Passage of the federal tax bill and sending it to President Obama for his signature is being welcomed by many in the renewable energy field, especially the biodiesel industry.
The nation’s largest biodiesel producer, Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group, had quick praise for the approval, which retroactively renews the year-long expired $1-a-gallon federal biodiesel tax incentive:
“The reinstatement and retroactivity of the biodiesel blenders’ tax credit provides a more predictable and stable market for our company and our customers,” said Daniel J. Oh, President and Chief Operating Officer of Renewable Energy Group® (REG®), the nation’s largest biodiesel producer and marketer.
“With President Obama’s signature as the final step for this bill, the biodiesel blenders’ tax program restores competitive pricing for biodiesel in the distillate marketplace, puts green collar workers back to work and supports the future of this advanced biofuel industry in the coming months.”
Reinstatement and retroactivity means greater market certainty for REG’s customers, the petroleum industry and RFS2 obligated parties.
“We believe reinstatement for 2011 will allow petroleum distributors and obligated parties to make biodiesel purchasing decisions which will increase demand for REG-9000TM biodiesel, “ said Oh. “With the combination of blending requirements under RFS2 and the competitive pricing model offered by the tax credit, REG expects a significant increase in biodiesel demand for our five facilities in Iowa, Illinois and Texas.”
REG officials expect to double biodiesel sales in 2011 to meet the 800 million gallon biodiesel market that has been created under the new Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2). And that could mean the company could increase its number of workers by 30 percent in the coming year.
National Biodiesel Board officials also praised the passage, reminding folks that this is truly an economic stimulus package for the biodiesel industry:
“Reinstatement of the biodiesel tax credit is welcome news for the U.S. biodiesel industry and good news for the nation as a whole,” said Manning Feraci, NBB Vice President of Federal Affairs. “This will undoubtedly help kick-start the domestic biodiesel industry, lessen our dependence on foreign oil, and create thousands of new jobs across the country.”