Biodiesel production in the U.S. nearly doubled in January, jumping a whopping 86 percent compared to December’s output. According to this article from Platts.com, quoting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Moderated Transaction System, the industry got the boost from the renewal of the $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax credit:

After reaching its lowest output level of 2012 in December and falling for five of the last six months of the year, the January production numbers were boosted by the January 2 return of the $1/gal biodiesel blending tax credit, alongside a 10 cents/gal credit for agricultural biodiesel producers.

“Tax credit galore,” one producer source at a major Midwest biodiesel production facility said. “The production numbers show we are well ahead of the 2013 obligation. I would hope that continued production numbers can provide evidence to the EPA to increase the obligation in years to come.”

The article goes on to point out that January’s nearly 121 million gallon biodiesel production puts the country well on pace to meet the 2013 Renewable Fuels Standard-2 production target of 1.28 billion gallons.