[fluffy0000]

The cost of the US 'biodiesel industrys' most used oil- soyoil has a price that has rocketed past 'crude oil'.(NPRMay08') In the US alone over 165 biodiesel plants have been built to date (Sept 07'), The US averages 1 new plant being constructed a month. The cost alone to the US taxpayer is over 5 billion dollars a year in subsidies. Not even factoring in the use of coal and massive amounts of subsidized public water is required for these plants? The question you might want to ask yourself -(example) It takes about 7 pounds of soybean oil -- which is priced by the pound -- to make one gallon of biodiesel (Texas Biodisel Coalition) Yes developement of more advanced technology will improve production but feedstock generally runs as high as 80% of the cost of production wether soybean or corn , rice. As of April 10,2008' a 1/4 of the US Biodiesel Industry plants are idle due to cost of the soy makes it unprofitable despite the fact that the bulk of the US biodiesel is exported to the EU (European market) .