Combined US production and imports of biomass-based diesel fell 218 million gallons, or 63.4%, in January compared with December, Environmental Protection Agency data showed Thursday.
Production and imports were 125.8 million gallons in January, down from 343.9 million gallons.
Under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard, petroleum-based fuel producers must blend 2 billion gallons of biodiesel into their fuel stocks. Last year when the mandate was 1.9 billion gallons, biodiesel production and imports reached a record 2.6 billion gallons.
More than 196 million biodiesel RINs were generated in January, a sharp drop from the 524 million RINs generated in December. January 2017 RIN generation surpassed that of January 2016 by nearly 4 million RINs.
