution and Transportation

Use/Re-use/Maintenance

Recycle

Waste Management Energy
Raw Materials Water Effluents

Airborne Emissions

Solid Wastes

Other Environmental Release Other Systems

Product Flow

Other Systems Product Flow

System BoundariesNotes Total Production Quantity Gallons/Year

Feedstock



### Inputs Quantity Used/Gallon of Biodiesel Units Feedstock Pounds

Methanol Pounds Ethanol Pounds Sodium Methylate Pounds Other: Pounds Other: Pounds

Sodium Hydroxide Pounds

Potassium Hydroxide Pounds Other: Pounds Other: Pounds Hydrochloric Acid Pounds Sulfuric Acid Pounds Phosphoric Acid Pounds Citric Acid Pounds Other: Pounds Other: Pounds Purchased Energy

Electricity Kwh Coal Pounds Natural gas SCF Diesel Gallons Fuel Oil Gallons Other: Other:

Water Usage Gallons


### Other Outputs

Glycerin Quantity Produced/Gallon of Biodiesel Units Fatty Acids Pounds Other: Pounds Other:

Waste water discharge Gallons