MIDDLETOWN, Pa., May 7, 2010 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today toured Middletown Biofuels, a renewable energy venture in central Pennsylvania, highlighting the creation of new American sources of renewable energy.
"Further developing the biofuel and clean energy industries offers a real opportunity to create a new rural economy that has a new foundation for economic growth," Vilsack said. "Biofuel production is a critical component in the Obama Administration's strategy to rebuild and revitalize rural communities and create new jobs."
Middletown Biofuels, which produces fuel from a variety of waste oils, is one of more than 120 companies that recently received funding under USDA Rural Development's Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels, a program authorized under the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill). The bioenergy payments are made to biofuels companies in rural areas to expand the production of advanced biofuels, which are those made from renewable sources other than corn kernel starch. Earlier this week, USDA announced that it was soliciting additional applications for funds under this program.
"These continuing payments significantly help advance the production of biofuels in Pennsylvania," said USDA Rural Development State Director Tom Williams. "Middletown Biofuels' plant is in a prime agricultural region in central Pennsylvania. Businesses such as this create jobs in addition to producing renewable energy. They are a win-win on many levels."
USDA, through its Rural Development mission area, administers and manages more than 40 housing, business and community infrastructure and facility programs through a national network of 6,100 employees located in 500 national, state and local offices. These programs are designed to improve the economic stability of rural communities, businesses, residents, farmers and ranchers and improve the quality of life in rural America. Rural Development has an existing portfolio of more than $134 billion in loans and loan guarantees.
Earlier this week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and other administration officials joined rural stakeholders from across the country at a clean energy economy forum at the White House. The group discussed renewable energy opportunities for rural communities and the Obama Administration's efforts to help rural America build a clean energy economy that creates jobs, reduces our dependence on foreign oil and enhances our position in the global economy. Also this week, USDA made a wide range of energy related announcements including:
- The availability of funds under several key energy provisions of the Farm Bill, including the Biorefinery Assistance Program, Repowering Assistance Payments to Eligible Biorefineries, Payments to Eligible Advanced Biofuel Producers, and the Rural Energy For America Program (REAP).
- The U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy (DOE) jointly announced up to $33 million in funding for research and development of technologies and processes to produce biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased products.
- Secretary Vilsack and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson also signed a new interagency agreement to expand the work of the AgSTAR program, a joint EPA-USDA effort that helps livestock producers reduce methane emissions from their operations.
- USDA will begin conducting the first national On-Farm Energy Production Survey. The most recent agriculture census counted more than 20,000 farms and ranches that were producing renewable energy via solar panels, wind turbines and methane digesters. This spring's survey will further explore how this energy is generated and used.
