A bi-partisan coalition of lawmakers today introduced new legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would provide an investment tax credit for new innovative technology that produces clean, zero-emission electricity from waste heat generated by industrial processes. The Heat is Power Act, sponsored by Representatives Paul Tonko (NY-21), Jay Inslee (WA-01), Shelly Berkley (D-NV-01) and Ron Paul (TX-14), would help stimulate growth in the waste heat to electricity market and create new jobs.

“This tax credit creates an incentive for a renewable technology with the potential to create jobs and allow American companies to export to other countries,” said Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-21). “It’s critical that we embrace these new innovations in clean energy that will help lessen our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce energy costs.”

“We shouldn’t allow clean energy produced by waste to go wasted,” said Rep. Jay Inslee (WA-01).  “By implementing this policy, we will be able to incentivize the deployment of technologies that can capture thermal energy from waste and convert it to electricity.”

The Heat is Power Act would modify sections 45 and 48 of the U.S. tax code to include waste to heat and provide a 30% investment tax credit for the installation of the technology in industrial settings. American companies have created technology that can harness heat waste from smokestacks and other industrial processes such as oil and gas production and turn that energy into zero-emissions electricity. The tax credit will put this technology on the same footing as other renewables such as wind and solar power, and help develop a new, American clean energy industry that will lead to job growth.

The development of a domestic waste heat market will also position the U.S. to capture the global market in clean energy exports and create manufacturing jobs here in America for decades to come.

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