BD Zones and BDO Zones: Weaponizing Biomass to support a Bio-Fueled Economic Recovery

The Time to Move Is Now

Governments will soon be deploying billions to stand the economy back up and re-create the face of our economic infrastructure for the next 25 years— and it is imperative that government use all the assets at its disposal. A billion tons of biomass driving economic recovery across the country is too large an asset to ignore.

Our post-pandemic economy must be anchored by new facilities that lead the world in the production of alternative fuels, renewable chemicals, bio-based products and sustainable aviation fuels. It must create new economy jobs: jobs that last, jobs in rural communities, and jobs that cannot be outsourced. And it must support energy independence and economic stability.

BD Zone and BDO Zone Programs are quickly deployable, building on existing structures that have been proven to work. By putting these pieces together in a new way, and with a little political effort to tweak OZone guidance, we can make bioenergy, biofuels, biochemicals and biopower a powerful engine for economic recovery.

With BD Zones, government uses validated standards and ratings to designate regions that have biomass surpluses, low risk supply chains and necessary infrastructure. This creates efficiencies and cost savings for developers and a pipeline of lower risk investment areas for bio-based capital markets. Economic development agencies can use certified ratings to promote BD Zones and drive new business development in those regions.

With BDO Zones, investors will be able to plow taxable capital gains into projects located in areas that present validated low feedstock risk profiles, slowly erase the tax obligations on a portion of those gains and, more significantly, have those proceeds grow tax-free. This will unlock huge pools of capital that were previously unavailable to the bioeconomy and put that money to work fast.

It is now clear that the coronavirus pandemic will exact a staggering toll on the American economy. BD Zones and BDO Zones are two complimentary programs that can support renewable fuels, bioenergy, biopower, biochemicals, bioproducts and economic recovery throughout the country.

The time to move on this is now.

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