OTTAWA -- Even as governments all over the world rethink their biodiesel policies, the Conservative government has decided after years of consideration to mandate B2 across the country.

Minister of the Environment Peter Kent and Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz made the announcement on Thursday.

They are proposing a July 1 start date for requiring 2 percent renewable content in all diesel fuel and heating oil. (A requirement of 5 percent ethanol in gasoline was already passed last year).

The official rule hasn't been published so it's unknown (although it's likely) whether Ottawa will mirror the controversial "pool average" system adopted in B.C.

Under that policy, biodiesel suppliers only have to produce a national average of B5 (B.C.'s mandate is 5% biodiesel), giving them flexibility to distribute higher and lower B contents in certain areas depending on geographical, seasonal or market-based factors.

This is of concern in colder, more remote regions of the country where the possibility of higher B blends could affect truck engine operability and warranties.

The government says the combined biodiesel and ethanol requirements will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 4 megatonnes, the equivalent to taking 1 million vehicles off the road.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), a longtime skeptic of a national biodiesel mandate, quickly challenged claims that a biodiesel policy would reduce the trucking industry's carbon footprint in any significant way.

CTA notes that Environment Canada's own study on the matter (conducted by EcoRessources Consultants) shows the environmental impact of a biodiesel mandate in terms of GHG reduction "is negligible and certainly outweighed by the costs."

The report states that consumers -- the trucking industry and the increasing number of people buying more fuel-efficient diesel vehicles -- would ultimately be burdened with the incremental costs of a biodiesel mandate, with very little GHG reduction benefit.

"It’s no wonder other countries are re-thinking their biodiesel policies," says CTA's CEO, David Bradley, which points out that the proposed U.S. heavy-duty truck GHG reduction regulation, which Canada says it will harmonize with, doesn't even include biodiesel as an option for meeting the new standard.

"If this is about the environment, then it behooves the Minister of the Environment to provide the trucking industry with emission credits for using this product."

A flood of research in recent years counters the claim that biodiesel has a positive net impact on the environment.
Contemporary studies show that the production of biodiesel – including clear-cutting and burning forestland for crops -- can generate more GHG emissions than what's saved by cutting diesel or gasoline consumption.

As well, biofuel production (specifically, though, corn-based ethanol) is thought to drive up food prices all over the world as cropland is converted to fuel production.

"CTA made it clear from the outset," says Bradley, "that we are not opposed to the introduction of alternative fuels that could reduce our reliance on oil-based product, so long as it works in our engines, is in plentiful supply, is affordable and won’t impair our engine warranties.”

“Unfortunately, it seemed from the very beginning that the concerns of the consumer … were secondary to those of big-agribusiness which stands to gain handsomely from the mandate."