Iowa Biodiesel

The Iowa biodiesel industry provides many benefits to the state, in the form of green jobs, economic activity and energy security leadership.

 

Iowa currently has 8 operating biodiesel plants with the capacity to produce 400+ million gallons per year. Iowa’s biodiesel plants produced an estimated 244 million gallons in 2025, down 31 percent from 353 million gallons in 2024 as federal policy stalled.

As a heartland state, many of the state’s plants use soybean oil – an abundant local resource – to make biodiesel, but other renewable agricultural co-products and byproducts are also used, such as beef tallow, inedible corn oil and recycled cooking grease.