British Columbia’s Ministry of Energy and Mines yesterday confirmed that it would leave the province’s Renewable and Low Carbon Fuel Requirements Regulation unchanged in the wake of a year-long review.
The regulation specifies the amounts by which the overall carbon intensity of motor fuels must decline by the year 2020, and prescribes the required biofuel content of those fuels. In this way, it creates a market for cleaner fuels, such as biofuels and hydrogen, and encourages greater adoption of electric vehicles.
The following comments may be attributed to Jeremy Moorhouse, Senior Analyst, Clean Energy Canada:
We’re glad that Victoria will keep this regulation strong. Though not widely known, as the source of fully one-quarter of the province’s carbon reductions to date, it’s a pillar of British Columbia’s climate leadership.
The regulation has also spurred the creation of a small but thriving renewable liquid fuels sector, with 25 businesses now producing clean fuels in 58 different ways.
By strengthening this policy tool further, the province could help further drive down carbon pollution from transportation—the source of about a third of B.C.’s carbon pollution.
In recommitting to this regulation, the province is demonstrating that we take our agreements with our neighbours seriously: British Columbia, California, Oregon, and Washington have all pledged to either implement clean fuel standards, or retain the ones they have.
