NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Paul Winters
202-737-8801
pwinters@biodiesel.org
WASHINGTON, DC - The National Biodiesel Board
(NBB) today released comments in response to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's request for information on the Higher Blends Infrastructure
Incentive Program (HBIIP). NBB expressed the biodiesel industry's gratitude for
inclusion in the program, since the infrastructure needs for biodiesel,
renewable diesel, Bioheat®, and sustainable aviation fuel are different from
those of other biofuels.
"The
biodiesel industry is grateful for the opportunity to be included in this
program," NBB states in the comments. "As USDA moves forward, we ask
that the department be inclusive of all infrastructure opportunities that would
increase the use of biodiesel, including Bioheat and sustainable aviation fuel.
In order to ensure the best return on dollars spent and facilitate true growth,
we ask that USDA emphasize investments where there is either an existing or
emerging market."
Kurt
Kovarik, NBB's VP of Federal Affairs, added, "We thank USDA and
administration leaders for following through on President Trump's pledge to
support infrastructure projects that facilitate higher biofuel blends. American
consumers are increasingly demanding access to clean, low-carbon, advanced
biofuels, like biodiesel. We look forward to working with USDA to strengthen
the market for higher blends of biodiesel, renewable diesel, Bioheat® and
sustainable aviation fuels."
USDA's
Rural Business-Cooperative Service and Commodity Credit Corporation are
exploring options to expand U.S. biodiesel and ethanol availability through
infrastructure projects to facilitate increased sales of biofuel blends,
including B20 and higher. The effort aims to build on the Biofuels
Infrastructure Partnership (BIP), which from 2016 to 2019 expanded
infrastructure for higher ethanol blends.
In
its comments, NBB asked USDA to focus the program on investments in strategic
terminals, pipeline storage and rail expansion to create broader downstream
capacity to sell more gallons: "Investments would be best served on
opportunities that would afford the greatest additional volumes of biodiesel
(references to biodiesel include Bioheat and sustainable aviation fuel) to
enter the marketplace. The greatest barriers to biodiesel distribution are at
the terminal and pipeline terminal level, as well as rail to reach distribution
centers."
A
copy of NBB's comments is available for download.
Made
from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil,
soybean oil and animal fats, biodiesel is a renewable, clean-burning diesel
replacement that can be used in existing diesel engines without modification.
It is the nation's first domestically produced, commercially available advanced
biofuel. NBB is the U.S. trade association representing the entire biodiesel
value chain, including producers, feedstock suppliers, and fuel distributors,
as well as the U.S. renewable diesel industry.
###
For more about biodiesel, visit www.biodiesel.org.