Biodiesel how much per gallon

The interest in algae is primarily due to their ability to accumulate triacylglycerols TAGs much like vegetable oils. Transesterification of the fatty acids in TAGs yields fatty acid methyl esters FAMEs , whose long chain lengths make them a replacement for diesel, not gasoline. The energy density of petroleum diesel is about , British thermal units BTU per gallon and that of biodiesel is about , BTU per gallon.

Both values are much greater than that of ethanol, which is about 76, BTU per gallon. Biodiesel has lower energy density than petroleum diesel because it contains oxygen, which contributes to the molecular weight but not the heating value.

Like gasoline, alternative fuel prices can fluctuate based on location, time of year, and political climate. The Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report provides regional alternative and conventional fuel prices for biodiesel, compressed natural gas, ethanol, hydrogen, propane, gasoline, and diesel.

One question people often ask us is how much a typical gallon of home brewed Biodiesel costs. Input Costs: Methanol — Identify your cost per gallon Catalyst — Identify how much per bag and per gram it costs you Sulfuric Acid — If you use sulfuric, figure out your cost per milliliter Electricity — Identify how many watts of electricity per batch your process consumes. Remember to track both the processor electricity and the washing electricity consumed.

You can pick up a watt meter from a local hardware store or even online through Harbor Freight. Water — Identify how many gallons you go through per batch then look at your utility bill and identify how much water costs you per gallon. Batch Size — Identify what your average batch size is in gallons Usage Fee — If charged to use the equipment, identify the cost Labor — Identify how many minutes of your time each batch requires Rent — If you rent the building, identify how much your rent is per day.

Finally, the percent return to equity holders provides useful information on the attractiveness of investment in biodiesel plants relative to other investments. The average return was The relative riskiness of biodiesel investment is not surprising given that over 80 percent of the positive profits earned by biodiesel plants occurred in only three years , , and Biodiesel production profitability moved back into the black in for the first time since The return to profitability followed the script of previous years, like and , when the biodiesel tax credit expired at the end of the calendar year.

Such spikes make sense because diesel blenders face a binding RFS biodiesel mandate and they can effectively purchase biodiesel at a discount in the current year, due to the tax credit, in order to meet mandates in later years.

What is interesting about the version of this cycle is that it was much smaller than in and A surge in biodiesel imports into the U. In particular, imports skyrocketed in the second half of the year, precisely the period when biodiesel prices and profits reached their maximum in previous years and when the tax credit expired. Looking forward to , further developments on the policy front will likely be required to keep the biodiesel industry in the black.

The most positive scenario entails conversion of the biodiesel tax credit from a blender to a producer credit, which would effectively limit biodiesel imports to the U. S farmdoc daily , August 5, This change, along with an expanding advanced RFS mandate, would likely eliminate the current slack production capacity of the U. Bonds and T. Bills: - Current. Louis FRED.