WASHINGTON, D.C.
– The U.S. biodiesel industry will grow to support more than 74,000 jobs
throughout the economy by 2015 while creating some $4 billion in household
income, according to an economic study released Tuesday by the
National Biodiesel Board (NBB).
The report also found that
the industry will grow to generate nearly $1.6 billion in local, state and
federal tax revenues in 2015.
“This shows without question
that a healthy and thriving biodiesel industry is good for America,” said Joe
Jobe, CEO of NBB, the industry’s trade association. “Biodiesel isn’t just
improving our environment and shoring up our energy security, it’s creating
good-paying jobs in virtually every state in the country.”
The study, conducted by
Cardno ENTRIX, an international consulting firm that specializes in environment
and natural resources economics, documents the difficulties the industry faced
when Congress allowed a key tax incentive to expire in 2010. It found that the
expiration of the tax credit and the accompanying 42 percent drop in production
resulted in the loss of nearly 8,900 jobs, a drop in household income of $485
million, and a reduction in real GDP of $879 million.
But the industry is seeing a
sharp turnaround this year with the tax credit reinstated and the supporting
regulatory framework of the EPA’s 2010 Renewable Fuel Standard, which
designated biodiesel as an advanced biofuel. Production jumped 69 percent in
January of this year and has been steadily climbing since.
The study predicts
the industry will support more than 31,000 jobs in 2011, generate income of
nearly $1.7 billion to be circulated throughout the economy, and create more than
$3 billion in GDP. Under projected expansion by 2015, that economic
impact would grow even further to supporting more than 74,000 jobs, $4 billion
in income, and some $7.3 billion in GDP
“At a time when the federal government
is looking for answers on how to jumpstart the economy, these numbers make
clear that the federal policies supporting biodiesel are paying off,” Jobe
said. “Since the EPA designated us as an advanced biofuel last year and
Congress reinstated our tax incentive in December, the market has responded
with incredible quickness. Plants across the country are reopening and ramping
up production. This means new jobs in all sorts of sectors – manufacturing,
transportation, agriculture, sales. It means plants are hiring, buying supplies
and machinery, and circulating money throughout the economy.”
“The numbers also show what
happens when those incentives weren’t there in 2010.” Jobe said. “They
demonstrate what we’ve been saying, that biodiesel is still a young industry.
We’re trying to gain a foothold in a business that is and always has been
dominated by fossil fuels, and breaking into that business is extraordinarily
difficult.”
The
study's release comes as NBB is holding its annual membership meeting this week
in Washington, DC. NBB members, representing all facets of the biodiesel
industry, will be promoting key policy initiatives on Capitol Hill, including
an extension of the biodiesel tax incentive and stability in the EPA's
Renewable Fuel Standard.
Biodiesel is America’s first
advanced biofuel – a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement that can be
used in existing diesel engines and meets strict specifications of ASTM D6751.
Made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as agricultural oils,
recycled cooking oil and animal fats, it is the only nationwide,
commercial-scale fuel to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's definition
as an advanced biofuel.
The NBB is the national
trade association of the biodiesel industry and is the coordinating body for
biodiesel research and development in the U.S.
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