Members of the Canadian House of Commons have passed a nationwide biofuels standard that is expected to create demand for an estimated 500 million gallons of ethanol and 150 million gallons of biodiesel. The standard is noteworthy considering that Canada has oil reserves only second to Saudi Arabia and is the largest supplier of U.S. foreign energy sources (including oil, natural gas, uranium and electricity).
This story from Reuters has more details about the measure:
The bill, which also calls for diesel to contain 2 percent renewable fuels by 2012, won the support of the main opposition Liberal Party but was opposed by two smaller parties that had voiced concern about food-crop production being diverted to fuel.
However, the governing Conservatives and the Liberals have both backed the idea, arguing that only a small portion of food crops such as corn will be used to make the biofuel.
The bill must now be approved by the Senate, where passage is likely since it is dominated by the Liberal Party.
The article goes on to point on that the U.S. has mandated 9 billion gallons of biofuels be sold this year, increasing to 36 billion gallons by 2022.