Feds publish proposed Clean Fuel Standard regulation

On Dec. 20, 2020, the federal government published its proposed rules for the Clean Fuel Standard (CFS), which aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by reducing carbon in the fuel burned for transportation and heating. If adopted, the CFS would be enacted in 2022.

According to CBC News, the standard will reduce GHG emissions by 21 megatonnes by 2030. Current requirements to mix biofuels with diesel and gasoline would become part of the new regulations.

Under the proposed CFS, producers and distributors of fossil fuels would have to reduce their carbon content by 2.6 per cent by 2022 and 13 per cent by 2030. Companies can do this either by reducing carbon emissions released during the production and use of those fossil fuels, or by earning credits to apply against emissions. Those credits include energy efficiency, co-generation, electrification and methane reduction.

CBC News also reports that the import rules would be “tightened to ensure biofuels brought into Canada were actually reducing carbon emissions in their country of origin.”

However, according to the Wood Pellet Association of Canada, the proposed CFS overlooks solid biofuels.

The regulations are now in a 75-day comment period.

Read the full story from CBC News here.