According to Isuzu Commercial Truck’s Retail Marketing Manager Brian Tabel, Isuzu’s announcement of B20 support is the result of three key factors: growing consumer demand for the fuel; an extensive and cooperative research project on B20 biodiesel blends by Isuzu engineers in the US and Japan; and improved biodiesel fuel quality and industry support in the US under the assurances of ASTM D7467, the American Society of Testing and Materials specifications for B6-B20 biodiesel blends.

The US biodiesel industry is ramping up for its biggest year yet, with expected production volumes of at least 800 million gallons of biodiesel in 2011 to meet requirements under EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS-2) program. Made from an increasingly diverse mix of feedstocks, biodiesel is the only fuel produced in commercial scale volumes in the US that qualifies as an Advanced Biofuel under EPA definitions.

National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe welcomed Isuzu’s announcement and said that more than 60% of manufacturers in the US market approve the use of B20 or higher blends in at least some of their equipment.

Isuzu Commercial Truck holds a 73–75% market share of the low cab-forward medium-duty truck market in the US. The company expects to sell 10,000 – 11,000 diesel units in 2011, all of which are capable to use with B20 biodiesel blends.