The government is offering more than $1.5 billion in assistance, from field to filling station, to bring next-generation biofuels to market, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Thursday.
Vilsack said the aid would assure renewable fuel consumption reaches 36 billion gallons by 2022, with the bulk of it coming from non-food sources such as grass, algae or woody plants.
During a speech, Vilsack also urged Congress to revive a biodiesel tax credit and to extend, possibly at a lower rate, an ethanol tax credit due to expire on Dec 31. He said a 54-cent-a-gallon tariff on imported ethanol was likely to continue but eventually be phased out.
Biofuels are a favorite cause in the U.S. Midwest, where the ethanol industry is concentrated. Vilsack announced the biofuels aid less than two weeks before mid-term elections when Republicans are expected to gain seats. Two-thirds of the most competitive U.S. House races are in rural districts.
