Bill will boost biofuels industry

OTTAWA -- A bill to ensure that gasoline has a minimum percentage of renewable fuel content -- a move that could end up building a strengthened biofuel industry -- passed in the House of Commons yesterday.

Bill C-33 would allow the government to ensure that all gasoline produced for domestic consumption has an average renewable fuel content of five per cent by 2010 and that diesel and heating oil have an average renewable fuel content of two per cent by 2012.

"It allows us to build a production capacity," said Gordon Quaiattini, head of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association. "Two years ago farmers couldn't afford to put seed in the ground because they couldn't get a return."

Quaiattini says his organization is currently expecting a record growing year as farmers react to increasing demand for renewable fuels.

"With oil and gas prices at record highs, the case for biofuels -- and quite frankly the demand for biofuels -- has never been greater."

Quaiattini said the move will be equivalent to taking a million cars off the road.

But critics are concerned that biofuels contribute to the global food crisis. Last October, one United Nations official called biofuels a "crime against humanity."

Critics also say farmers could end up moving away from growing crops for consumption, exacerbating food shortages.

Quaiattini says biofuels are not to blame -- we have more than enough to both "feed and fuel" the world.

There are currently 20 biofuel plants in operation or under construction in Canada, which will use more than a million tonnes of wheat and nearly 2.5 million tonnes of corn annually.

Amy Husser, Canwest News Service

Published: Thursday, May 29, 2008

© The Vancouver Province 2008