Member press release – American Biogas Council Applauds Passage of Inflation Reduction Act and Historic Investment in Clean Energy
WASHINGTON – Aug. 12, 2022 – The American Biogas Council (ABC) applauds the passage by the Senate and now the U.S. House of Representatives of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Today is a monumental day for clean energy production and the U.S. biogas industry. Congress has recognized the essential role biogas systems, which recycle organic waste into renewable energy and domestic, natural fertilizer products, play in our society. With only two ways to recycle the billions of tons of organic waste the U.S. produces every year, biogas systems and compost systems, we can’t accelerate construction of this essential infrastructure fast enough. The IRA will help us push the pedal down.
Before this bill, our industry had only benefitted from short one- to two-year extensions of a tax credit that served one sector of the biogas industry. While trying to attract investment to projects that take years to build and competing with other industries with long-term tax credits, this was not a long-term solution. For the first time, this bill gives developers and financiers certainty and a competitive edge that will fuel growth of the biogas and clean energy industries for years to come.
While the U.S. has 2,300 operational biogas systems, only about 15 percent of the potential for the biogas industry in the country has been realized. Meanwhile, we produce 65 million tons of food waste, manure and waste from 8 billion cows, chickens, turkey and pigs, and more than 11 trillion gallons of wastewater each year. We must build more biogas systems to recycle this material into baseload renewable energy and soil products, and we can do so 24 hours a day and 365 days a year with 95 percent reliability.
For the first time, the system of tax credits in the bill supports all biogas sectors: wastewater, farm, food waste, and projects that produce renewable electricity, renewable natural gas, and renewable heat. Plus, the additional $1.965 billion to support the existing Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) will help our industry work with agriculture to increase sustainability and productivity.
While many have been supportive of the biogas industry, at this time, we would like to give a special thanks to Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI-03) and Tom Reed (R-NY-23) and Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and John Thune (R-SD). They have fought for the biogas industry for years to create a level playing field so we can compete in fair markets with fossil fuel and other renewable energy sectors.
We look forward to President Biden signing this landmark bill and are excited to engage the administration and other leaders to secure a clean energy future in the U.S.
About the American Biogas Council
The American Biogas Council is the only national trade association representing the entire biogas industry in the U.S., representing more than 300 companies in all parts of the biogas supply chain that are dedicated to maximizing the production and use of biogas from organic waste. Biogas systems protect our air, water and soil by recycling organic material, like food waste and manure, into renewable energy and soil products. Learn more online at AmericanBiogasCouncil.org, on Twitter @ambiogascouncil, and on LinkedIn.
Media Contact:
Marisa Long,
Tel: 1-412-877-759
marisa@inspireprgroup.com
