British Columbia’s ethanol standards for gasoline a mistake: scientists

B.C. is taking the wrong approach by mandating that gasoline sold in the province contain five per cent ethanol by 2010, according to some scientific experts.

The province says the renewable fuel standard passed last spring will help cut greenhouse gas emissions by replacing five per cent of fossil fuels with renewable fuels. The federal government has a similar ethanol standard.

But Dan Kammen, director of the renewable and appropriate energy lab at the University of California, Berkeley, says many types of ethanol available today don’t reduce greenhouse gases and B.C. shouldn’t try to pick one fuel as a winner.

“Not every flavour of ethanol is good for the environment. Quite a few of them are not,” said Kammen.

A better approach would be to stick to the low carbon fuel standard that B.C. and California have both adopted, said Kammen.

CBC News