Ontario is going to force a doubling of ethanol content in gasoline to 10 per cent by 2020, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change has announced.
It will also provide incentives for emerging technologies such as renewable gasoline and biocrude.
"By 2020, the proposed actions are projected to result in greenhouse gas pollution reductions that are equivalent to taking up to 130,000 cars off our roads each year, and up to 300,000 cars off our roads each year by 2030," ministry spokesman Gary Wheeler said in an e-mail.
Ethanol distillers welcomed the news.
"Ethanol is the cleanest, cheapest way to reduce carbon in gasoline available today," said Howard Field, president of Greenfield Global. He said the new standards "will help the province achieve its GHG emission targets while ensuring continued local investment, innovation and job creation."
The federal government is expected to include incentives for greater ethanol use and perhaps an increased federal mandate, which currently is five per cent.
In anticipation of the provincial move, IGPC Ethanol Inc. embarked earlier this year on a $200-million expansion of its farmer-owner ethanol refinery Aylmer, Ont., in order to double its production.
"We're right in the middle of a very major construction project right now," IGPC president Jim Grey said.
