The National Biodiesel Board welcomed Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue’s announcement of $100 million funding for Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program grants, approximately $14 million of which will go to support biodiesel blending. NBB also applauded Perdue’s announcement of USDA’s commitment to fuel its fleet vehicles with higher blends of biodiesel and renewable diesel.

“NBB’s members appreciate Secretary Perdue’s strong support for soybean growers and biodiesel producers and USDA’s leadership in driving demand for higher blends of biodiesel and renewable diesel,”

said Kurt Kovarik, NBB’s vice president of federal affairs. “The grant program that USDA is announcing will expand consumers’ access to cleaner, better transportation and heating fuels, such as biodiesel and renewable diesel. USDA’s fleet program can add significant market pull for those biofuels simply by utilizing available data on where to fill up.”

USDA owns 3,700 diesel fuel vehicles, but currently its biofuel purchases are less than 4 percent of its annual fuel use. The agency anticipates increasing its purchase of biodiesel and renewable diesel blends by up to 3 million gallons.

Made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats, biodiesel is a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement that can be used in existing diesel engines without modification. It is the nation’s first domestically produced, commercially available advanced biofuel. NBB is the U.S. trade association representing the entire biodiesel and renewable diesel value chain, including producers, feedstock suppliers and fuel distributors.