On the heels of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency setting the Renewable Fuels Standards for 2011, our friends north of the border are looking at increasing the amount of ethanol and biodiesel in fuel in Canada.
The Toronto Sun reports the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association wants to see the federal government double the ethanol-in-gasoline mandate from 5 percent to 10 percent and biodiesel from 2 percent to 5 percent:
Canada’s 5% ethanol requirement takes effect across Canada on Dec. 15 after the government passed federal renewable fuel regulations into law in September. Several provinces already have ethanol mandates in place.
A start date for the 2% renewable content in diesel has not yet been set but Ottawa has committed to implementing it in 2011, [Canadian Renewable Fuels Association president Gordon] Quaiattini said.
“We are absolutely talking to government about wanting to expand those mandates,” Quaiattini told Reuters in an interview on the day the association released a report on the state of the fledgling industry.
The article goes on to say the CRFA would like to see the biodiesel requirement go into effect on April 1, 2011.