British Columbia sets higher low-carbon fuel targets

Canada’s national trade association, Advanced Biofuels Canada, has praised the British Columbia government’s steady, strategic expansion of the province’s single most impactful climate initiative.

BC Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation (EMLI) announced Dec. 20 that an order in council will “increase the carbon-intensity reduction requirement from 20 percent to 30 percent by 2030 in the gasoline and diesel fuel pools. The proposed carbon intensity reduction schedule will linearly increase the target each year from 2023 to 2030 to reach 30 percent by 2030.”

The announcement also stated that the amendment to the provincial act governing BC’s LCFS will “increase the penalty rate for noncompliance with the carbon-intensity requirements of the act from $200 per metric ton to $600 per ton.”

BC EMLI also released Dec. 20 an intentions paper to “discuss the technical aspects of the New Low Carbon Fuels Act (New Act) and New Regulations expected to come into force on Jan. 1, 2024. In particular, the paper discusses how compliance units (currently called credits and debits) will be calculated under the New Act.”

Ian Thomson, president of Advanced Biofuels Canada, stated, “BC has created one of North America’s most compelling investment environments for transitioning to sustainable, low-carbon fuels that will drive new job creation across the province, and support a range of industries outside transportation. The LCFS is a smart climate policy that is effectively eliminating greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil-fuel use and providing consumers with new and more affordable clean-fuel options. The BC government has been proactive and strategic in working with its Pacific coastal neighbors in Washington, Oregon and California to create a corridor of aligned low-carbon fuel policies. This protects British Columbia’s economic competitiveness and establishes a consistent market signal for clean-fuel technologies. We look forward to working with the province in 2023 on the transition to the new LCFS statute. We expect the BC LCFS will remain Canada’s most progressive and effective strategy to decarbonize transportation.”