The Battelle gasifier in Burlington, Vermont, provides a clean gas fuel for modern power systems that can achieve efficiencies double those of today's biopower industry. Courtesy of DOE/NREL; credit, Warren Gretz.
As a member of the 25 x '25 Alliance, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) sent a joint letter to Congressional leaders urging at least $1.2 billion per year in stimulus funding go to renewable energy and efficiency programs authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill.
In the letter, the Alliance recommends:
"including at least $1.2 billion/year in mandatory supplemental appropriations for important Farm Bill Energy Title programs. In catalyzing the construction and operation of new clean energy facilities, the Farm Bill Energy Title programs are major job creators. For example, the Rural Energy for America Program already is funding new wind and solar power, biogas, bioenergy, geothermal and energy efficiency projects in nearly every state in the country. The Bioenergy Crop Assistance Program will accelerate dedicated energy crop plantings. A Biorefinery Assistance Program will help build new advanced biofuels production facilities, which require additional financing in a tight credit environment to break ground."
The letter also supports extending and expanding the Production Tax Credit and restructuring renewable tax credits to make them more flexible and available to all forms of renewable energy.
The letter emphasizes the need to extend and expand the Clean Renewable Energy Bond program that provides incentives for electric cooperatives, public power and municipalities to build new renewable energy facilities and invest in energy efficiency.
In guidance provided to President-elect Obama's Transition Team, NRECA CEO Glenn English noted that the Rural Utilities Service, which provides loans and grants for renewable energy development and energy efficiency, has historically received inadequate funding.