The executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says the state’s biodiesel producers face a dire situation.
“I want to respect their right to tell their story, but plants are not running,” Monte Shaw said Wednesday.
Shaw says many biodiesel plants idled in 2025 and remain that way in mid-January.
“I’m told that a typical plant, just because of ongoing overhead costs, spend about $800,000 per month even when you’re not running and not buying feedstocks,” he said. “They are going to run out of cash. I think we have some plants that are on the brink and it’s breaking my heart.”
He tells Brownfield the industry needs guidance on the 45Z Clean Fuels Production Tax Credits.
“We’re doing everything we can to tell D.C. they’ve got to get 45Z out,” Shaw said. “It could be out yet in January. These folks have credits, probably a million or two million dollars worth of credits, that they could claim if we could get final 45Z rules.”
And, Shaw says delayed Renewable Fuel Standard blending levels from the U.S. EPA has added to the uncertainty.
“They were supposed to be out in October, and they aren’t out yet,” he said. “We were told they might be out by the end of February. That might be in the nick of time because once those levels are set then people kind of know what the market is going to be and you can start having transactions.”
He says if further RVO delays occur, it could lead to what he calls “some very unfortunate news in Iowa.”
