Diesel-powered vehicles are gaining in popularity, despite the higher price of diesel fuel compared to regular unleaded gasoline. And that rise in interest in those vehicles is good news for the biodiesel industry.
Business Week reports sales are brisk with many makes getting into the business:
Howard Cooper Volkswagen in Ann Arbor, Mich., for example, says that a buyer putting money down today will probably have to wait until January to receive his car. Volkswagen of America plans to sell 15,000 TDI Jettas this year. Next year, VW figures to sell more than 30,000.
The diesel sedan starts at $22,640, including shipping, and the station wagon at $24,240, a premium of about $2,000 over a similarly equipped model with a gasoline engine. BMW is also going ahead with plans to launch a diesel 3 series this fall. It also has plans for an X6 diesel after that. Honda is launching a diesel engine in an Acura sedan in 2010.
Perhaps the company most fully invested in diesel engines is Global Vehicles of Alpharetta, Ga., which plans to roll out Mahindra-branded pickup trucks at the end of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010. Mahindra is the brand marketed by Indian conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra. Some 200-plus dealers have signed up to sell the vehicles. Global Vehicles Marketing Director Xavier Beguiristain says the company is undeterred, but not unconcerned.
The obvious big attraction is the better mileage diesel vehicles get. Mahindra pickups are expected to get about 30 mpg. That’s more than 50 percent better than full-sized pickups and 30 percent better than some midsize pickups. And VW’s TDI Jetta could get up to 44 miles to the gallon.
This is good news for the biodiesel industry, as the increased production meets the increased demand (or is that the other way around?). Vehicle manufacturers do warn that using homemade biodiesel could void the warranty. So make sure to use commercially-approved biodiesel… at least until that three years, 36,000 miles is up.
A new feedstock for the growing biodiesel industry could be a cash cow for the western states where it will be growing.
While the EPA delay of issuing a decision on Texas’ request for a waiver from the Renewable Fuel Standard (see 
“In considering the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) waiver request by Gov. Perry, it is important to note that all renewable fuels qualify for the current RFS. In fact, if the RFS is waived or cut in half in 2008, then the growth of all biofuels, including ‘advanced biofuels’ such as biodiesel, will be severely hindered.
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Construction on the Hankinson facility began in August of 2006 and was completed in June. The opening of the plant was delayed due to market volatility. 
US biofuels development company 
The cellulosic plant in Thailand is co-located with a facility that will produce ethanol from sugar-cane derived sucrose, which is widely abundant in the region. Sugar cane bagasse, the biomass residue from the sugar cane plant, will be the primary source of feedstock for the cellulosic facility, which will be converted into ethanol using Verenium’s process technology.
The tax code currently states that Publicly Traded Partnerships are supposed to earn 90-percent of income from the exploration, transportation, storage or marketing of depletable natural resources like oil, gas and coal. The Harkin-Lugar bill would change the tax code so that these Publicly Traded Partnerships can earn qualified income from the transport, storage or marketing of any renewable liquid fuel approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.