May 5 2010
Representatives Brian Bilbray (R-California), Mark Schauer (D-Michigan) and Allyson Schwartz (D-Pennsylvania) have introduced the Grow a Renewable Energy Economy Now – Jumpstart Other Biofuels (GREEN JOBS) Act of 2010. The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has indicated its appreciation for this introduction.
The CEO and President of BIO Jim Greenwood commented that the rapid increase in production of advanced biofuels in the U.S. is ideal for contributing to the growth of the economy, reducing dependence on foreign oil and creating green jobs.
The GREEN JOBS Act helps support the biofuel industry’s initiatives for securing project funding by expanding and strengthening federal tax incentives meant for advanced biofuels, thereby increasing biorefineries development and facilitating the creation of high-wage jobs. The legislation can open currently available cellulosic biofuel tax benefits to fuels based on algae and also extend tax benefits for an additional four years. The legislation can also offer algae and cellulosic-based biorefineries with an option of selecting a refundable investment tax credit of 30% instead of manufacturing incentives. Companies cannot claim both the investment and production incentives; however, they have the option of choosing the incentive that best suits their business operation.
The ‘U.S. Economic Impact of Advanced Biofuels Production’, which is a study commissioned by BIO indicates that the development of sophisticated biorefineries can help create around 29,000 jobs in few years time and multiple thousands by the year 2030, thereby contributing over $140 billion to the growth of the economy. Moreover, a white paper of BIO ‘Biobased Chemicals and Products: A New Driver of U.S. Economic Development and Green Jobs’ indicates that the estimated growth in the bio-based plastics and chemicals sector, which are also manufactured in sophisticated biorefineries, can help create multiple hundreds of jobs. This sector, accounting 4% of the market, currently creates 5,700 direct jobs and around 40,000 indirect jobs.