Do renewable fuels reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs)? Production of ethanol, biobutanol, and biodiesel has grown rapidly in Canada over the past two years, yet opinions still vary widely over the environmental benefits, and what the production of such fuels will mean for corn, wheat, and life of the rural farmer.
A recent unpublished report by Environment Canada's Science and Technology branch claims that not only do blended fuels such as E10 fail to reduce GHG emissions significantly, but under certain conditions they actually increase emissions.
Greg Rideout, Head of Toxic Emissions Research with Environment Canada, said that emission rates remained "essentially unchanged" as ethanol content increased.
"[In] the multi-port fuel injection equipped vehicles, which are more representative of the current light duty vehicle fleet, the E10 fuel caused an increase in total hydrocarbons emissions," said Rideout.
Another concern is that the fuel density of biofuels is less than regular gasoline, so it takes more fuel to produce the same amount of energy.
"The effect from the lower energy density of the ethanol-blend fuels cancelled out the effect from the lower carbon content per litre of ethanol-blend fuel burned," said Rideout.
However, Robin Spear, Director of Public Affairs with Canadian Renewable Fuel Association, said research shows that ethanol does cause significant reduction in GHG emissions.
"National Resources Canada and Agricultural Canada, as well as many people in the academia, have done studies that show on an energy basis… the same amount of ethanol for the same amount of gasoline being burnt, you have approximately a 45-60 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases from the same amount of fuel." E10 is a blend of 90 per cent gasoline and 10 per cent ethanol. Ethanol, a high-octane fuel made from grains such as corn, has almost doubled in production in the U.S. over the past five years. The federal government estimates that Canadian production of ethanol will triple between now and 2010.
"When you burn ethanol you release carbon dioxide, but it is in much, much less numbers then gas would, because when you are growing the crops you are taking carbon dioxide in," says Spear.
He added that the vast majority of studies show net positive benefits that are very high in terms of reducing GHGs using grain-based ethanol.
"To make gasoline you have to use a lot of fossil fuel, fossil energy, and electricity in order to get the fuel out the ground, refine it, and get it to the market."
Impact on Farmers
Spear said it is important to take into account the beneficial farming practices behind ethanol. "Ultimately the main energy behind grain-based ethanol specifically, but bio-fuels more generally, is solar energy."
The Environment Canada report stated that 36 per cent of Canada's farmland would need to be used in order to replace 10 per cent of the fuel we currently use, and that this could impact the price of wheat, corn, and feedstock. "There is concern about the rationale for allocating farmland to energy production rather than food production," states the report.
Spear said that this data is based on the current efficiency of processing plants. "The reality is that this is a new industry, and these plants that are producing ethanol and biodiesel are becoming more efficient all the time."
This, coupled with the emerging cellulose ethanol technology and the shutdown of pulp and paper mills in northern Ontario, Quebec, and BC—whose infrastructure could be used to produce these biofuels—are possible remedies for the concern, Spear believes.
Part of biofuel production assistance involves targeting farmers to invest in biofuel processing plants. One possible reason for the decline in world grain stock during the first half of 2006 was due to the rising demand for ethanol derived from corn.
Brazil and the United States produce 70 per cent of the world's ethanol. In Canada, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 provided subsidies to ethanol producers, which has fostered growth in the industry. As biofuel production increases over the next few years, it is expected that the commodity prices of farmers will increase and thousands of jobs will be created in rural Canada.
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