Biden-Harris Administration Invests in Domestic Biofuels and Clean Energy as Part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda

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August 18, 2024

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(U.S. Department of Agriculture) Funding from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act Will Lower Costs at the Pump and Increase American Energy Security Across the Nation -- Today (Augsut 16, 2024), on the second anniversary of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is funding 160 projects in 26 states to expand access to clean energy systems and increase the availability of domestic biofuels that will create new market opportunities and jobs for U.S. farmers, ranchers and agricultural producers. The projects will increase American energy security and advance President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to grow the nation’s economy from the middle out and bottom up.

USDA is providing $99.6 million through the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) and the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) with funding from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the nation’s largest-ever investment in combatting the climate crisis. To date, USDA has invested more than $600 million from the Inflation Reduction Act for more than 4,500 clean energy projects through REAP, and more than $180 million in more than 200 projects that increase availability of domestic biofuels across the country.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is lowering costs for rural Americans and giving people in rural areas the historic opportunity to expand clean energy and build an economy that benefits working families and small businesses,” Secretary Vilsack said. “By expanding access to homegrown biofuels and clean energy systems, we are strengthening our energy independence, addressing the impacts of climate change and creating new market opportunities and revenue streams for American producers while bringing good-paying jobs in rural communities.”

Secretary Vilsack made today’s announcement during his visit to Minnesota, which included an Investing in the American Bioeconomy discussion at the University of Minnesota and a visit to The Corner Store in Inver Grove Heights, which is receiving a $518,250 HBIIP grant to create infrastructure to expand the sales and use of renewable fuels. This project will install four E15 dispensers, four E85 dispensers, and two ethanol storage tanks at this fueling station. This project projects to increase the amount of ethanol sold by 506,100 gallons per year.

Also in Minnesota, USDA is awarding $9.2 million in REAP grants to 71 projects across the state. This program helps farmers and small business owners expand their use of wind, solar and other forms of clean energy and make energy efficiency improvements. For example:

In Longville, Raveling Outdoors, LLC will use a $59,475 REAP grant to install a 45-kilowatt solar array for the company’s boat construction business. This project is expected to save the business nearly $9,000 in electrical costs per year and replace 52,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually.
In Waltham, Moe Family Farm LLC will use a $10,812 REAP grant to install an energy efficient shop heater. This project is expected to save the business $1,000 in electrical costs per year and replace 37,300 kilowatt hours of electricity annually.

The REAP program will advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy and other investment areas flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

As part of today’s announcement, USDA is also awarding $90.3 million in HBIIP grants to 89 projects in 26 states. These investments will help business owners install and upgrade infrastructure such as fuel pumps, dispensers and storage tanks. They will also spur economic growth in rural communities by increasing competition in agricultural markets and lowering costs through clean energy projects.

For example:

In Georgia, CSX Transportation Inc. will use a $1.9 million grant to install a 200-gallon biodiesel aboveground storage tank, distribution equipment and electric monitoring tools. Using this investment, the company aims to increase the amount of available biofuels by 1 million gallons per year.
In Nevada, Anabi Real Estate Development LLC will use a $3.7 million grant to install three E85 dispensers and three B20 dispensers at two fueling stations. Through this project, the company aims to increase the amount of biofuel it sells by more than 80,000 gallons per year.

USDA continues to accept HBIIP applications until Sept. 30, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. ET. For more information, go to the HBIIP webpage.

Today’s announcement includes investments in California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA has invested more than $220 million nationwide to increase access to biofuels at fueling stations and more than $2.2 billion in renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements.

Background

The Biden-Harris Administration championed the Inflation Reduction Act, a key pillar of the Investing in America agenda.

Through the Inflation Reduction Act, the Administration is delivering on its promise to fight climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across America. The Act provides funding to USDA Rural Development to help eligible organizations invest in renewable energy infrastructure that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions through programs like REAP and HBIIP.

REAP provides grants and loans to help farmers and small business owners expand their use of wind, solar and other forms of clean energy and make energy efficiency improvements. These innovations help them increase their income, grow their businesses, address climate change and lower energy costs for American families.

HBIIP provides grants to fueling station and distribution facility owners—including marine, rail, and home heating oil facilities—to help expand access to domestic biofuels as a clean and affordable energy source.

For more information, visit: www.rd.usda.gov/inflation-reduction-act.

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, Tribal and high-poverty areas. Visit the Rural Data Gateway to learn how and where these investments are impacting rural America. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov. READ MORE

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Kwik Trip gets $10 million in federal funds to add ethanol, biodiesel pumps, including in Janesville (WCLO)
USDA Marks IRA Anniversary with HBIIP Awards (Energy.AgWired.com)
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Excerpt from The Gazette: Kwik Trip will receive nearly $10 million in federal grants to improve access for drivers to higher blends of ethanol and to make other biofuel improvements at its gas stations in four Midwestern states including Iowa, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Friday as part of an effort funding 160 “clean energy” projects in 26 states.

One of those projects also includes Casey’s, which will receive over $3.5 million to make improvements at 194 stations in Iowa — 14 of them in Cedar Rapids and three in Iowa City — to install pumps for E15 and E85 fuel. The grant is in addition to $5 million Casey’s received earlier this year under the program to install 456 E15 dispensers at 111 stations in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.

The tranche of grants announced Friday — $99.6 million in total — is the latest in a string of federal assistance for improving nationwide access to E15 and E85 ethanol blends and B20 diesel, which blends petroleum diesel with a biofuel.

Funding for these grants came under the Inflation Reduction Act, which so far has provided $600 million to over 4,500 clean energy projects and more than $180 million for over 200 projects that increase availability of biofuels nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The most common blend of ethanol dispensed now is E10, or about a 10 percent blend. E15 offers a higher blend — 15 percent — but is less available to consumers and generally has been blocked from summer sales in many states over concerns about pollution. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted a waiver for E15 sales this summer, and has issued a rule allowing year-round sales in eight Midwestern states — including Iowa — beginning in 2025.

Under a state measure signed into law in 2022, Iowa gas stations must by 2026 offer the E15 blend of ethanol in at least one pump.

“I proposed the biofuels bill because Iowa farmers and renewable fuel producers are the economic backbone of our state, because Iowans and Americans deserve access to a reliable, less expensive, environmentally friendly option, and Iowans have delivered,” Gov. Kim Reynolds said when signing the bill. “And in doing so, we’ve sent a message that can’t be ignored: America’s energy is growing right here in Iowa’s fields.”

But because many gas stations do not have E15 or E85 pumps or storage tanks, government programs were begun to help subsidize the modifications. In addition to federal programs, Iowa’s Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program has invested over $80 million while the industry has invested over $240 million in improving access to biofuels, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

The U.S. Department of Energy says about 96 percent of the vehicles on U.S. roads today — or roughly 290 million — were made after 2000 and could use E15, although no motorcycle or heavier equipment like school buses ever should.

Additionally, over 22 million flex fuel vehicles — or about 8 percent of all vehicles — on U.S. roads are approved to use a much higher blend of ethanol, up to E85.

The Kwik Trip project will install 612 E15 dispensers and 151 B20 dispensers and install storage tanks at 60 fueling stations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa. Besides that and the Casey’s grants, projects involving Iowa will add another 66 E15 dispensers and 25 E85 dispensers and storage tanks across the state. READ MORE