Agriculture committee  There are two levels. One is technology and one is feedstock. There are different types of technologies that it can employ. One is a lipid, which is an oil or a fat, and then there is a more advanced type of technology by which it can take a cellulosic material or a bio-oil that

Agriculture committee  There are two parts to a successful industry in a country. One is to create the assurance of demand. If we were not a new industry in the presence of another conventional industry that was reluctant to adopt this, it would be reasonable to let the market take care of that. But th

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  You have to go into the horse trading that was done two summers ago on getting biodiesel included as a specific renewable fuel. The concern at the time was that because ethanol was better developed and there were two petrochemical companies actively producing and selling bioethan

Agriculture committee  I fully support the bill as it stands, and I support it because I'm a pragmatist on such matters. The specific legislation and mechanisms that will govern percentages and compliances, etc., will be written into law under the auspices of the act. We are looking more at seeing move

Agriculture committee  Yes. Let me share by way of an anecdote. In January 2006 I was a speaker at a forum in Saskatoon. It was Canola Days--the primary gathering of canola growers. It would not be an understatement to say that the mood was despondent. The average age of canola growers was 59 years, a

Agriculture committee  Thank you. That is an elegant summary of the challenges we face. I have three points. On your reference to the European Commission's biofuels directive that was released in January, we studied that closely and we studied it quickly. It has obviously substantial implications for

Agriculture committee  If I interpreted the question correctly, you're asking whether we would move ahead on the blend levels that we're proposing right now.

Agriculture committee  We would, and I would actually, in the case of biodiesel, take the blend level up to 5% by 2015.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. That's a good question. If we were to have a renewable fuel standard by 2010 in terms of much of the production capacity to meet the demand coming from that renewal fuel standard, if it is to be produced in Canada and not imported from the United States or abroad, we

Agriculture committee  I do not know ethanol well. I do know that there is a lower energy density and that there is a loss of fuel economy as a result, and I think for low-level blends you would just have to look at the particular chemistry. Biodiesel in its pure form has less energy density, but it ha

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, and good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. I am pleased to be before you today to speak on Bill C-33, An Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. Thank you for this opportunity to tell you why we believe that this bi