Board the biobus. Biodiesel rule takes effect

SASKATOON — Happy birthday Canada. Truckers, on the other hand, might not be in a celebratory mood when they notice that they’re now required to fill up with biodiesel.

Despite many questions surrounding the justification of the policy, the Conservative government has forged ahead with its 2 percent renewable content requirement in diesel fuel and heating oil. The rule takes effect today, July 1.

There is reportedly an 18-month compliance period.

"Our Government will continue to ensure that protecting our environment, while balancing economic growth and prosperity remains our priority", said Environment Minister Peter Kent. "The steps we are taking on renewable fuels, combined with those of the provinces, will ensure a volume of renewable fuel that will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by about four megatonnes a year — the equivalent of removing one million vehicles from the road."

Carriers led by the Canadian Trucking Alliance spent a couple of years trying to get Ottawa to back off of the controversial biodiesel mandate, but to no avail.

The CTA has argued that the biodiesel mandate would increase the price of diesel at the pump and the government has done little to respond to those concerns.

Plus, research shows that the policy will do little to help the environment while driving up costs.

According to its own research, the feds have doled out over $2 billion in subsidies to the renewable-fuels industry in recent years. And over the next 25 years, there will be a $2.4-billion net cost to taxpayers with only an incremental reduction (a mere 1 MT CO2 per year) in GHG.

As well, Canada is piling on the biodiesel bandwagon at a time when other governments around the world are abandoning it.

They say that biodiesel and ethanol divert cropland to the fuel market, driving up the price of food commodities.

Most recently, even the United Nations put a wet blanket on biofuels.

"It is becoming increasingly obvious that use of grain and oilseed for biofuels is of dubious benefit to the environment, uneconomical and a threat to global food security. The best policy would be to reverse the direction of policy and eliminate these ill-considered initiatives," said a report submitted to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Critics of Canada’s policy say the government is pandering to the agriculture sector and biofuel producers at the expense of diesel fuel customers.

"This requirement will further strengthen the market for renewable fuels, which is good news for our farmers and the environment," said the Honorable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board. "Increased demand for feed stocks like canola will ensure an even stronger bottom line for farmers and a stronger agricultural sector."