Natural Resources committee  That is a good question. We did it for Quebec. Every year, Quebec has $800 million in R and D tax credits. That amount has dropped slightly in the last budget, by roughly $75 million. Not all the companies that do research necessarily export. Take Cascades for example. They do research to improve the process, but not to sell the technology.

Natural Resources committee  No.

Natural Resources committee  We have tried. I am also the founder of Écotech Québec. We made representations last year, before the decisions were made. However, what we are currently proposing to the federal government and the provincial government is to change their income tax legislation so that commercialization costs will be credited for technologies that previously received research and development tax credits or for those that were either patented or protected as intellectual property.

Natural Resources committee  I think so too. For instance, why did a small Quebec business decide to invest in El Salvador? It was to solve an environmental problem, because there was a price on carbon. We went to a country where a civil war lasted 15 years and we took a risk because it was worth it. There was a rate of return.

Natural Resources committee  If the policy that sets the price on carbon applied to all countries at the same time, there would not be a problem. That was the goal of the Kyoto Protocol. There was a common ground for all the countries with a price on carbon. In my view, it is a question of international political cooperation.

Natural Resources committee  Yes.

Natural Resources committee  First of all, in order to establish such a market we should have a regulated market. We need legislation like that in Quebec and California in order to create this market.

Natural Resources committee  We need to have penalties for the large emitters that are not meeting their objectives. For instance, in the European market there is a penalty of €100 per tonne for those that cannot achieve their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas. The problem with the European market, as you know, is that they decided to go ahead with new allowances without any control over the supply and demand.

Natural Resources committee  There is a major experiment starting in North America. First, the American state of California, the tenth largest economy in the world, will create a significant carbon market. There will be sufficient liquidity to have a meaningful cap and trade system. Second, in Canada, on December 21, 2012, the Quebec National Assembly passed the latest regulations and laws to establish a regulated carbon market as set out in the Kyoto Protocol.

Natural Resources committee  In relation to liquefied natural gas or ethanol from cellulose or corn, it's a different ball game. I was involved in both of these technologies before I founded Biothermica. I was the owner of the alcohol plant in Gatineau on the other side, and we did a lot of R and D on cellulosic ethanol through hydrolysis.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you for inviting me to give testimony before the Standing Committee on Natural Resources. My presentation will be very practical in the sense that I am going to tell you about three of our projects. I am also going to conclude by telling you about changes and approaches that I think our legislators should consider in order to improve, increase and speed up the development of technologies with a view to fighting greenhouse gases.