Fuel Standard Regulations to Start Later, Cut More Emissions from Gas, Diesel
(The Canadian Press/Castanet) The federal government is delaying new emissions standards on gasoline and diesel another year but is demanding the oil and gas sector make bigger cuts to fuel emissions by 2030 given how much more money the companies are now making.
Cabinet approved the final regulations for the long-awaited Clean Fuel Standard last week and The Canadian Press obtained them today ahead of their intended publication on July 6.
A confluence of communications errors led to the regulations being distributed early upon request and the government was scrambling Monday to inform provinces as the news was about to leak.
“The CFS will be a key tool that complements pollution pricing and the pending oil and gas sector emission cap, to cut emissions and drive the use of clean fuels and technology in Canada,” a statement from Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s office said Monday.
“Since the previous draft of the CFS, we’ve been working to make this as focused as possible on our end goal — driving down emissions and driving up innovation.”
The Clean Fuel Standard was first promised in 2016 as part of the Liberals’ first climate plan. At that time it was expected it would cut 30 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year by 2030, but a new analysis based on the final regulations is expected shortly.
The initial plan was to have draft regulations ready by the spring of 2020, but the draft wasn’t published until December 2021, and was followed by a mandatory six-month comment period.
The draft regulations said the new standard would kick into gear in December 2022. But the final regulations say the first compliance check will now be in December 2023.
The draft regulations also included kerosene, jet fuel or fuel oil on the list of fuels that need to comply but those are not included in the final regulations.
But they do increase the expected cuts to emissions from both gasoline and diesel.
The draft regulations expected gasoline to drop carbon intensity 2.5 per cent in December 2022 from a baseline number set using a 2016 average intensity. The final plan adjusts that baseline slightly, and requires a drop of 3.6 per cent for gasoline, and 3.8 per cent for diesel in December 2023.
The emissions intensity cap declines each year until 2030. Initially the plan was that both gasoline and diesel emissions intensities would decline 12.5 per cent by 2030. The final regulations, however, now say gasoline has to fall 14.7 per cent by 2030, and diesel by 15 per cent.
In June 2020 the federal government said it would scale back the standard in the early years as oil and gas companies reeled from a pandemic revenue hit.
Guilbeault’s office now says companies are making record profits and “there’s no doubt there is the capacity to invest in clean options.”
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There are multiple options to lower emissions intensity, such as by replacing fossil fuels with clean electricity during the extraction or refining phases, distributing biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, or investing in electric or hydrogen fuel-powered vehicles. READ MORE
Biofuels Producers welcome the finalization of the Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulations (Renewable Industries Canada/Globe Newswire)
Canadian Clean Fuel Regulations Are A Victory For Canadian Consumers, Low-Carbon Biofuels (U.S. Grains Council, Growth Energy, Renewable Fuels Association)
New Clean Fuel Regulation confirms investment environment for “decarbonizing” fuel (RealAgriculture)
O Canada! Canada supports biofuels and publishes final Clean Fuel Regulations (Biofuels Diges)
Advanced Biofuels Canada responds to release of final Clean Fuel Regulations (Advanced Biofuels Canada/Biobased Diesel Daily)
Canada publishes final Clean Fuel Regulations (Ethanol Producer Magazine)
Canada Finalizes Clean Fuel Regulations (Energy.AgWired.com)
Canadian Clean Fuel Regulations are a Victory for Canadian Consumers and Low-Carbon Biofuels (Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy)
In 2022, Net-Zero is About More than Climate (REnewable Industries Canada/Ethanol Producer Magazine)
Excerpt from Ethanol Producer Magazine: The Canadian government on June 29 published final Clean Fuel Regulations, which will require fuel producers and suppliers to meet increasingly stringent carbon reduction goals for gasoline and diesel.
The CFR sets a carbon intensity (CI) limit for gasoline at 91.5 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule (gCO2e/MJ) in 2023. The CI limit increases annually through 2030 and thereafter, when the limit is set at 81 gCO2e/MJ. For diesel, the limit starts at 89.5 gCO2e/MJ in 2023 and ramps up to 79 gCO2e/MJ in 2030 and thereafter.
Environment and Climate Change Canada estimates that approximately 2.2 billion liters (581.18 million gallons) of additional low-CI diesel and 700 million liters of additional ethanol will be needed in 2030 under the CFR, creating economic growth and jobs for Canadians across the country. Once fully implemented, the CFR is expected to help cut up to 26.6 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution in 2030.
The government of Canada also announced it will invest $1.5 billion through its Clean Fuels Fund to build new or expand existing clean fuel production facilities.
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A full copy of the CFR can be downloaded from the Government of Canada website. READ MORE
Excerpt from The Record: Biofuels are not new, and Canada has become a global leader in biofuel technology development and commercialization.
Gerald Kutney, debunker of climate crisis lies, (see #climatebrawl on Twitter) compiled a fascinating history of Canadian biofuels from 1867 to 2017. Unsurprisingly, in the early days, wood was used to produce methanol (wood alcohol), acetate of lime and charcoal, and molasses to produce industrial alcohol.
In the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, the federal government provided funding for innovative projects that used waste wood material (biomass) in the forestry industry to reduce their oil consumption. The program acronym was, quite aptly, FIRE, for Forest Industry Renewable Energy.
In 2005, Canada started making biodiesel using canola, soy, animal fats and waste vegetable oil. READ MORE
