Benefits for Wood-Based Renewable Diesel in a Midwestern Clean Fuels Policy

As part of the Great Plains Institute’s work to develop a Midwestern clean fuels policy, we are hosting a webinar series about clean fuels on the market and how those industries could benefit from a regional policy. The most recent webinar explored how a clean fuels policy can create markets for underutilized wood through the production of wood-based renewable diesel in the Midwest.

Key takeaways from the wood-based renewable diesel webinar:

• The production and adoption of wood-based renewable diesel could reduce transportation sector emissions and create sustainable jobs.
• A Midwestern clean fuels policy could support markets for underutilized wood and bring environmental and economic benefits to local communities.
• Forthcoming GPI analysis shows how the lower carbon intensities of wood-based renewable diesel would have important environmental and economic benefits in addition to market potential in a regional clean fuels policy.

Prior webinars looked at the potential benefits of electric vehicles, ethanol, and renewable natural gas in a clean fuels policy market.

As described in our Midwestern Clean Fuels Policy 101, “A clean fuels policy is a technology-neutral, performance-based policy that reduces the use of high-carbon transportation fuels while providing incentives to deploy lower carbon alternatives such as electricity, hydrogen, and biofuels.” A Midwestern clean fuels policy could be a game-changer when it comes to reducing emissions from the transportation sector, the region’s largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. 

Similar policies are major drivers for renewable diesel in markets like California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program, drawing in companies like Red Rock Biofuels.

Speakers at the webinar included:

• Dr. Jim Bowyer, Dovetail Partners
• Rick Horton, Minnesota Forest Industries
• Terry Kulesa, Red Rock Biofuels Plant
• Tad Mason, Red Rock Biofuels Plant
• Nels Paulson, Conservation Minnesota 
• Eric Singsaas, Natural Resources Research Institute
• Jessi Wyatt, Great Plains Institute

Watch the full webinar

The previous webinars on electric vehicles, ethanol, and renewable natural gas in a clean fuels policy can viewed here.