ASA and
NBB Commend House Passage of a Renewable Fuels Standard
April 21, 2005...
Saint Louis, Missouri... The American Soybean Association
(ASA) and the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) are pleased that
the United States House of Representatives has passed,
by a vote of 249 to 183, energy legislation
that includes a Renewable Fuels
Standard (RFS) that would grow to 5 billion gallons by 2012.
Soon the U.S. Senate will move forward with companion
legislation.
“Soybean farmers
appreciate the work that went into this House legislation,”
said ASA President Neal Bredehoeft, a soybean producer from
Alma, Mo. “This is a big step forward in the process of
developing a comprehensive energy package that encourages the
use of renewable fuels like biodiesel.”
Biodiesel is a cleaner
burning fuel made from renewable resources such as soybean
oil. Biodiesel works in any diesel engine with few or no
modifications. It has the highest energy balance of any fuel
and can be used in its pure form (B100), or blended with
petroleum diesel at any level. Nationwide, more than 500 major
fleets now use biodiesel commercially, and more than 400
retail filling stations also make it available to the public.
“A recent survey shows 74 percent of registered voters support
a renewable fuels standard, and 79 percent favor extending the
biodiesel tax incentive,” said Darryl Brinkmann, NBB Chairman
and a soybean producer from Carlyle, Ill. “Americans clearly
see the important role renewable fuels can play in reducing
our dependence on foreign oil and cleaning up emissions.”
The ethanol and biodiesel industries have undergone
unprecedented growth over the past several years. In fact, the
U.S. currently has the capacity to produce more than 3.7
billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel, and plants under
construction will add an additional 700 million gallons of
capacity by the end of the year. Most of this growth has been
in farmer-owned plants, which taken as a whole, now represent
the single largest producer in the country.
“Now we look for the Senate to present legislation that will
increase the standard to 8 billion gallons, extend tax
incentives for biodiesel into 2011, and modify the
qualification for agribiodiesel so that the term only includes
esters from virgin vegetable oils derived from crops grown on
U.S. farms,” Bredehoeft said. “Use of biodiesel will help
reduce our dependence on foreign oil, improve our environment
and improve prices paid to farmers for their soybeans.”
# # #
For more
information contact:
Neal Bredehoeft, ASA President, 660-674-2442,
nbredehoeft@almanet.net
Bob Callanan ASA Communications Director, 800-688-7692,
bcallanan@soy.org
Darryl Brinkmann, NBB Chairman, 618-594-2170,
dbrnkmnn@dellmail.com
Jenna Higgins, NBB Director of Communications, 573-635-3893,
jhiggins@biodiesel.org |
