There’s a race to cut carbon emissions and thanks to checkoff investments in biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, the biofuels industry is accelerating at a rapid pace. And while Minnesota has always been a leader in that race, other states like California are putting their foot down and attempting to take charge.
Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) farmer leaders had the opportunity to see how their investments into biofuels are paying off while learning from other states during a Jan. 20-23 visit to the Clean Fuels Conference in San Diego as part of the See for Yourself (SFY) program.
“This is our 17th year of our See for Yourself group where we bring fuel distributors, mechanics and others in the fuel industry, along with our farmer leaders and give them access to the latest technology and what’s happening in the biofuels industry, whether that’s biodiesel, renewable diesel or sustainable aviation fuel,” said MSR&PC Senior Director of Product and Commercialization Mike Youngerberg.
The timing of the conference, which was hosted by Clean Fuels Alliance America (Clean Fuels) was impeccable. From a timing perspective, the IRS and outgoing Biden administration recently released their guidance on 45Z, a tax credit for domestic production of clean transportation fuels, just a few days prior to the conference. However, with the Trump administration’s arrival, there’s still a lot of uncertainty on the industry.
“We attended a lot of sessions and meetings down here and everyone has their own opinion, and so far we still don’t know anything on what’s going to happen with (biofuels),” said MSR&PC District 1, 2, & 3 Director Bill Zurn. “We as farmers and the industry, the guys who produce the biodiesel and renewable diesel, would like to find out how to move forward and make their operations compliant.”
The location of the conference, California, was also unique in that they in recent years have become the nation’s leader in consumption of biodiesel and renewable diesel in an effort to reduce their carbon emissions. Not only are they leading the way, but they are also setting the tone and example for surrounding states with similar goals.
“Renewable fuels, particularly renewable diesel, makes up 75% of all the liquid diesel fuel burned in the state of California, which is fantastic, but I think there are challenges with how California looks at the feedstocks coming in to make renewable fuels,” said Youngerberg. “They also have a big influence on other states like Washington, Oregon and New Mexico and those markets are driving a lot of the consumption nationwide.”
The demand for renewable fuels is now at an all-time high as interest continues to grow from the shipping industry, whether that be from highway, railway or marine industry. In 2024, the United States consumed a record 5 billion gallons of liquid renewable fuels. The railway industry, which consumes about 4 billion gallons of diesel fuel, could be one of the next drivers of the renewable fuels industry.
“All six class-one railroad companies are now Clean Fuels members and the reason for their interest is because they are getting asked about how they can reduce their carbon emissions,” said Clean Fuels board member Chris Hill, who farms near Brewster. “Biodiesel and renewable diesel are a drop in product that they can use now, which is important to them because they don’t have to change their current technology.”
According to Union Pacific (UP) President Beth Whited, who was a keynote speaker at the conference, UP increased their biofuels use from 3.1% in 2021 to 6.1% in 2023. She also noted that electrification is currently not feasible: It would take 139 railcars worth of batteries to operate a locomotive at their current capacity.
“I remember taking part in SFY years ago and the rail industry was just starting to enter the picture,” said Bird Island farmer Joe Serbus, MSR&PC District 5 & 6 director and past chair. “Now it seems they’re completely on board.”
Farmer perspectives
The SFY visit to the Clean Fuels conference was put together in conjunction with MEG Corp, which MSR&PC partners with to provide technical expertise to troubleshoot filter plugging and diesel issues, perform diesel studies and conduct best practices for diesel storage, handling and use education throughout Minnesota. Joining MSR&PC was a handful of representatives from the fuel and energy industry throughout Minnesota with a goal of learning about the biofuels industry and what lies ahead for the ever-changing industry.
“We’re all in our little fuel world so it’s nice to get some perspective from the farmers themselves and the rest of the supply chain to bring everything together,” said Sam VanDenheuvel, Centra Sota Cooperative energy sales specialist. “In Minnesota, we’re mandated on our biodiesel blends, but this SFY opportunity brings us good information to share with our customers about biofuels, such as the benefits, some misconceptions and how it supports our farmers.”
VanDenheuvel participated in a fuel supplier panel during the MEG Corp orientation meeting prior to the conference. Also joining him were fuel suppliers from Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin, all of which were at different stages and offerings of biodiesel blending requirements and incentives.
“MEG Corp actually works with a number of other states, so it’s good to have farmers and fuel distributors from other states networking and having that transfer of knowledge,” Youngerberg said. “We’ve been doing it, but can we do it better? All of those interactions happen here and hopefully continue to drive demand as we look forward.
