Nearly 100 biodiesel industry leaders converged on Capitol Hill Tuesday to call for a stronger clean-fuels policy, just as a new report shows the industry supports nearly 48,000 jobs. The study found that 2.1 billion gallons of biodiesel and renewable diesel used in America had an economic impact of $8.4 billion across different sectors of the economy. The 47,400 jobs paid out $1.9 billion in wages. The report also found that imports are affecting the domestic industry’s production and impact. If all biodiesel and renewable diesel had been produced domestically, it would have supported another 21,200 jobs. Instead, almost a third of the product came from overseas.
Stakeholders in the industry went to Washington D.C. to call for higher biomass-based and advanced biofuel requirements under the Renewable Fuels Standard than what the Environmental Protection Agency recently proposed. They also want extension and reform of the biodiesel tax credit which is scheduled to expire at the end of the year.
Source: NAFB News Service