How to Make Chemfuel in RimWorld (1.6) — Fast Setup + Fuel Planning Tools

how to make chemfuel rimworld biofuel refinery icon
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Produce chemfuel fast: build a Biofuel refinery and run either:
70 → 35
3.5 nutrition → 35
Need the fastest plan? Jump to Quick Solution and use the calculators.

How to Make Chemfuel in RimWorld

Without Burning Your Colony
This is a fast, practical tool page for current 1.6.4633 (Core defs): refinery setup → input rules → emergency math for generators, pods, and boomalopes.
Updated for 1.6.4633 Verified 2026-03-24 Generator: 4.5/day Boomalope: 11/day
Quick Solution: Make Chemfuel Fast
Situation Fastest Answer Why it Works Biggest Mistake to Avoid
Wooded map? Burn wood to chemfuel 70 → 35 Consuming food while you’re still hungry
Need “raw food” route? Refine raw crops 3.5 → 35 Trying to feed it hay, meals, meat, or animal products
Ranch boomalopes? Milk your boomalopes (passive) 11/day → chemfuel Letting them go hungry (output drops)
One-time shortage? Buy, loot, or scavenge trade → fuel Building a full refinery loop for a single trip
Fast Chemfuel Setup
  1. Build a Biofuel refinery (needs Biofuel refining research).
  2. Add the right bill: from wood or from organics.
  3. Stockpile valid inputs near the bench (short paths = fast fuel).
  4. Assign a pawn who will actually do the work (and a hauler who feeds it).
  5. Store chemfuel in a roofed, separated room (don’t mix it with shells).
Tip: one 35-chemfuel batch powers one chemfuel generator for ~7.78 days.
FAQ
Why is my chemfuel bill missing?
  • You need a Biofuel refinery (not a different bench).
  • Research BiofuelRefining first.
  • Then add Make_ChemfuelFromWood or Make_ChemfuelFromOrganics in Bills.
Can I make chemfuel from hay?
No — the “organics” bill explicitly disallows Hay in Core defs. If you’re hay-rich, it’s usually better as animal feed (including boomalopes) instead of direct fuel input.
Are boomalopes worth it?
  • One adult produces 11 chemfuel/day when fed (Core defs: milkAmount).
  • That’s ~2.44 generators worth on paper (11 / 4.5).
  • They’re only “passive” if your feeding/handling loop is stable.
Do Odyssey tanks power generators automatically?
In vanilla, assume no base-wide fuel piping: you still need normal hauling/refueling behavior. If you remember automatic chemfuel networks, that’s usually from mods.
Should I use wood or food for chemfuel?
Wood is simplest on tree-rich maps. “Organics” is great when you have real crop surplus. Avoid turning meals into fuel (they’re disallowed) and avoid burning food buffers in winter.
The Exact Vanilla Ways to Make Chemfuel
Source Output Pros Cons
Biofuel refinery
wood or plant-food nutrition
70 → 35
3.5 → 35
Reliable and scalable
Best “today” fix on forest maps 		Labor + hauling overhead
Food route demands real surplus
Boomalopes
milk chemfuel		 11/day Steady “baseline” fuel
Frees colonist work time 		Needs feed + handling
Explosion risk if things go wrong
Infinite chemreactor
rare quest reward		 75 / 10d Hands-off passive supply
Great for one generator baseline 		Not something you can plan for
Still needs safe storage
Trading / looting varies Best for one-off travel fuel
No bench setup required 		Not self-sustaining
Trader RNG / price
Organics-bill input rule (Core defs): it uses nutrition and disallows Hay, all FoodMeals, plus raw MeatRaw and AnimalProductRaw.
Fuel Planning Tools & Calculators
Game data sources (where the numbers come from) 
/game/Data/Core/Defs/ThingDefs_Buildings/Buildings_Production.xml
  ThingDef BiofuelRefinery:
    costList Steel=150 ComponentIndustrial=3
    comps powerConsumption=170
    recipes: Make_ChemfuelFromWood, Make_ChemfuelFromOrganics
    researchPrerequisites: BiofuelRefining

/game/Data/Core/Defs/RecipeDefs/Recipes_Production.xml
  RecipeDef Make_ChemfuelFromWood:
    ingredients WoodLog x70 -> products Chemfuel x35
  RecipeDef Make_ChemfuelFromOrganics:
    ingredientValueGetterClass IngredientValueGetter_Nutrition
    ingredients nutrition x3.5 -> products Chemfuel x35
    disallowed: Hay, FoodMeals, MeatRaw, AnimalProductRaw

/game/Data/Core/Defs/ThingDefs_Buildings/Buildings_Power.xml
  ThingDef ChemfuelPoweredGenerator:
    CompProperties_Refuelable fuelConsumptionRate=4.5 fuelCapacity=30

/game/Data/Core/Defs/ThingDefs_Races/Races_Animal_CowGroup.xml
  ThingDef Boomalope:
    CompProperties_Milkable milkDef=Chemfuel milkIntervalDays=1 milkAmount=11

/game/Data/Core/Defs/ThingDefs_Buildings/Buildings_Special.xml
  ThingDef InfiniteChemreactor:
    CompProperties_Spawner thingToSpawn=Chemfuel spawnCount=75 spawnInterval=600000 ticks (10 days)

/game/Data/Core/Defs/ThingDefs_Buildings/Buildings_Misc.xml
  ThingDef PodLauncher:
    CompProperties_Refuelable fuelCapacity=150 (must be fueled to launch)