Biobased products are already a big part of agriculture, but they figure to play an even more prominent role in the future as more oil-based products are produced from plants. That was the message from a panel of experts at Agri-Pulse’s Ag and Food Policy summit.
USDA’s Rural Business Cooperative Service head Betsy Dirksen Londrigan says biobased products will be a massive part of agriculture in the very near future.
From new fertilizers to aviation fuel, farmers will play a role. Alex Minotti is Vice-President of Government Affairs at LanzaJet.
Just a fraction of a potential 36-billion-gallon industry if Treasury and EPA modernize ethanol emission standards Minotti says to allow key tax credits. However, infrastructure is another hurdle. Business Development Associate Director at the University of Illinois’ IBRL facility in Urbana-Champaign Beth Conerty.
Conerty says too many of the start-ups she works with must go overseas, and a better funding pipeline here would keep those firms and jobs in the US, the world’s ‘hotbed’ for research and development.
