Clean Energy Biofuels Act

Clean Energy Biofuels Act

On July 28, 2008, Governor Patrick signed the Clean Energy Biofuels Act, legislation that will encourage the growth of an advanced biofuels industry as part of the growing clean energy technology sector in Massachusetts. In nation-leading provisions, the legislation gives preferential tax treatment to non-corn-based alternatives to ethanol, requires biofuel content in all the diesel and home heating fuel sold in the state, and proposes a new fuel standard for the region that will encourage a range of emissions-reducing technologies for cars and trucks.

• An Act Furthering the Biofuels Clean Energy Sector
• Chapter 206 of the Acts of 2008 (Massachusetts General Laws)

 Massachusetts Advanced Biofuels Task Force

Filed in November, the legislation was expanded and refined based on the recommendations of the Massachusetts Advanced Biofuels Task Force, comprising industry representatives, experts, legislators, and agency officials. The Task Force issued its final report in April, following four public hearings across the state. The Task Force estimated that a mature advanced biofuels industry could contribute $280 million to $1 billion per year to the Massachusetts economy by 2025, generating 1,000 to 4,000 permanent jobs and 150 to 760 temporary construction jobs, while reducing the Bay State’s reliance on petroleum imports.

• Download the Advanced Biofuels Task Force Report (Spring 2008)
• Learn more about the Task Force members.
• Read testimony to the Task Force.

What are Biofuels?

Biofuels are substitutes for liquid petroleum fuels (such as gasoline, diesel, and heating oil) that are derived from renewable organic matter such as corn, soy, switchgrass, agricultural waste, wood, and waste vegetable oil. “Advanced” biofuels are generally derived from non-food-based feedstocks and defined in federal law as those that yield a lifecycle reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 50 percent compared with fossil fuels.

While Massachusetts plays little role in the corn- and soy-based biofuels of today, the advanced biofuels of tomorrow depend on biochemical research, technological entrepreneurship, and feedstocks that can be grown locally. Already, Massachusetts is home to a number of leading companies in the quest to develop advanced biofuels, including Mascoma Corp. of Boston and SunEthanol of Hadley, a spin-off of discoveries made at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst.

Major Provisions of the Clean Energy Biofuels Act

In its major provisions, the Clean Energy Biofuels Act:

• Exempts from the state gasoline excise tax cellulosic biofuels – gasoline substitutes made from the fibrous matter (cellulose) of feedstocks such as switchgrass, agricultural wastes, and forest products rather than corn. Massachusetts is the first state in the nation to give a tax incentive for the use of cellulosic biofuels rather than corn-based ethanol.
• Requires a minimum percentage of biofuel as component of all diesel fuel and home heating fuel sold in the Commonwealth, starting at 2 percent in 2010 and ramping up to 5 percent by 2013. Massachusetts is the first state in the nation to require biofuel in home heating fuel. All biofuels must meet high standards for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions over their entire lifecycles (growing, processing, and combustion) in order to qualify for the content mandate. The state Department of Energy Resources has authority to delay the minimum content requirements if there are no biofuels available that meet those standards.
• Requires Massachusetts to develop, as a successor to minimum percentage requirements, a Low Carbon Fuel Standard that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector by 10 percent and to seek an agreement with the member states of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to implement the Standard on a regional basis. To date, only California has committed to developing a Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which could be met by a range of possible technologies – more and better biofuels, plug-in hybrids, all-electric cars, or other innovations.

Other Acts 0f 2008 Encouraging Clean Energy

The Clean Energy Biofuels Act is one of three pieces of legislation signed by Governor Patrick in 2008 encouraging clean energy alternatives to fossil fuels and supporting the growth of a clean energy technology industry in Massachusetts.

• The Green Communities Act (Chapter 169 of the Acts of 2008) will remake the electricity marketplace in Massachusetts to favor efficiency over additional power generation, saving energy and money for consumers, and to support the development and use of renewable energy by residents, businesses, and municipalities.
• The Oceans Act, (Chapter 114 of the Acts of 2008) which requires the development of a first-in-the-nation comprehensive management plan for Massachusetts’s state waters, allows for the development of wind, wave, and tidal power as part of a plan that balances new and traditional uses with preservation of natural resources.