Canada’s Biofuels Industry Following Neighbor to the South’s Renewable Fuels Strategy

---

Reported by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Recently, the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association unveiled a plan to implement the Canadian government’s commitment to a minimum requirement of 5% renewable additives in Canadian gasoline and diesel fuel mirroring policy adopted by the United States to grow the use of biofuels and ensure a market for Canadian renewable fuel production.

Much like the way things shook down in the U.S., producers did not wait to start building new biofuel plants and construction is proceeding and capacities are growing without the comprehensive plan officially being signed off on by the Canadian government.

Currently, Canada only has ten operational biofuels refineries in commission with a capacity of producing over 120 million gallons, or 454 million liters, annually. The latest plant to go online is Suncor’s Saint Clair Ethanol’s 50 million, or 189 million-liter plant in Mooretown, Ontario. It is the largest of its kind in Canada.

Capacity is expected to more than double beginning in the fourth quarter of 2006, when four new plants that are currently under construction go online and begin producing ethanol and biodiesel. Projects currently slated to wrap up construction include Okanagan Biofuel’s 40 million-gallon per year plant in Kelowna, British Columbia; Biox’s 23 million-gallon per year biodiesel plant in Oakville, Ontario; Commercial Alcohol is commissioning a 40 million-gallon per year plant in Varennes, Quebec and Husky Lloydminster is building a 34 million-gallon fuel ethanol plant in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan.

Five additional plants in the pre-construction phase have received funding to move forward and are scheduled to start construction soon. Plant developers include Outlook Atlantol’s 50 million-gallon per year plant in Dauphin, Manitoba; Integrated Grain Processors 33 million-gallon per year plant being developed in Alymer, Ontario; Seaway Valley Farmers Energy’s 17 million-gallon per year plant in Cornwall, Ontario; UCM Engineered Fuels will build an 80 million-gallon per year plant in Barrie, Ontario and Cypress Agri Energy has plans to build a 40 million-gallon per year plant in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan.

Nine additional plants are in the early development stages in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan will bring an additional 250 million gallons of capacity once the last plant goes online by mid-2008.

Canada believes, as does the U.S., that biofuels will lower greenhouse gas emissions, provide a hedge against rising fuel prices and create jobs in rural areas on Canada.

Industrial Info's Ethanol Production Database provides a comprehensive outline of all current development activities in the emerging synthetic fuels market. This database covers 123 ethanol plants currently in operation and 234 plants under development. It also covers fifteen operational biodiesel plants and 41 biodiesel plants under development.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a Marketing Information Service company that has been doing business for over 23 years. IIR is respected as the leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing, and energy-related industries throughout the world.