Ethanol and biodiesel producers in Canada will ask their government early next year to increase the amount of the green fuels produced and added to fossil fuels… even as there are doubts the industry can meet current mandates and production incentives.
Reuters reports that the industry has not decided what those levels should be:
Canada has given annual incentives for up to seven years to 24 biofuel producers, including Husky and Suncor, from a C$1.5-billion ($1.4 billion) program. The government considers biofuel attractive because it reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
The biofuels industry will also ask government to set Canada’s first mandate for advanced biofuels, such as those made from algae, wood and grasses, which are not yet in commercial production, [Gordon Quaiattini, president of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association said.
“We want to see the commercialization of that technology here in Canada, have those plants built in Canada and obviously have a market for that fuel here in Canada.”
Canada’s current biofuel supply will fall short when the first federal government mandate of 5 percent renewable content in gasoline takes effect in September 2010 and a 2 percent federal mandate for renewable content in diesel takes effect in 2011.
Quaiattini admits that Canada will need to import about 40 million to 80 million gallons of ethanol in 2010 and 2011 just to meet current mandates. And some of that ethanol will need to come from the U.S.