WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bill Delahunt joined with Governor Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray, and House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi at a press conference today at the State House to unveil a nation-leading biofuels initiative for Massachusetts.
“New England is addicted to foreign oil. In Massachusetts alone, we spend more than $10 billion a year on petroleum, and it is very clear where most of those dollars are going,” said Delahunt, noting that Saudi Arabia alone made $160 billion in 2005 exporting oil. “Developing cleaner fuels is not only important for our economy and our environment, it is critical for our national security.”
A report prepared for Delahunt by the Northeast Biofuels Collaborative, entitled “A Proposed Strategy To Promote Biofuels Production and Use in Massachusetts”, notes that residents and industry in the Commonwealth spend roughly $10 billion on petroleum fuels, almost as much as natural gas and electricity combined. However, since Massachusetts does not produce or refine oil and has limited stocks, it is highly susceptible to fuel shortages and pump price spikes, as experienced after Hurricane Katrina. The report also notes that Massachusetts is the third largest heating oil market in the U.S. and that business and residents pay the third highest energy prices in the nation.
Delahunt added, “Our report has identified four key areas to work on – promoting the use of flex fuel and alternative vehicles; expanding the supply of alternative fuels; ending restrictions imposed by the major oil companies on market access; and state incentives to boost local renewable fuel production. In Washington we are changing the direction of energy policy by cutting subsidies to big oil and investing those resources in renewable fuels. Clearly there are things we can also do to diversify the fuel markets right here in Massachusetts.”
“States have to be both pragmatic and visionary when it comes to promoting biofuels and reducing their dependence on foreign oil,” said Brooke Coleman, Founder of the Northeast Biofuels Collaborative and Executive Director of the New Fuels Alliance. “Like building a house, the industry needs a concrete foundation on which to build a more sophisticated structure.”
The report served as the framework for legislation that Governor Patrick, Senate President Murray, and Speaker of the House DiMasi announced today which will promote advanced biofuels as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil, capture clean-air benefits, and capitalize on clean-fuel research for economic growth and jobs.
The three state leaders agreed to co-sponsor a bill that would establish minimum requirements for biodiesel and bioheat in all diesel and home heating fuel sold in the Commonwealth – the latter a national first – as well as exempt from the state gasoline tax ethanol derived from advanced cellulosic technology. Massachusetts would be the first state in the nation to provide a tax incentive for cellulosic ethanol, an environmentally beneficial liquid fuel that Massachusetts–based companies are now rushing to bring to market.
“We need to add clean fuels to the mix today, but we also have to look ahead to the renewable fuel that will do the most good for Massachusetts in environmental, energy, and economic terms, and that is cellulosic ethanol,” said Governor Patrick. “Our gas tax exemption will stimulate our clean energy industry.”
“Today, we stand together on a bold new biofuels initiative that we believe will make Massachusetts yet again a national leader – the same way we did with public schools, medicine, technology and health care reform,” said Speaker DiMasi. “It’s not just the right thing to do for our environment and our energy independence, it is the right thing to do for our economy.”
“Advanced biofuels are made from an array of new feedstocks, including agricultural waste, sustainable energy crops, algae, and even cranberry bog biomass,” said Senator Murray. “Many of the companies developing these fuels are right here in Massachusetts.”
The bill to be filed by Governor Patrick, Speaker DiMasi and Senate President Murray will require all diesel and home heating fuel sold in the Commonwealth to contain a minimum amount of biobased alternatives in their blends, with that amount rising from 2 percent in 2010 to 5 percent in 2013. These mandates will help build Massachusetts’s emerging biodiesel/bioheat refinery and distribution sector. Three refineries are in the planning stages in Pittsfield, Greenfield, and Quincy, and several local and national distributors are preparing to compete in this arena. Several other states have biodiesel content standards, but Massachusetts would be the first to establish a bioheat standard – of particular significance because the Northeast makes much greater use of oil for home heating than other parts of the country.
The state gas-tax exemption for cellulosic ethanol – ethanol made from forest products, switchgrass, and agricultural wastes – would be the first state tax incentive in the nation for the next generation of ethanol. Once commercialized, ethanol would become a homegrown gasoline additive (in much of Massachusetts, gasoline currently contains 10 percent corn ethanol) and an environmentally sustainable source for higher “flex-fuel” blends, such as E85, which is currently not readily available in the Commonwealth. The signal sent by the state gas-tax exemption, creating instant market demand for their products, will spur Massachusetts companies on in the race to commercialize ethanol.
Delahunt also joined with the Governor, Speaker, and Senate President as well as executives of companies engaged in biofuel research , development and marketing to announce the creation of a Biofuels Task Force in Massachusetts. The Task Force will review the report and examine ways to promote advanced biofuels for their environmental and energy benefits as well as the economic benefits of a growing clean fuels industry based in Massachusetts. The gas-tax incentive for cellulosic ethanol is projected to create 2,500 new jobs in Massachusetts and pump $200 million into the economy as advanced ethanol is brought to market.
To view a copy of the report, please click here.
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