NBB submits testimony to House ag subcommittee on value of biodiesel in rural economies

National Biodiesel Board CEO Donnell Rehagen submitted written testimony Nov. 16 to the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit for the hearing, “A Look at the Renewable Economy in Rural America.” The testimony outlines the contribution of the clean fuels industry in terms of jobs and value-added markets for agricultural economies as well as improved environmental health and reduced associated costs for both rural and urban communities.

Because our industry’s clean fuels are made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources, they “add value to fats, oils and greases that might otherwise lead to costs for other sectors of the bioeconomy,” Rehagen states in the testimony.

Moreover, “clean fuel production contributes to the bioeconomy by reducing the impacts and costs of carbon and particulate emissions,” Rehagen writes. Biodiesel and renewable diesel immediately and substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions in difficult-to-decarbonize transportation. And, they significantly reduce criteria pollutants from diesel transportation and other end uses, which can have direct benefits for both rural and urban communities, according to the testimony.

Rehagen’s full comments can be accessed here.

Kurt Kovarik, NBB’s vice president of federal affairs, added, “NBB and its members appreciate the leadership of representatives and senators who are advocating a long-term extension of the biodiesel tax incentive and a 10-year authorization and funding of the biofuel infrastructure grant program in the Build Back Better Act.”

The U.S. biodiesel and renewable diesel industry supports 65,000 U.S. jobs and more than $17 billion in economic activity each year. Every 100 million gallons of production supports 3,200 jobs and $780 million in economic opportunity. Biodiesel production supports approximately 13 percent of the value of each U.S. bushel of soybeans.

Made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats, biodiesel and renewable diesel are better, cleaner fuels that are available now for use in existing diesel engines without modification. NBB is the U.S. trade association representing the entire biodiesel and renewable diesel value chain, including producers, feedstock suppliers, and fuel distributors.