The advanced biofuel industry can create thousands of green jobs if sustained political commitment and diverse federal programs support industry efforts to secure project financing. The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) thanked Reps Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Mark Schauer (D-MI), and Brian Bilbray (R-CA) for introducing the Grow a Renewable Energy Economy Now—Jumpstart Other Biofuels (GREEN JOBS) Act of 2010, HR 5142.
The GREEN JOBS Act is intended to support industry efforts to secure project financing by strengthening and expanding federal tax incentives for next-generation biofuels, thus accelerating development of biorefineries and high-wage American jobs. The legislation would open existing cellulosic biofuels tax credits to algae-based fuels and extend the credits for four additional years. The proposed legislation would also provide cellulosic and algae-based biorefineries an option to choose a refundable 30% investment tax credit in lieu of production incentives, greatly enhancing the ability of pioneering producers to build their first commercial plants. Businesses would not be allowed to claim both the production and investment incentives but would be granted the flexibility to choose the incentive best suited to their business condition.
A recent report commissioned by BIO, US Economic Impact of Advanced Biofuels Production, projects that development of advanced biorefineries could create as many as 29,000 jobs over the next few years and hundreds of thousands by 2030, contributing more than $140 billion in economic growth. Further, BIO's white paper, Biobased Chemicals and Products: A New Driver of US Economic Development and Green Jobs, shows projected growth in the biobased chemicals and plastics industry, which are also produced in advanced biorefineries, can create thousands more jobs. This sector, which accounts for 4% of the market, already generates 5,700 direct jobs and is likely responsible for more than 40,000 jobs economywide.
For copies of Biobased Chemicals and Products: A New Driver of US Economic Development and Green Jobs or US Economic Impact of Advanced Biofuels Production, contact Paul Winters at [email protected] or 202-962-9237, or visit BIO.org/ind.