Ethanol and biodiesel plants across Canada contribute more than $2 billion to the economy every year, according to the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association.
A report released Wednesday morning studied 28 plants across the country and found the renewable fuels industry creates rural revitalization benefits, increased oil exports and industrial development.
“I think we have delivered on the commitment, quite frankly, that we had promised to do when we advocated to governments that there was a public policy good in investing in renewable fuels,” Gordon Quaiattini, the association’s president, told BIV.
The group was founded in 1984 as a non-profit organization to promote the renewable fuels industry. Quaiattini said Doyletech Corp., an independent consulting firm, is the company behind the study.
The report said the 28 plants produce 2.25 billion litres of renewable fuels and create more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs annually.
"These two reports coupled give us the opportunity to say, ‘an industry no longer in its infancy but in its adolescence has demonstrated its contribution to Canada,’” Quaiattini said.
The study also found the construction phase of new plants creates a total annual direct investment of $2.3 billion in the economy, and creates more than 14,000 jobs during respective construction periods.
While Quaiattini said a lot of the economic benefits are felt elsewhere in Canada, B.C. has a real opportunity to expand its renewable fuel industry through the use of pine beetle wood.