Council Addresses British Columbia’s Updated Low-Carbon Fuel Standard With Canadian Partners

Earlier this month, U.S. Grains Council (USGC) ethanol staff traveled to British Columbia (BC), Canada, to meet with provincial government officials, fuel suppliers and fuel retailers about the province’s updated low-carbon fuel standard and increasing ethanol blends to 15 percent (E15) as part of their climate plan. Canada is the top year-over-year market for U.S. ethanol and BC is leading the way in successful low carbon fuel policy implementation.

In 2009, there was no consistent fuel ethanol use in British Columbia. Today, however, other provinces are looking to British Columbia for how to proceed on ethanol blending within Canada.

“Provincial policies and regulations in Canada continue to be the dominant driver of increased ethanol consumption. As BC regulators look for ways to enforce and implement incentives toward LCFS compliance, USGC engaged in discussions with ministerial and agency staff on ways to achieve significant carbon reductions through applied ethanol use such as through E85 and E15 blends,” said Mackenzie Boubin, USGC director of global ethanol export development.

“Additional meetings with private industry and fuel supply chain providers within BC allowed USGC to find opportunities to pursue increased ethanol adoption with key operational players and the mechanisms needed to begin higher ethanol-based projects and initiatives.”

Similar to the states of California, Washington and Oregon in the United States, British Columbia has a provincial low carbon fuel regulation (BC-LCFS). The BC-LCFS is to date the single most effective source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions in Canada and is expected to lead to five million tons of GHG emissions reductions by 2030, accounting for over 30 percent of the total emissions reductions required in its provincial climate plan. U.S. industry continues to work in lockstep with Canadian biofuel stakeholders to share lessons learned and help expand successful low carbon fuel policies to more provinces in Canada.

British Columbia is also in the process of policy consultations that would introduce a requirement for the blending of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which would be the first of its kind in North America.

“Canada’s robust federal and provincial level policies coupled with its recognition of ethanol blended fuels as a viable and immediate decarbonization solution offer an industry signal of strong in-country demand both in the near and long term for U.S. producers,” Boubin said.

The Council plans to continue working closely with its partner to the north throughout the remainder of the marketing year and beyond, educating governmental staff and consumers there on the benefits of ethanol.