A few weeks back, the C.D. Howe Institute released a report that generated a fair bit of news coverage.  The report, ‘The Ethanol Trap:  Why Policies to Promote Ethanol as Fuel Need Rethinking’ was riddled with errors and flawed assumptions.  In order to demonstrate beyond a shadow of doubt the faulty methodology and false conclusions, the CRFA commissioned an independent, arms-length analysis by (S&T)2 Consultants.  It demonstrated that our concerns were very well founded.  The critique highlights indisputable contradictions in logic and methodology that suggest the report was drafted to support a conclusion rather than to explore the facts in full.  

Today, the CRFA has released the full report to the media and public.  We have also shared the results with the C.D. Howe Institute and asked that they withdraw the work, given its many obvious errors.  Key stakeholders, policymakers, and elected officials have also been provided with the report to ensure that their own impressions are balanced by rigour and fact.  

With oil and gas at record prices, we have an economic and environmental imperative to grow beyond oil.  That is the indisputable benefit of biofuels.  The CRFA will continue to advocate for policies that meet the needs of consumers and that ensure Canada maintains and grows its position of international leadership in developing clean and green fuels for the future.

As a Reuters report showed last week, ‘OPEC’s earnings from oil exports are expected to reach a record $1.251 trillion this year, about $73 billion more than previously estimated’.  It kind of makes $800 million for purchases such as this sound like pocket change.  Meanwhile, contrary to the tenets of basic economics, they have blamed biofuels for driving up oil prices.  In response to this ludicrous assertion, ‘An Open Letter to the President of OPEC From the World’s Biofuels Industries’ can be read here.  (This letter can also be found as a full-page ad in the July 16 Financial Times.)  Also worth reading is the July 17 article by Clifford D. May in National Review Online, with his subtitle being ‘OPEC lies, the SUV dies’.   

‘The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA) today [June 26] congratulated members of the Canadian Senate for passing Bill C-33, a landmark biofuels bill which will require 5% renewable content in gasoline by 2010, and 2% renewable content in diesel fuel by no later than 2012.  Senators from both the governing Conservatives and opposition Liberals endorsed the measure without amendment.’

The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA) today congratulated GreenField Ethanol and Enerkem on their announcement to build the world’s first industrial scale municipal waste-to-ethanol facility in Edmonton, Alberta.  The $70-million next-generation renewable fuels plant will initially produce 36 million litres of ethanol from non-recyclable waste products every year.

Excellent CNBC clip debunking the falsehoods surrounding corn-based ethanol:  ‘The pros and cons of ethanol, with Wendy Wintersteen, dean of agriculture & life sciences at Iowa State University; Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Hawkeye Energy; and Scott Sperling, of THL Partners’.

Leaders from the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA), the European Bioethanol Fuel Association (eBio), and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) today welcomed the thoughtful approach world leaders took in assessing biofuels’ role in the current world food crisis.  Their joint statement can be read here.

From a Reuters article out of Germany:  ‘The head of the U.N.’s climate agency (UNFCCC) rejected the idea that carbon-cutting biofuels should be banned…”I think biofuels are a very important part of the solution,” [Yvo] de Boer said’, referring to high energy prices and climate change.

‘In a milestone decision today, the House of Commons overwhelmingly passed a bill that will implement a national Renewable Fuel Standard, requiring ethanol and biodiesel blended transportation fuels in Canada.  It is the first legislation of its kind in Canada.’  The complete CRFA press release can be read here.  

CBC’s The National aired an interesting segment this week on making cellulose ethanol from garbage.  One of the world-leading companies in this area is a company in Quebec called Enerkem.  They have partnered with Canada’s largest ethanol producer, GreenField Ethanol, to use their respective technologies to produce cellulose ethanol on a commercial scale from urban trash and other sources of waste biomass.  With oil prices hitting yet another record of over $135 per barrel this week, and gas prices at the pump continuing to skyrocket, making a cleaner-burning and less expensive fuel from waste products cannot come soon enough.

Dr. Robert Zubrin has an article in the Spring 2008 edition of The New Atlantis – A Journal of Technology & Society, entitled ‘In Defense of Biofuels’.  It is a comprehensive and fact-based refutation of the negative and false information currently being disseminated against biofuels.