During the last decade, biodiesel has grown from a concept into a recognized commercial industry with expanding production capabilities, an infrastructure in which the universal availability of biodiesel pumps is becoming reality, and an importance becoming increasingly evident in policy, legislation, and tax incentives. Biodiesel has been merged into an enterprise very similar and compatible with ethanol[1].  Biodiesel is not a new fuel; however, the biodiesel industry is in its infancy.  Less than ten years ago there were only two biodiesel suppliers in the United States.  At that time, less than 500,000 gallons of biodiesel were sold per year.  In 1998 the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT) was amended to incorporate biodiesel and biodiesel blends as a fuel technology to aid in reducing the nation’s dependence on imported petroleum.  This amendment helped to jump-start the growth of the biodiesel industry in the United States[2].

Today there are 53 operating biodiesel plants in the United States with an additional 44 under construction and another 24 being proposed [3].  In 2004 almost 30 million gallons of commercially produced biodiesel were sold in the U.S., up from less than 0.1 million US gallons in 1998. Due to increasing pollution control requirements and tax relief, the U.S. market is expected to grow to between 1 and 2 billion US gallons by 2010[4].

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