Cleaner Transportation Fuels: Proposed Modified Pathway for Alternative Electricity Generation Values and Alternative Energy and Process-Related Fuels/Inputs

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks regulates:

1. the amount of bio-based content in gasoline and diesel fuel used or sold in Ontario
2. the greenhouse gas (GHG) performance of this bio-based content

These bio-based content requirements help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.

As part of the GHG performance requirement, fuel suppliers must calculate the lifecycle GHG emissions intensity of the bio-based content in blended gasoline or blended diesel fuel. Lifecycle emissions are the cumulative emissions associated with creating and using a fuel, from extraction or cultivation to feedstock processing, fuel production, distribution and end-use combustion.

To enable innovation in bio-based content production, the Cleaner Transportation Fuels regulation allows fuel suppliers to submit new or modified lifecycle models, or pathways, for calculating the lifecycle emissions of renewable content to the ministry for approval. This process encourages emerging technologies and increases compliance flexibility.

The regulation requires that the ministry base its approval of proposed models or pathways submitted by bio-based content producers on the following three factors:

1. Whether the data and results in the proposed model are verifiable
2. Whether the emission factors, input data, background data sets and methodologies used in the proposed model are appropriate and would not result in an under-estimation of the carbon intensity value
3. Whether the model is consistent with two lifecycle standards from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 14040 and ISO 14044)

Once approved, the proposed model or pathway can be used to determine the lifecycle emissions of bio-based content used for compliance. The regulation relies on the judgement of a professional engineer to ensure that all data used pursuant to the regulation are reasonable and that the calculations are correct.

In this policy proposal, we are seeking feedback on:

1. Updates to the Cleaner Transportation Fuels: Technical Guideline (proposed draft version 4) to provide clarity for:
   • canadian bio-based content producers that have six or fewer consecutive months of operating data for bio-based content
   • bio-based content producers on the selection of regional defaults in GHGenius 4.03
2. A proposed modified pathway for bio-based content, specifically, the ability to use alternative electricity generation values and alternative energy and process related fuels / inputs.
3. Updates to the Cleaner Transportation Fuels: Technical Guideline (proposed draft version 4) pertaining to the proposed new pathway.