Iowa biodiesel producers and soybean farmers will host Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and U.S. Senate hopeful Joni Ernst at Newton’s REG, one of the state’s 12 biodiesel plants Thursday.
Renewable Energy Group will give them and other invited guests a tour of the REG Newton facility, which employs 25 Iowans, Thursday morning.
Industry representatives have also planned a private meeting with Ernst. Grant Kimberley, IBB executive director, said discussions of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard are likely to dominate.
“We welcome the opportunity to have a sincere dialogue with Joni Ernst on the monumental effort to diversify our fuel supply with an advanced biofuel like biodiesel,” Kimberley said. “Our industry needs smart, consistent federal energy policy. The economic and energy security benefits biodiesel provides are remarkable, making the RFS one of the finest policies we have.”
The industry awaits final RFS volumes for 2014 from Washington, D.C. The last known proposal would set biodiesel volumes at 1.28 billion gallons. That’s a sharp cut from last year’s production of nearly 1.8 billion gallons.
Ernst is running against U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, a Democrat, for the U.S. Senate. Earlier this year, IBB and REG hosted Braley at a biodiesel plant in Mason City.
REG Newton is a state-of-the-art biodiesel production facility. It can produce up to 30 million gallons of biodiesel per year.
The Iowa biodiesel industry supports more than 7,000 jobs, and the national biodiesel industry supports more than 62,000 jobs.
Biodiesel can be made from a variety of resources including soybean oil, recycled cooking oil and animal fats. It is the first EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel to reach commercial-scale production nationwide.
The Iowa Biodiesel Board is a nonpartisan state trade association representing the biodiesel industry.
Ernst also campaigned in Newton on Monday as part of her “Iowa Knows Best” 99-county tour.