We will apply innovative environmental technologies for the production of alternative renewable energy and biofuels, as well as for restoration of the local ecosystem. We will become the Finger Lakes region's premier producer of alternative energy. We will support Finger Lakes agriculture by purchasing its crops and selling commodity products, and will work to enhance the region's agribusinesses.
State, national and international trends are driving domestic requirements to greatly increase local supplies of agricultural products and renewable energy alternatives to foreign oil. Federal farm and energy legislation mandates that renewable energy will play a greater role in replacing petroleum fuels, using biodiesel and other clean energy supplies. Federal and state tax incentives are pushing this green energy movement, and Seneca BioEnergy is poised to become a part of this initiative.
Our creation of a local agricultural processing and renewable energy facility will help New York state meet growing trends in alternative energy production and local agricultural profits. Energy is one of the most pressing issues for the coming century, and biofuels-derived renewable energy is one of the most promising alternatives to foreign petroleum because it represents sustainable and renewable supplies, it is carbon neutral and it is being produced domestically. We believe that our "vertically integrated" business venture, with agricultural processing and biodiesel production, will achieve comprehensive goals of renewable energy, environmental stewardship and enhanced agricultural profits – our philosophy for a "three-legged stool" business model.
A biodiesel-focused "green energy movement" is one of the necessary answers to solving environmental concerns and national security vulnerability posed by our nation's addiction to foreign oil. Biofuels are fueling renewable energy through domestic agriculture, and Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are promoting the "25 X '25 Pledge," whereby federal mandates are planned to achieve the objective of the U.S. deriving 25 percent of our total energy from biofuels by the year 2025. This aggressive goal is challenging states to implement renewable energy programs, and New York is one of the most progressive states leading this movement.
Our company's initial agricultural processing and renewable energy facility will generate agricultural products along with 15 million gallons per year of biodiesel fuels as part of New York's 10-year program under the state's proposed "Renewable Energy Initiative" to produce and use in-house renewable fuels. Pioneering renewable energy production and mandated utilization, the state Legislature and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) recently declared the requirements of in-state use of "home-grown and home-produced" renewable fuels, thereby reducing the state's dependence on foreign oil. This program recognizes that home-grown energy supplies will need to come from a variety of local and regional feedstocks, initially producing biodiesel from primarily agricultural crops of soybeans and canola, with a transition to sustainable feedstocks of other grains, grasses, algae and cellulosic supplies.
Seneca BioEnergy is pioneering the creation of the first "green energy complex" in the State of New York at our Seneca County AgBio Facility. Our first tenant, Top Quality Hay Processors, began its operations in 2008. Once fully operational, the complex will create an estimated 150 to 170 direct manufacturing jobs, including manufacturing, plant operations and maintenance staff, as well as supporting well over 1,000 related jobs in farming, agribusiness, rail and trucking transportation and other manufacturing and support industries. The Seneca AgBio Facility will directly support 500 to 1,000 farms in the Finger Lakes region, as well as sell agricultural meal products to the dairy cattle feed industries in the state. This innovative program will directly benefit the Empire State's environmental restoration program, as one of our related environmental sustainability businesses in the manure management and manufactured soils will be based upon the recycling and beneficial reuse of grape waste pomice and cattle manure. These products will be used to reclaim agricultural areas, restoring thousands of acres of environmentally impaired resources, revegetating with biomass crops (such as cellulosic switchgrass).