On December 17, President Barack Obama signed HR 4853, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. The legislation, among its provisions, retroactively extends the biodiesel tax incentive through 2011.
“Experience has shown that the biodiesel tax incentive is an effective tool to encourage the displacement of foreign petroleum with a superior, domestically produced Advanced Biofuel,” said Joe Jobe, National Biodiesel Board chief executive officer. “Reinstatement of this proven incentive helps provide the policy framework needed to meet the nation’s renewable goals, and the NBB sincerely appreciates the bipartisan cooperation and support that made extension of this worthwhile incentive possible.”
Biodiesel is a commercially viable, renewable, low carbon diesel replacement fuel that is widely accepted in the marketplace. The fuel meets an exact commercial fuel specification (ASTM D6751) and is the only domestically produced, commercial scale fuel that qualifies as an Advanced Biofuel under the Renewable Fuels Standard.
The biodiesel tax incentive is structured in a manner that makes the fuel price competitive with conventional diesel fuel in the marketplace. The lapse of the tax incentive December 31, 2009 has had a detrimental impact on the domestic biodiesel industry. Conversely, retroactive reinstatement and extension of the tax incentive through 2011, as provided for in HR 4853, is widely expected to increase US biodiesel production and in the process, displace foreign petroleum with a domestic Advanced Biofuel.
“The NBB has every confidence that our membership is ready, willing, and able to meet the nation’s Advanced Biofuel goals in 2011,” said Jobe.