Agricultural and Biological Engineering Cooperative Extension Biodiesel: A Renewable, Domestic Energy Resource

In 2004, the United States used an average of 20 mil-lion barrels of oil per day, which is one-fourth of the 80 million barrels pumped per day worldwide. The worldwide pumping capacity is near the predicted peak with an anticipated decline in peak capacity within the next decade or several decades. Today, the U.S. imports 60 % of all the oil that is used for our domestic consumption, whereas as recently as 35 years ago, the U.S. imported just 30%. Our dependency on imported oil is a signifi cant threat to our homeland security as well as our economic well-being, especially during an oil embargo. The use of biofuels holds real promise to: 1) decrease our country’s dependency on foreign nations for energy; 2) improve environmental conditions; and 3) provide an additional income stream to the agricultural sector. Biofuels are derived from biological materials such a