Gas to include 5% ethanol by 2007, province confirms
High-octane alcohol is normally made from wheat, corn and straw
CANADIAN PRESS
All gasoline sold in Ontario will be required to include five per cent cleaner-burning ethanol fuel by the beginning of 2007 under new regulations confirmed today by the provincial government.
Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky said the province has forged ahead with the plan to require the cleaner additive be included in gasoline by Jan. 1, 2007.
The Liberals promised in the 2003 election campaign to require the use of ethanol, a high-octane alcohol normally made from wheat, corn and straw.
"This truly is a red-letter day for all the people of Ontario," Dombrowsky told a news conference. "We're now ready to begin creating our future of cleaner air and greater prosperity by producing renewable fuels."
Dombrowsky said that when added to gasoline, ethanol helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change. She said it also results in cleaner vehicle exhaust and reduces dependency on non-renewable fossil fuels.
The province said the new regulation will reduce emissions by an amount equivalent to taking 200,000 cars off the roads.
"We are taking action to reduce harmful emissions from vehicles to ensure we have safe, livable communities for this generation and the next," said Environment Minister Laurel Broten.
Proponents of the use of ethanol in gasoline, including the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, also say the move could eventually lead to lower prices at the pumps because ethanol is cheaper to produce than petroleum-based products.
The province also said it's now ready to accept applications under the Ontario Ethanol Growth Fund to help companies fund the cost of constructing several ethanol processing plants in the province.
The 12-year, $520-million fund is intended to help build and operate plants that will produce as much as 750 million litres of ethanol annually.
Construction is expected to begin next month to convert a former Molson Brewery plant in Barrie into Ontario's largest ethanol plant, with a capacity of 300 million litres per year produced from almost 30 million bushels of corn.
Ontario facilities in Windsor, Brantford and Collingwood are also sharing $46 million in federal funds with Alberta and Manitoba producers to build or expand ethanol plants.
The Canadian Petroleum Products Institute, which represents gasoline retailers, said its members will comply with the ethanol regulation. One of its members, Suncor Energy Products, is building an ethanol plant near Sarnia, where it already operates a refinery.
But the CPPI had hoped its members would get as much as three more years to put the proper technology in place to ensure they could meet the new standard. Small independent gasoline retailers, for example, may have to perform costly upgrades on tanks and other equipment, they argue.
CPPI spokesman Dane Bailey said his members will want to read details about the regulations before they begin to make technical changes to their tanks and processes.
"Our industry doesn't tend to spend a lot of money until they see the regulations in writing," Bailey said.
"There is a tremendous amount of work that has to be done."
NDP Leader Howard Hampton said the government's ethanol strategy puts corporations ahead of farmers.
He argues the plan allows Ontario ethanol plants to use cheap subsidized corn imported from the United States instead of Ontario-grown corn.
Other provinces, such as Manitoba, require their ethanol plants to use crops grown by local farmers.
"The McGuinty government has $520 million for companies to build ethanol plants but no money for grain and oilseed farmers who are losing money growing the corn for the plants," Hampton said
