ISA » Sustainability » Local and Global Benefits

	Biodiesel has the highest energy balance of any fuel, returning 5.54 units of energy for every unit of fossil fuel needed to produce it.
	Soybean meal helps improve aquaculture productivity while reducing its impact.

Soybean farms enhance the economic health of Illinois and provide great benefits to communities. By providing jobs, tax revenue and disposable income spent at local businesses, soybean farms add to the greater good of Illinois society.

From livestock and aquaculture to human nutrition and industrial uses, including advanced biofuels, U.S. soybeans build bridges through sustainable global trade.

• Livestock fed soybean meal gain weight quickly and provide important nutritional benefits to consumers.
• An increasingly health-conscious world is demanding more healthy oils.
• More than 50 percent of biodiesel produced in the U.S. comes from soybean oil with no decrease in other uses.
• Compared to petroleum diesel, soy biodiesel reduces greenhouse gases by 57 percent.
• Biodiesel has a positive energy balance. A report by the University of Idaho and the USDA, titled "Energy Life-Cycle Assessment of Soybean Biodiesel Revisited," found that biodiesel returns 5.54 units of renewable energy for every unit of fossil energy needed to produce it.