ABC: Bill Signals Building Support for Nutrient Recycling, Biogas

(American Biogas Council/Biomass Magazine) Last week, Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Pat Robert, R-Kan., introduced new bipartisan legislation, the Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Act (S 3248). This latest bill is a companion to identical House legislation (HR 5489) introduced on June 15 by Reps. Ron Kind, D-Wisc., and Tom Reed, R-N.Y. The American Biogas Council, the trade association for the U.S. biogas industry, applauds the bill which will increase the sustainability of farms by helping to deploy new nutrient recovery and biogas systems to recycle organic material into baseload renewable energy and healthy soil products. The legislation provides a 30 percent investment tax credit (ITC) for qualifying biogas and nutrient recovery systems and is the Senate companion bill to HR.5489 introduced last month. The House bill now has 24 republican and democratic sponsors and the support of several industry groups.

“With the introduction of these two bills, we believe that there is strong recognition of the need for clean waterways and more productive soils which contribute to healthier communities and a stronger economy. Biogas and nutrient recovery systems make these goals obtainable and this legislation will help incentivize those technologies,” said Patrick Serfass, executive director of the ABC. “We are thankful to Senators Brown and Roberts for their leadership and for recognizing the far reaching benefits of sustainable farming where organic material and nutrients are recycled to create beneficial soil products, baseload renewable energy and jobs."

Currently, the United States has more than 2,100 sites producing biogas, and still, the potential for growth of the U.S. biogas industry is huge. A recent industry assessment conducted with the USDA, EPA and DOE as part of the Federal Biogas Opportunities Roadmap estimates nearly 11,000 sites are ripe for development. If fully realized, these new biogas systems could produce enough energy to power 3.5 million American homes and reduce emissions equivalent to removing up to 11 million passenger vehicles from the road. It would also result in an estimated $33 billion in construction spending, creating approximately 275,000 short-term construction jobs and 18,000 permanent jobs to operate the biogas systems and manage ongoing business activities. READ MORE