(KIWA Staff Photo)
Statewide Iowa (RI) — The head of the Iowa Biodiesel Board says producers are welcoming an executive order aimed at streamlining the process for claiming a federal tax credit for producing low-emission fuels, but there’s still uncertainty.
Grant Kimberly says larger biodiesel producers are in a better position to claim the 45-Z credit. Smaller, independent producers must work through a third party to sell the credit and often have to wait several weeks, and in some cases up to a year, to get paid.
Kimberly says the industry has faced a few difficult years, but he’s cautiously optimistic about the future. Almost all of the Iowa biodiesel plants that were idle at this time last year are now running. He says it was a challenge holding onto highly skilled workers through the period of low demand.
President Donald Trump signed the executive order — called the “Regenerative Feedstock Rule” — last month. Kimberly says the Energy Department and Treasury Department still need to finalize rules for quantifying greenhouse-gas reductions in biofuel production and determining exact credit eligibility.
