If you have heard the term RIN floating around the fuel business and nodded along without quite knowing what it meant, you are in good company. RINs are the accounting credits that make the federal Renewable Fuel Standard work, and they shape the renewable content and pricing of the fuel everyone handles. This is the plain explanation.
What a RIN is
A RIN, or Renewable Identification Number, is a credit that tracks renewable fuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Each one is a 38-digit number encoding details like the year generated, the producer, and the fuel type. RINs are the currency of the program, the unit used to prove compliance.
What the RFS is
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is an EPA program requiring a set volume of renewable fuel to be blended into the nation's transportation fuel each year. It is the policy that drives ethanol and biodiesel into the supply, by setting annual obligations that must be met.
Who is obligated
Obligated parties are refiners and importers of gasoline or diesel. They must meet a Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) set annually by the EPA, either by blending renewable fuel themselves or by obtaining RINs. The obligation sits upstream, at the refiner and importer level, rather than on most downstream jobbers.
How RINs move
When renewable fuel is blended into gasoline or diesel, the RIN separates from the physical gallon and can be retired for compliance or traded to other parties. RINs are a tradeable commodity, valid the year generated and the following year, and all transactions clear through the EPA's EMTS system. Their value moves like any market, which feeds back into fuel pricing.
What it means for a jobber
Mostly indirect. The obligation sits with refiners and importers, but the RFS shapes the renewable content in the fuel everyone handles and influences pricing through RIN values. The exception is blending: a jobber who splash-blends ethanol or biodiesel and registers with the EPA keeps the RIN that separates at the blend, and can sell it. At the record RIN values of 2025, that credit was worth far more per blended gallon than a typical fuel margin. Jobbers who never blend feel the RFS through the cost and makeup of the fuel they buy.
Where FastDragon fits
As renewable content and blends become a bigger part of the product mix, tracking each fuel by type, cost, and tax matters more. FastDragon Fuel Jobber keeps every product distinct in your books, so a more complex, renewable-influenced supply stays clear.
Questions we hear a lot
How much is a RIN worth?
Prices move daily and swing hard. EIA reported D6 ethanol and D4 biomass-based diesel RINs trading above $2 each in mid-2025, near record highs, after spending earlier years anywhere from a few cents to around a dollar. The EPA publishes weekly volume-weighted RIN price data if you need the current figure.
How many RINs does a gallon of renewable fuel generate?
It depends on energy content. A gallon of ethanol generates 1.0 RIN, biodiesel generates 1.5, and renewable diesel generates 1.6 to 1.7 depending on its pathway. That is why a gallon of biomass-based diesel earns more credit value than a gallon of ethanol at the same RIN price.
What do the RIN D-codes mean?
The D-code marks the fuel category. D3 is cellulosic biofuel, D4 is biomass-based diesel, D5 is advanced biofuel, and D6 is conventional renewable fuel, mostly corn ethanol. Each category has its own volume target under the program and its own market price.
What does it take to sell RINs?
EPA registration and ongoing paperwork. Parties that own RINs register with the EPA, log each trade in EMTS, and file quarterly reports. The compliance workload is why some smaller blenders work through brokers who handle the trades and the filings.