Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership (3)

FORM 3	UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0104 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5
	Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person ^*

Bowen Eric

2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (MM/DD/YYYY) 5/10/2018

3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

Renewable Energy Group, Inc. [REGI]

(Last) (First) (Middle)

416 S. BELL AVENUE

4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable)

_____ Director _____ 10% Owner
___ X ___ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
VP, Corp Bus Dev and Legal /

(Street)

AMES, IA 50010

(City) (State) (Zip)

5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (MM/DD/YYYY)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

_ X _ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4)	3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Common Stock	92989	D

*Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned ( e.g.* , puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)**
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (MM/DD/YYYY)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares	4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security		6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Stock Appreciation Right	⁽¹⁾	⁽¹⁾	Common Stock	131022.0	$0.0	D
Performance Rights	⁽²⁾	⁽²⁾	Common Stock	26445.0	$0.0	D

Explanation of Responses:
(1)	The Stock Appreciation Rights ("SARs") will vest with respect to 25% of the shares of common stock subject thereto on each of the four anniversaries following the grant dates, subject to continued service as an employee of the Company. The SARs shall cease to be exercisable (and if not previously exercised, shall terminate without the payment of any consideration therefore) on the earliest of (i) 10 years from the grant dates, (ii) one year following the termination of employment with the Company by reason of death or disability, (iii) 90 days following any other termination of employment with the Company other than for cause and (iv) immediately prior to the termination of employment with the Company for cause.
(2)	Each performance right represents a contingent right to receive one share of REGI common stock, subject to continued employment and other conditions. Half of the Performance Based RSUs will vest upon REGI's common stock price equal to or exceeding certain stock price hurdles per share during the applicable performance period, based on the volume-weighted average stock price during any 20 consecutive trading days. The other 50% of the Performance Based RSUs will vest either upon higher stock price hurdles or upon REGI achieving return on invested capital hurdles during the applicable performance periods, as measured on a simple average basis.

Reporting Owners
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
Bowen Eric 416 S. BELL AVENUE AMES, IA 50010			VP, Corp Bus Dev and Legal

Signatures
Natalie Merrill, Attorney-in-Fact		5/23/2018
^** Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note:	File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number.