"This report is very good news for soybean producers. Their commodity is the basis for value-added products that increase farm income, enhance rural communities, make America more energy independent, and clean-up the environment," Grassley said. "For example, biodiesel is a proven success in making conventional diesel engines burn cleaner. And today there are exciting new possibilities for biodiesel to clean-up dirty diesel-powered generators."
When generators burn cleaner they can run longer and provide more power. With energy shortages in California and elsewhere, "it's an important time for biodiesel." Grassley said.
The latest study ? prepared at Grassley's request by the Chief Economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture ? concludes that increasing the demand for soy-based products such as biodiesel by 1.5 billion pounds per year would increase annual U.S. net farm income by an average of 0.7 percent over the 2001-2010 period.
For a copy of the 18-page USDA report, call Jill Kozeny at 202/224-1308.
Several years ago, Grassley sponsored a demonstration for lawmakers on Capitol Hill to show that a city bus run on a combination of petroleum diesel and biodiesel emits far less of the black exhaust typically seen because biodiesel doesn't emit the sulphur that exists in petroleum diesel. Grassley has urged that biodiesel be officially listed by the Department of Energy as an alternative fuel and sought to have the use of biodiesel by public transit systems incorporated into the Federal Transit Administration's financial assistance programs.. There is one soy diesel production plant in Iowa. It is located in Sargeant Bluff.
In addition to biodiesel, Grassley has long been an effective advocate for tax policies encouraging the production of renewable fuels.