Imperium Renewables Applauds Obama Biofuels Strategy

SEATTLE--Imperium Renewables, one of the nation’s largest producers of biodiesel, today released the following statement in support of President Obama’s biofuels strategy, announced earlier today. Its founder and CEO John Plaza said the following:

“We applaud the Obama administration for its strong show of support for the U.S. biofuels industry today, and are obviously pleased that the EPA has finally issued its rule on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2), and used a common-sense approach to enforcing the standards passed by Congress in 2007. It’s a critical step towards achieving our nation’s goals of economic recovery, national security and leadership in addressing climate change.

We are pleased to see that even with the consideration of Indirect Land Use Criteria, EPA has found that biodiesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by at least 57 percent, and as much as 85 percent, compared to petroleum diesel fuel.

With RFS2 now in effect, we are confident that demand for biodiesel will begin to increase, helping to create and sustain more than 23,000 family wage jobs across the country. In addition, our industry will displace the importation of nearly one billion gallons of imported diesel and reduce associated CO2 emissions by nearly 60 percent.

While we’re pleased with the President’s commitment to RFS2, we remain deeply concerned about last year’s expiration of the biodiesel tax credit, which enables our fuel to be price competitive with petroleum fuel. With RFS2 now in place, the Senate must immediately act to re-authorize this credit to further accelerate the adoption of biodiesel in the US. It is imperative that Congress address expiration of this effective tax incentive in the first appropriate legislative vehicle.

In addition, to provide critical certainty and promote the creation of domestic green jobs, legislation is needed expeditiously to provide a multiple year extension of a biodiesel tax incentive that is structured in a manner that promotes the domestic production and use of this clean-burning diesel replacement fuel.

Imperium Renewables will gladly rise to the challenge of continuing to produce the highest quality biodiesel from renewable resources, reducing emissions and putting people back to work. We are deeply appreciative of the support our industry has also received from Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) for sound biofuels policy and industry stability for the future.”

Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum diesel fuel made from oils derived from crops, plants and waste products, which can be used in any conventional diesel engine. It can be used in pure form (100 percent biodiesel) or in a “blended” form, in which it replaces a percentage of petroleum diesel. A National Renewable Energy Lab study shows biodiesel reduces lifecycle carbon emissions 78 percent compared to petroleum diesel. Imperium’s high-quality fuel meets or exceeds ASTM D-6751 specifications.

About Imperium Renewables

Founded in 2005, Seattle-based Imperium Renewables owns and operates a production facility in Grays Harbor County with a nameplate capacity of 100 million gallons per year. It is the largest BQ-9000 certified production facility in the United States and the second largest facility overall. More information on the company is available via the website at www.imperiumrenewables.com.