REVELSTOKE, B.C. – Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECC) has invited Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC), along with other potentially affected trade associations, to participate on a stakeholder committee and a technical committee to give input toward developing the federal Clean Fuel Standard.

The Government of Canada’s intent is for the Clean Fuel Standard to be a performance-based regulation that will incent the use of a broad range of low carbon fuels, energy sources and technologies, such as electricity, hydrogen, and renewable fuels. It will establish lifecycle carbon intensity requirements separately for liquid, gaseous and solid fuels, and will go beyond transportation fuels to include those used in industry and buildings. The Clean Fuel Standard will complement the pan-Canadian approach to pricing carbon pollution.

WPAC sees this as an opportunity to influence a national regulation that will incent fossil fuel producers to use wood pellets within the fossil fuel supply chain as a way to reduce the carbon intensity of fossil fuels. For example, a fossil fuel producer could use wood pellets to provide process heat as part of its production process.

ECC has formed a stakeholder committee that will meet every few months to review progress as the Clean Fuel Standard is developed. ECC has also formed a technical committee that will meet approximately monthly until the draft regulation is completed in June 2018. The technical committee includes such groups as the Forest Products Association of Canada, the Mining Association of Canada, The Canadian Electricity Association, Advanced Biofuels Canada, Canadian Fuels Association, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Clean Energy Canada, Canadian Gas Association and the Wood Pellet Association of Canada.

The objective of the Clean Fuel Standard is to achieve 30 megatonnes of annual reductions in GHG emissions by 2030, contributing to Canada’s effort to achieve its overall GHG mitigation target of 30 per cent emission reduction below 2005 levels by 2030.

On Dec. 13, 2017, ECC published a regulatory framework on the Clean Fuel Standard. The framework outlines the key elements of the design of the clean fuel standard regulation, including its scope, regulated parties, carbon intensity approach, timing, and potential compliance options such as credit trading.

ECC is planning to publish the proposed regulation in the Canada Gazette by late 2018 and to publish the final regulation by mid-2019.