(NAFB) – The National Biodiesel Board recently unveiled a big goal for the industry as it celebrated Rudolf Diesel’s birthday on March 18th.

Rudolf invented the diesel engine back in the 1890s. In honor of that achievement, the NBB announced a plan to grow the industry to over six billion gallons by the year 2030, and, with the right advancements in feedstocks, 15 billion gallons by 2050. Right now, the operating capacity for the industry stands at more than three billion gallons, meeting half the NBB’s vision ahead of schedule.

Already announced expansions and new projects could add over three billion gallons of capacity as early as 2023.

“To see a concept like Rudolf Diesel’s get us to a three-billion-gallon industry is remarkable,” says National Biodiesel Board CEO Donnell Rehagen. “Our industry has seen its challenges, but for nearly 30 years into commercial biodiesel production, our association never took no for an answer.”

He says the biodiesel industry is “well on its way” to meeting its six-billion-gallon capacity goal.