Biodiesel is back, but it needs the tax credit to keep it going.

At the 4th International Biomass Conference and Expo, Joe Jobe with the National Biodiesel Board, said they are very optimistic about the state of the industry right now.

“Our plants are coming back on line and we’re very bullish,” Jobe said. “We believe that we’re going to have the best year in our industry’s history this year.” Jobe says their top priority is implementation of the RFS2 and a major component of that is seeing the biodiesel tax credit extended at least another year. “Last year the tax credit lapsed for 11 months and that had a significant negative impact on the industry,”

Jobe says the debate over land use continues to have an impact on the industry. “Land use and indirect impacts have really only been applied to biofuels, no other fuels, not even the fuel that it’s been compared to, baseline petroleum fuel,” he said.

Listen to or download my interview with Joe Jobe here: Joe Jobe NBB

NBB will be holding a webinar on the topic of biodiesel’s impact on the food supply and land use May 24. “Vantage Point: Views on Food, Fuel and Land Use” will feature insights from two national land use experts Dr. Stephen Kaffka with the U.C. Davis Department of Plant Sciences and Director of the California Biomass Collaborative and Keith Kline of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The 60-minute webinar starts at 12:00 noon Central time, on Tuesday, May 24 and is open to anyone with an interest in learning the reality behind food, fuel and land use. Register here.