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Government of Canada boosts biofuels in Ontario

4th April, 2008

The Government of Canada has announced nearly $4 million (€2.52 million) in funding under the federal ecoAgriculture Biofuels Capital (ecoABC) initiative for IGPC Ethanol, a subsidiary of the Integrated Grain Processors Co-operative, in Aylmer, Ontario.

The 150 million litre ethanol plant, expected to be completed this November, has also received equity investment from farmers totalling close to $15.5 million.

In addition to ethanol, the plant will produce distillers dried grains with solubles and distillers wet grains, sources of protein for dairy and beef cows, hogs and poultry.This is the third ethanol plant funded under the ecoABC initiative.

The ecoABC initiative is a $200 million, four-year programme that provides conditionally repayable contributions for the construction or expansion of transportation biofuel production facilities. Funding is conditional upon agricultural producer investment in the biofuel projects and the use of agricultural feedstock to produce the biofuel. The initiative is part of more than $500 million announced by the federal government in April 2007 to assist farmers and rural communities in seizing new market opportunities in the agricultural bioproducts sector through biofuels and bioproducts initiatives.

The Government of Canada is investing a total of $2.2 billion toward the goal of reaching an average of 5% renewable content in petrol by 2010 and 2% renewable content in diesel fuel and heating oil by 2012, and advancing next generation biofuel technologies.