ecoENERGY for Biofuels

ecoENERGY for Biofuels (Voted)

Start date

April 1, 2008

End date

March 31, 2017

Fiscal year for terms and conditions

2009-10

Strategic Outcome

2 – Natural Resource Sectors and Consumers are Environmentally Responsible

Link to department's Program Alignment Architecture

2.1 – Energy-Efficient Practices and Lower-Carbon Energy Sources and
2.1.3 – Alternative Transportation Fuels

Description

ecoENERGY for Biofuels supports the production of renewable alternatives to gasoline and diesel and encourages the development of a competitive domestic renewable fuels industry. The $1.48 billion, nine year program provides an operating incentive to facilities that produce renewable alternatives to gasoline and diesel in Canada, based on production and sales volumes. The Program has been closed to new applicants since March 31, 2010, and based on current estimates, it is expected that almost $1 billion will be spent by the program’s end in March 2017.

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

Results achieved

To support fuel producers’ capacity to produce renewable alternatives to gasoline and diesel, the ecoENERGY for Biofuels Program targeted 2 billion litres of ethanol and 500 million litres of biodiesel domestic production capacity.  The 37 contribution agreements originally signed (16 for ethanol and 21 for biodiesel) would have resulted in a built production capacity of 2.032 billion litres per year of ethanol, and 660 million litres per year of biodiesel in support of the Renewable Fuels Regulations. However, due to market challenges, several producers were unable to meet their contractual terms and their agreements were terminated.

By December 2012, the Program had built production capacity of 1,881ml of ethanol and 555ml of biodiesel. Since 2012 there has been a decrease in the number of facilities supported by the program for varying reasons, including suspension and terminations for non-compliance with terms of the agreement, catastrophic events and agreements successfully reaching their seven year term. In March 2016, the built production capacity of the remaining contribution agreements (2 ethanol and 5 biodiesel) was 145 million litres/year of renewable alternatives to gasoline (ethanol) and 96 million litres of renewable alternatives to diesel (biodiesel).

The ecoENERGY for Biofuels Program ends March 31, 2017.

As the Program winds down, NRCan will continue to manage existing contribution agreements and monitor industry performance as it enters a post-incentives environment.

Comments on variances

The variance in planned and actual 2015-16 spending is largely due to challenging market conditions faced by biodiesel producers and their inability to access the full incentives under their agreement due to lower production.

Audits completed or planned

Recipient audits are conducted every year resulting in each proponent being audited at least once by the end of the Program. In 2015-16, three recipient audits were completed and three will be conducted in 2016-17.

An internal audit of the entire Program is will be conducted in 2016-17 and is expected to be completed by March 2017.

Evaluations completed or planned

An internal evaluation of the Program will be conducted in 2016-17 and is expected to be completed by March 2017.

Engagement of applicants and recipients

The deadline for submitting an application to the Program was March 31, 2010.

The Program engages recipients through regular calls on project process; monthly, semi-annual and annual financial and environmental reporting, progress of construction and commissioning reports, technical and environmental site visits, and recipient audits.