(Resource News International) –– Canada will need to import ethanol in order to meet its 2010 ethanol production target of two billion litres per year, according to an official with an ethanol and biodiesel industry group.
Ethanol output in Canada is currently in the 1.731 billion-litre range, and the five per cent national renewable fuels mandate that will be implemented by the federal government will come into effect Sept. 1, 2010, said Gordon Quaiattini, president of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association.
Passage of the final regulatory process was in the works, he said, with public comment on the final regulatory provisions of the renewable fuels mandate expected to be out in December this year, with a completion date of June 2010.
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A number of ethanol plants in Canada are undergoing expansion, which will eventually help bring capacity closer to the two billion-litre level required, Quaiattini said.
“However, the reality is that despite all the projects and planned expansions, and the fact the government will likely add some further eco-energy reforms, there will be a need to import some ethanol.”
The federal government has made $1.5 billion in funding available for processors to add capacity to existing ethanol production facilities.
“It is incumbent on the ethanol producers to get into the government programs as that will determine the final ethanol production total in this first phase,” Quaiattini said. “But even in the best-case scenario, it is not expected that Canada will produce enough ethanol to meet the two billion-litre requirement under the existing program.”
The Ottawa-based CRFA recognizes this and the fact is that there’s room for ethanol imports under an open North American fuels market, Quaiattini said.
“So we understand that there will be opportunities for imports of ethanol from Brazil and the U.S., as we believe there will also be eventual opportunities to sell Canadian ethanol offshore,” he said.
Much of the ethanol expansion in Canada has been tied to the federal government’s renewable fuels mandate, Quaiattini said. That five per cent represents about 2.5 billion to three billion litres of ethanol and/or biodiesel.
The provincial governments have also implemented additional mandates in some instances, he said.
The Ontario government has its own provincial mandate of five per cent renewable fuels. In Manitoba, the province has an 8.5 per cent ethanol standard at present while Saskatchewan has a 7.6 per cent ethanol standard.
British Columbia will implement a five per cent mandate on ethanol as of Jan. 1, 2010, while Alberta will implement a five per cent ethanol mandate in November 2010. Quebec and the Maritimes will be served out of the national mandate that will be implemented, Quaiattini said.
