British Columbia’s government plans legislation that will allow it to set a percentage mandate for renewable and low-carbon content in fuels — but will allow suppliers to decide how best to get there.
Energy Minister Richard Neufeld announced the establishment of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Renewable and Low Carbon Fuel Requirements) Act in a news release on Tuesday.
The act will stipulate that fuel suppliers must supply a “prescribed percentage” of renewable fuels, but the required amount will be set in provincial regulation.
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“The act creates a regulatory framework that enables the province to set benchmarks for the amount of renewable fuel in B.C.’s transportation fuel blends, reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels and meet its commitment to adopt a low-carbon fuel standard similar to California’s,” the provincial government wrote.
However, the act’s “flexible” design is expected to encourage fuel suppliers to determine how best to meet the requirements in keeping with consumer demand and market forces, the province said.
The act is also expected to create additional consumer choice and reduced reliance on non-renewable fuels, and to “enable requirements that encourage emerging cleaner fuel technologies.”
The legislation stems from last year’s release of the B.C. Energy Plan, which specifically called for the province to implement a five per cent average renewable fuel standard for diesel by 2010, and to “support” the federal plan to boost ethanol content in gasoline to five per cent by 2010.
