Canada’s biofuel policy could help U.S. biodiesel producers

In Canada, the government is working on a biofuel policy, the Clean Fuel Standard, similar to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, to reduce GHG emissions by 11% in Canada by 2030 that can help U.S. biodiesel producers find buyers for their biodiesel as they face challenges in exporting currently.

The president of Advanced Biofuels Canada, Ian Thomson, told Agri-Pulse “that the CFS will allow more options for generating credits than the California program. For example, any industrial facility, including chemical, fertilizer and cement plants that uses systems to capture and store carbon could generate liquid-class credits without having any link to transportation fuels.”

Alan Weber, an adviser to the National Biodiesel Board, told Agri-Pulse that sales to Canada have made up 80% to 90% of America’s biodiesel exports since 2016.

Jarrett Whistance, research scientist at the University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Institute, told Agri-Pulse the CFS policy could be beneficial to U.S. producers, especially if it distinguishes between feedstocks based on their relative reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.