Ethanol Producer Magazine
Support growing for 10 percent Canadian RFS
By Dave Nilles

Support appears to be growing for a10 percent Canadian renewable fuels standard (RFS), according to several speakers at the opening day of the 3rd Annual Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit (CRFS) in Banff Springs, Alberta. Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert said the “timing is right” for expansion of the Canadian renewable fuels industry.

In addition, Calvert said the country should have separate use requirements for biodiesel and ethanol. He said his province is pushing for a national 10 percent renewable fuels standard by 2010. He also said there should be a 2 percent biodiesel requirement by 2010, which would increase to 5 percent by 2015. “It is vital that the national government set separate national targets for ethanol and biodiesel,” Calvert said. “A single biofuels mandate could be captured by ethanol alone … We believe it is important to set both targets.”

In June, the Saskatchewan Biodiesel Development Task Force released a report that recommended a federal renewable fuels strategy with a biodiesel target of 2 percent by 2010 and 5 percent by 2015. Clay Serby, deputy premier of Saskatchewan, told Biodiesel Magazine in July that his province is lobbying for a 10 percent standard.

Several CRFS speakers voiced support for a 5 percent RFS, but Calvert and Lionel LaBelle, president of the Saskatchewan Ethanol Development Council, said the goal should be 10 percent. LaBelle said the development of a renewable fuels industry would help farmers, which received the worst net farm income in the history of Western Canada the past three years. He said 86 percent of the nation’s farmland is located in the region.

LaBelle also said Canada should mirror U.S. support programs, such as the now defunct Commodity Credit Corp.’s Bioenergy Program. The U.S. RFS calls for 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2012. ICM Inc. President Dave Vander Griend said the United States is on pace for 8.2 billion gallons of ethanol capacity by the end of 2007. He said that production level would consume approximately 30 percent of the nation’s corn crop.

Calvert said any incentive program should put an emphasis on farmer-owned facilities. He said his province would award a CAN15-cent-per-liter credit to fuel distributors that purchase at least 30 percent of their ethanol from farmer-owned facilities.
Calvert also said Saskatchewan should use renewable energy to meet one third of its energy requirements by 2030. “That’s our vision,” Calvert said. “It’s ambitious, but in my opinion it’s possible. We’re serious about renewable energy and renewable fuels, as we should be.”

Canada has eight operating ethanol plants with 615 MMly (162 MMgy) capacity. Two additional plants with 215 MMly (57 MMgy) of capacity are under construction. Terra Grain Fuels is also in the initial stages of building a 150 MMly (40 MMgy) wheat-fed ethanol plant near Belle Plaine, Saskatchewan.

Canada has two large-scale biodiesel plants. Biox Corp. operates a 16 MMly (4 MMgy) plant in Hamilton, Ontario. Rothsay Biodiesel operates a 35 MMly (9 MMgy) plant in Quebec.

Plans are in place to expand crush capacity in the country. Two projects are slated for Yorkton, Saskatchewan. In September, Louis Dreyfus announced plans to build a canola crush facility. A second company, James Richardson International, also announced in September plans to build a canola crush facility in Yorkton. Barb Isman, president of the Canola Council of Canada, said 3 million metric tons of additional canola crush capacity was announced this year. Canada’s 2006 canola crop is estimated at 9.1 million metric tons.

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