Platts modifies CI for renewable diesel margin indicators, Jan. 2, 2026

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, has modified the carbon intensity (CI) for the Renewable Diesel (RD) Soybean Margin Indicator (RRDFJ00) and RD Tallow Margin Indicator (RRDFK00), following the latest guidance in the Big Beautiful Bill Act, effective Jan. 2.

This follows a decision note published on Dec. 5.

According to the Big Beautiful Bill Act, the emissions rate must be adjusted to exclude any emissions attributed to Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) from the calculation of the Clean Fuel Production Credit (CFPC). These amendments apply to transportation fuels produced in 2026.

In line with the Big Beautiful Bill Act, Platts has modified the reference CI for the RD margin indicators to reflect the change for the calculation of the CFPC while maintaining ILUC for the Low Carbon Fuel Standard credit calculation.

Market feedback indicated that the initially proposed carbon intensity for the RD Margin Indicator Soybean Oil for LCFS is below current market practice.

Therefore, Platts has updated the RD Margin Indicator Soybean Oil for LCFS from 37.91 gCO2/MJ (or 40 kgCO2/MMBtu) to 52.8 gCO2/MJ (or 55.71 kgCO2/MMBtu), using California Air Board Resources' (CARB's) land use change (LUC) values for CI determination for US soy biomass-based diesel, which is 29.1 gCO2/MJ.

The CI values are derived from S&P Global Energy research and analytics data, based on the 45ZCF-GREET model excluding ILUC and rounded to the nearest multiple of 5 kgCO2/MMBtu. The RD Soybean Oil CI for LCFS calculation includes CARB's LUC value for US soy biomass-based diesel.

The reference CI scores for the tallow and soybean oil margin indicators are:

Platts publishes the RD margin indicators in Platts Connect, Biofuelscan, Biomass-Based Diesel Report, and fixed pages PBF0010, PBF0011, and PBF0012.

Please submit any feedback, comments, or questions to platts_biofuels@spglobal.com, and pricegroup@spglobal.com .

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