WASHINGTON – January 8, 2025 – The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued final rules yesterday afternoon for clean electricity investment tax credits. Patrick Serfass, Executive Director of the American Biogas Council, issued the following statement in response:
“By failing to recognize the benefits of biogas-derived electricity, Treasury’s new rules show a complete disregard of climate science and a lack of understanding that biogas systems reduce carbon emissions more than any other technology. As a result, these rules–-which Congress intended to be technology neutral–-pick winners and losers, while departing from logic and sound GHG accounting.
“In practice, this tax credit provides little to no value, creating economic barriers to recycling and encouraging low-cost disposal instead. Small municipalities and rural agricultural communities will be hurt most, at a time when they are being asked to manage their wastes more sustainably. Meanwhile billions of tons of energy-rich waste will remain untapped.
“Existing biogas facilities can generate about 5 gigawatts of clean, firm electricity, but they represent just 12% of what’s possible if all potential biogas facilities were built. That would mean US biogas projects could create 40 gigawatts of generating capacity in total. At a time when both waste and energy demand are rapidly increasing, the federal government should be doing all it can to incentivize the conversion of waste into domestic, clean and renewable energy. It’s a shame and a missed opportunity.”
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