Canada House Gives Green Light To Biofuel Bill

Government legislation that will require all gasoline sold in Canada to contain 5 percent ethanol by 2010 passed the House of Commons on Wednesday.

The bill, which also calls for diesel to contain 2 percent renewable fuels by 2012, won the support of the main opposition Liberal Party but was opposed by two smaller parties that had voiced concern about food-crop production being diverted to fuel.
However, the governing Conservatives and the Liberals have both backed the idea, arguing that only a small portion of food crops such as corn will be used to make the biofuel.

The bill must now be approved by the Senate, where passage is likely since it is dominated by the Liberal Party.

The legislation would create demand for an estimated 2 billion litres of ethanol and 600 million litres of biodiesel.

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