US House Passes Biodiesel Credit Extension

In brief: The $1/gallon biodiesel tax credit that expired at the end of 2009 will be extended under legislation that passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

The word

The proposal is part of a larger stimulus package which extends unemployment benefits and gives other tax breaks would extend the biodiesel tax credit of $1 per gallon until the end of 2010.

There are 173 biodiesel plants in the U.S. with an annual capacity of 2.7 billion gallons, according to the National Biodiesel Board. Most argue that the tax credit is required to make biodiesel cost competitive with petroleum diesel.

And so ...

Some argue that subsidizing blended biodiesel is also helping the petroleum industry, since 75-80% of most biodiesel at the pump is actually petroleum-based diesel fuel.

Photo credits: Wikimedia