The "Biodiesel Tax Credit Extension Act of 2024," which would extend the biodiesel blender's tax credit, was
introduced in Congress this week to the celebration of fuel retailers and associations.
NACS, NATSO (representing America's travel centers and truck stops), and SIGMA: America's Leading Fuel Marketers, all support the bill.
Extending the biodiesel blender's tax credit would incentivize fuel retailers nationwide to buy and blend more gallons of biodiesel, which is “better for the environment than petroleum-diesel,” said the groups. “Biodiesel historically has been the most widely consumed biofuel for use in commercial trucking and represents the best opportunity to reduce carbon emissions from the nation's commercial trucking fleet for the foreseeable future.”
Since 2004, the biodiesel tax credit has spurred fuel retailers to invest in the necessary infrastructure to sell low-carbon alternative fuels while encouraging consumers to buy renewable fuel blends due to their lower cost. The biodiesel tax credit helps create jobs, reduce the transportation sector's greenhouse gas emissions and enables fuel retailers to offer more competitively priced diesel fuel, touted the groups.
"This legislation is key to supporting our industry's continued investment in advanced renewable fuels," said Paige Anderson, director of government relations at NACS. "We applaud Congressman Carey for demonstrating leadership on this issue and encourage all Members of Congress to support this bill, which will extend fuel supply and incentivize fuel retailers to invest in low-carbon alternative fuels at a cost that is attractive to consumers."
The groups further added: “The biodiesel blender's tax credit has worked successfully to build a robust renewable diesel industry in the United States while decreasing carbon emissions associated with transportation fuel. The U.S. biodiesel and renewable diesel market has grown to approximately 4 billion gallons in 2023 from roughly 100 million gallons in 2005. Biodiesel and renewable diesel eliminated 15 million metric tons of CO2 in California alone in 2020, the equivalent of taking more than 3 million passenger cars off the roads. Compared with petroleum-based diesel, renewable diesel and biodiesel reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%.”