A more sober look at the Canadian biofuel industry is being planned now that the heated debate over biofuel’s role in escalating food prices is fading.
The International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD) study will evaluate the economic benefits and environmental costs of ethanol and biodiesel production.
“Right now, the biofuel industry is driven largely by the subsidies that it gets,” said Matt McCandless, IISD project manager and leader of the four-year biofuel study.
“And now it’s also going to be driven by the renewable fuel standards, so that will drive the pressure to produce more biofuels in Canada and maybe there needs to be a check on that, a look at how that industry is performing and what value it’s providing to taxpayers.”
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McCandless told the recent Prairie Conservation and Endangered Species Conference in Winnipeg that biofuel should be seen as biorefining that produces a variety of products, from biomass such as plastics.
The study will examine the trade-offs of biorefining, such as economic benefits versus environmental costs like water consumption, water quality and land use.
The IISD has already made up its mind on one aspect of the biofuel industry. McCandless said it doesn’t support first generation biofuel technology that converts food into fuel. His organization believes in cellulose ethanol and other second-generation technology.
“It will happen quickly, in probably five to 10 years,” he said about how soon cellulose ethanol will be commercially produced in Canada.
Mark Stumborg, a biomass and biofuel expert with Agriculture Canada in Swift Current, Sask., said he welcomes any detailed, science-based study of the industry.
However, he said he is concerned about approaching the subject from a perspective of sustainability because it assumes the impact of existing energy sources is already understood. The environmental and economic costs of petroleum need to be established before passing judgement on biofuel, he added.
“We have conveniently in many jurisdictions, including Canada, not gone out and done a good baseline of what the energy landscape looked like before we put biofuel on top of it,” he said. “I think it’s a question that has to be answered if we’re going to do this right.”
It’s not a case of defending the petroleum business, he said, because such a process would likely shine an unwelcome light on the industry.
“Whether they like it or not, footprinting is a requirement that’s coming into the commercial sector. The opportunity here, though, is to engage in a good science-based discussion. Get the analysis done right. The chips are going to fall where they need.”
