Big winners in the Senate bill include the producers of ethanol - particularly the Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., which has been a generous campaign contributor to both parties. Senators voted to triple the amount of the corn-based additive in the nation's gasoline supply and resisted efforts to weaken the requirement.
The measure also includes provisions intended to boost the nuclear power industry, partly through research on new reactors, and to help develop clean coal technology.
As an incentive to increase the use of alternative energy sources, such as solar and wind power, electric utilities would have to generate more power - 10 percent of new supplies by 2020 - from renewable sources.
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who voted against the measure, criticized tax breaks such as the one designed to increase the use of animal waste as a fuel source for electric power generation - a popular provision in places like the Delmarva peninsula, which has plenty of chickens and an excess of manure.
"We have tax breaks for chicken litter, now bovine and pig waste," he said. "What's happened to man's best friend, the dog? Why can't he make a deposit to help reduce our energy dependence?"
