The National Biodiesel Board says the U.S. is not making near what it could be when it comes to biodiesel.

This story on Wisconsin Ag Connection says high soybean oil prices are keeping America from producing an NBB-projected amount of 1.85 billion gallons a year… but that could soon change:

Soybean oil prices in the mid- to high 40-cent range is one of the biggest contributors to tight margins and biodiesel production cutbacks. Recent passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, however, expands the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), which will require 500 million gallons of biodiesel to be used or blended in 2009.

In 2007, the United States produced 400 million gallons of biodiesel, or about 22 percent of production capacity. The year before, the industry had a production capacity of 580 million gallons and sold 250 million gallons, or 43 percent of capacity.

NBB officials do point out that many biodiesel plants project a much-higher capacity than what they are currently producing in order to make it easier to expand later on.