Growth Energy used testimony delivered to the U.S. Department of the Treasury to praise the department’s work and to argue for important changes in how the government implements the federal ethanol and biorefining tax credit known as “45Z.” The organization said the program, as currently being carried out, risks failing to reflect the full range of technological and operational innovation occurring across American biorefineries and on U.S. farms.
In its remarks, Growth Energy commended Treasury for the effort it has put into administering the policy environment surrounding the credit. The group’s underlying message, however, was that current implementation details need refinement to better achieve the credit’s stated purpose: to incentivize and reward real-world innovation and production advances in the agricultural and bioprocessing sectors.
Growth Energy’s central concern was that the credit’s design and implementation may not fully capture the breadth of investments and improvements underway. The organization highlighted that innovation in American facilities and among producers does not occur in a single, uniform way; it spans different processing approaches, upgrades to equipment, and evolving methods of using feedstocks and managing production systems. If the program rules are too rigid or narrow in how they define eligible activities, the credit may not reach the projects most directly responsible for pushing performance, efficiency, and sustainability.
By urging changes, Growth Energy effectively called for Treasury to adjust implementation so that eligibility and compliance requirements align more closely with how innovation is actually happening. The goal is to ensure that the tax benefit functions as intended—encouraging continued capital investment and enabling developers to pursue improvements that strengthen domestic supply chains and support farm and rural economies.
The testimony framed the issue not simply as a technical adjustment, but as a critical factor in whether the policy will deliver broad economic impact. Growth Energy positioned the 45Z credit as a tool that should reward innovation wherever it takes place in American biorefineries and where it begins at the farm level. When implementation mismatches the real-world innovation landscape, the credit can become less effective at driving modernization or may leave certain qualifying improvements under-recognized.
Growth Energy also emphasized that changes are needed so that the credit captures “all the innovation,” indicating that the group believes the current framework may unintentionally exclude or undervalue certain types of progress. This could involve how Treasury interprets the scope of qualifying technology or the practical requirements for claiming and validating eligibility.
While the testimony expressed support for Treasury’s overall efforts, it made clear that further action is required. Growth Energy’s recommendations point toward a more enabling implementation posture—one that reduces friction for projects pursuing new approaches, clarifies rules in ways that reflect industry operations, and ensures the credit reaches innovators who are improving biorefinery performance and farm-connected supply chains.
Overall, the testimony underscores the stakes surrounding 45Z. In the biorefining and agricultural sectors, the pace of investment depends heavily on policy certainty and on whether incentives are structured to reward the innovations companies can realistically deliver. Growth Energy is urging Treasury to align implementation more tightly with innovation occurring across American farms and facilities, arguing that without that alignment, the credit may fall short of its potential.
Source: Source
Growth Energy: In testimony delivered to Treasury, Growth Energy commended the department’s work & called for changes to the implementation of #45Z so that the credit could truly capture all the innovation happening in American biorefineries and on American farms.. #breaking
— @GrowthEnergy May 1, 2026
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