ETHANOL NEWS
Renewable Fuels Industry Re-Elects Johnson
By Terry Boland, Editor-in-Chief

Ethanol Awareness Program for 1998
The awareness of ethanol, and its benefits, are still a lost commodity for many consumers in Canada. For those attending the annual meeting of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, in Chatham in June, the need for a national program to inform consumers about the benefits of ethanol-blended fuels, in the fight to clean up air quality, was a high priority.

To answer the call, the renewable fuels industry and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada have developed an ethanol awareness program which will get underway in August. The association has contracted Ellen Klupfel of Guelph, as a bilingual public information program manager, to head up the two-year program, which will concentrate on new publications, consumer and retail focus groups, joint industry initiatives and a teacher resource kit.

Johnson Re-elected
Jim Johnson, past president of the Ontario Corn Producers’ Association (OCPA) and a farmer from Lambton County, was re-elected to a fourth term as president of the association. Johnson is joined on the 1998-99 executive by Doug MacKenzie, Commercial Alcohols Inc. (national vice president); Bob Peden, UPI (Ontario vice president); Zennith Faye, Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission (Western Canadian vice president); and Denis Couture, La Fédération des producteurs de cultures commerciales du Québec (Eastern Canadian vice president), replacing Germaine Chabot. Doug Eadie (OCPA) was also elected to the board of directors.

Ontario Clean Air Bill
Chatham-Kent MPP, Jack Carroll, addressed the annual meeting on the introduction of Bill 34 in the Ontario legislature. The “Environmental Protection Amendment Act, 1998” amends the current legislation to require that gasoline used to power motor vehicles, as defined in the Highway Traffic Act, would have a minimum oxygen content of 2.7 per cent by weight. The amendment would come into force on January 1, 2005.

The legislation would be of major benefit to corn farmers and the ethanol industry, and is highly supportive of ethanol-blended fuels. The delay in implementing the legislation would provide the ethanol industry with enough time to develop a supply of ethanol for what could be a one billion litre per year requirement for the environmentally beneficial fuel.

Speakers
The annual meeting of the association highlighted a number of topics of importance to the renewable fuels industry. Haydn Northey, Sunoco, outlined the marketing program Sunoco has undertaken to introduce ethanol-enhanced fuels as its 275 retail outlet across Ontario. Dr. Michael Wang, Argonne National Laboratory, provided an overview of the significant reduction in greenhouse gases that can be achieved with the use of ethanol-blended fuels. Srinivasa Prabhu, EPYX (A.D. Little) Corporation, examined a future role for ethanol as part of the development of fuel cell technology. And Ken Bee, Ontario Soybean Growers’ Marketing Board, provided an excellent review of the potential for biodiesel, a fuel or fuel additive made from oilseed crops, such as soybeans, canola or vegetable oil.