Northwest Iowa — Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has signed into law a measure that would provide tax credits to northwest Iowa companies that make new products from what’s left over after ethanol and biodiesel are made from “biomass” like corn and soybeans.
The legislation was outlined in the Governor’s State of the State Address, and will represent the next generation in production of renewable biochemicals.
Branstad says the legislation, which is the first of it’s kind in the nation, will help Iowa’s renewable chemicals industry by using biomass as feedstocks for the production of building block chemicals. He says Iowa is the nation’s premier leader in the renewable fuels industry, and will now be able to build on the legacy of leveraging homegrown renewable resources to produce the next generation of building block chemicals.
During a visit to Sheldon last week, Iowa Economic Development Director Debi Durham call the legislation good news, since, as she says, northwest Iowa is the center of ethanol and biodiesel production in the state.
