We all know corn ethanol can someday attain carbon neutrality, but not without credit for low-carbon farming, and certainly not without sequestering our fermentation CO2.

As the number of operational biodiesel plants in North America has dropped by a third over the past two years, a surge of renewable diesel production rises.

A few hours north of New Orleans, where two massive renewable diesel plants already operate, a smaller project with huge implications for both biofuels and CCS is moving forward.

Biodiesel Magazine's Tom Bryan previews the feature articles in the publication's 2021 summer edition, which includes in-depth coverage of the new demand for used cooking oil and the pretreatment platforms required for renewable diesel production.

The low-quality, low-carbon byproduct of restaurant fryer grease, once largely reserved for modestly-sized biodiesel production, is now a darling input of the industry's new mega plants. Used cooking oil is in high demand as renewable diesel booms.

With deep feedstock and process knowledge, Austria-based BDI-BioEnergy International GmbH is successfully engaged in both biodiesel plant construction and renewable diesel feedstock pretreatment globally.

As renewable diesel producers source an array of low-quality, low-carbon inputs, they're tapping biodiesel's seasoned pretreatment technology providers for customized feedstock preparation solutions, both on and offsite.

Generally, U.S. biodiesel plants have managed the pandemic adeptly, keeping production online and people working. Most reported only moderate hits to their business operations, and many are investing in new technologies, right now, despite COVID-19.

FROM THE WINTER ISSUE: Biodiesel Magazine's late-2020 survey of producers tells the story of a resilient, changing industry that's taken mostly indirect hits from the pandemic. Many producers lowered, but later ramped back up, production in 2020.