Canada House Gives Green Light To Biofuel Bill
CANADA: May 29, 2008
OTTAWA - Government legislation that will require all gasoline sold in
Canada to contain 5 percent ethanol by 2010 passed the House of Commons on
Wednesday.
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 legislation would create demand for an estimated 2 billion litres of
ethanol and 600 million litres of biodiesel.
Canada has 16 ethanol plants built or under construction, according to
industry data, with a total capacity of 1.6 billion litres produced from
corn and wheat.
There are currently three biodiesel plants with a combined capacity of 97
million litres, mainly using animal fats. A plant that would produce 225
million litres of biodiesel from canola oil is under construction in
Alberta.
The United States has mandated that 9 billion gallons (34 billion litres) of
biofuel be sold in 2008, the equivalent of nearly 8 percent of anticipated
gasoline demand. That amount will slowly increase each year to 36 billion
gallons in 2022.
(Reporting by Randall Palmer; editing by Rob Wilson)
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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