The nation’s biofuel industry industry generated three-point-two-billion-dollars of economic activity in 2012 according to the national industry board, and a one-year extension of incentives is likely to encourage job growth in the sector.
Chairman of the National Biodiesel Board, Gary Haer, says the extension could mean 30,000 new jobs nationwide, continuing economic and environmental benefits and increased energy security.
“I think it’s going to be a benefit to the industry and to our businesses."
Haer says lapses in, or uncertainty over incentives are disruptive to any business.
In the longer term however, Haer argues biofuel producers will have to become commercially viable enough to function without the tax credits or, prove they ‘re valuable enough to receive them on a permanent basis.
“And we will just have to plan, and our industry will have to continue to work to show the benefits that we provide to the country, and try to work for a longer term incentive.”
Biodiesel is currently the only commercially available advanced biofuel in the U.S, with 4.6 billion gallons being produced since 2005.
