BIO says industry is at a turning point

The Biotechnology Industry Organisation (BIO) has said the industry is at 'a turning point', with rapid development made possible by increased investment from the private sector which has commercialised the technology.

The biofuels body in the US has called for the cellulosic biofuel tax credits in the country to be extended to allow more companies to build biorefineries.

The supportive and stable federal policy has allowed biofuels to advance in the US, enabling biofuels to build commercial developments. However, the current expiry date of December 2012 has been said to 'prevent prevents project developers from leveraging their full value'.

Brent Erickson, executive VP of BIO’s industrial and environmental section, also commented: "Any tax package that considers effectively expired provisions extend the cellulosic biofuels production tax credit and accelerated depreciation for cellulosic biofuel property, and include eligibility of algae-based biofuels."

Algae biofuels have seen a rapid development in the States and around the world, and industry officials have called for them to also be incorporated into the tax credits in the US.