Greener Gasoline and Greener Diesel - Director's Directions

The ministry considered comments received during an in-person consultation session on renewable content in gasoline on June 25, 2019 and a technical webinar held on July 23, 2020.

The submissions yielded the following themes:

Calculating greenhouse gas intensities before the Director’s Directions are finalized

Some stakeholders asked that the ministry accept GHG intensity values that are calculated before finalizing the new Director’s Directions, as renewable fuels used towards compliance were purchased before the effective date for Director’s Directions.

Response: Our guideline outlines a process for the ministry to accept GHG intensity values that were calculated prior to its finalization.

GHGenius model version

Received advice to adopt either of the following tools: the recent version of GHGenius (currently, model version 5.0) or the lifecycle analysis tool that is currently being developed by the federal government for the proposed Clean Fuel Standard. .

Response: While we continue to monitor the progress of the federal model, our guideline specifies that GHGenius 4.03a or 4.03b will continue to be used at this time. Given that our guideline includes technical requirements, e.g. gasoline and diesel GHG intensity values, we are able to be nimble in updating model choice.

Undocumented biofuel

Stakeholders asked the ministry to provide fuel suppliers with a methodology and pre-calculated GHG intensity values for renewable fuels in the event that GHG intensity information is unavailable. This may occur due to unplanned shutdowns at renewable producer plants or fuel supplier terminals, resulting in other supply arrangements being made on short notice with suppliers that sell renewable fuels without GHG intensity information.

Response: For the 2020-21 compliance period, our proposed guideline provides pre-calculated intensity values for corn ethanol from, for example, Manitoba, Quebec or the United States, recognizing that the market is adjusting to the requirements and has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

New or improved biofuel facility production processes

Some stakeholders recommended that the GHG intensity value should be determined based on 12 months of operating data to reflect the “steady state performance” of an operation. Other stakeholders suggested that requiring 12 months of production data may be problematic for new plants that need a GHG intensity in order to market their product.

Response: Our guideline outlines a process for using six months of data until 12 months of data becomes available as a means of supporting innovation in biofuel feedstocks and production processes.

Treatment of renewable inputs

Some stakeholders requested recognition of renewable energy inputs.

Response: Our guideline provides a methodology for using direct connected renewable energy (e.g. renewable natural gas or renewable electricity) in the biofuel production process to support and recognize improvements throughout the fuel lifecycle.

The above themes and comments were considered when developing our new ministry guideline under the O. Reg. 663/20 (Cleaner Transportation Fuels) regulation.