Print this page

GreenField Ethanol welcomes the new federal biofuels bill

QUEBEC CITY

GreenField ethanol welcomed the announcement today of a new federal biofuels bill and the details of the federal ecoENERGY for biofuels program. These new measures announced by federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz will ensure the continued development of environmentally friendly homegrown ethanol in Canada.

The new biofuels bill will make the necessary changes in law to ensure the federal government meets its goal of an average renewable content of five per cent ethanol and two per cent biodiesel in Canadian gasoline and diesel fuel.

“The federal government’s investment in biofuels is an investment in Canada’s future,” said Bliss Baker, Vice President of GreenField Ethanol. “Biofuels like ethanol are better for the environment, better for farmers and rural economies, and better for energy supply and gas prices. This new biofuels bill coupled with the ecoENERGY program will mean more jobs in a vital and growing sector of the energy industry.”

Ethanol and biodiesel fight global warming by reducing harmful greenhouse gases. It is estimated that Canada’s new renewable fuel standard will result in an annual 4.2 megatonne reduction in net GHG emissions – the equivalent of removing more than one million cars from Canadian roads. GreenField Ethanol’s facilities alone remove more than 400,000 tonnes of ozone-depleting greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere and these reductions will reach one million tonnes by 2009.

Canada’s growing biofuels industry attracts investment to rural communities and provides farmers with a new market for their grains. According to the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, twenty new world-class biofuels facilities are expected to be built in the coming years and create over 14,000 new jobs in rural communities. They will provide a new market for over 200 million bushels of Canadian grains and oilseeds.

“With increasingly unstable oil prices, there is a pressing need for Canada to quickly develop reliable and renewable sources of energy,” said Baker. “In this category there is no more readily available, proven and practical alternative than renewable fuels.”