Monetized value of the environmental, health and resource externalities of soy biodiesel

This study monetizes the life cycle environmental damage, human health risk, and resource depletion externalities associated with the production and use of biodiesel fuels from soybean feedstock. Utilizing an integrated economic-environmental assessment framework that couples life cycle impacts and a conjoint choice experiment for social preference elicitation allows for a comprehensive comparison of petrodiesel and biodiesel’s external impacts. The results of the study reveal the production and consumption of soybean based biodiesels produce net improvements in environmental, health and resource impacts of $0.27 per gallon relative to petrodiesel for a 20% blend and $3.14 per gallon for a 100% blend.