ecoAGRICULTURE

Renewable Fuels for a Greener Future

The government's comprehensive strategy for renewable fuels has four components:

• Increasing the retail availability of renewable fuels through regulation
• Supporting the expansion of Canadian production of renewable fuels
• Assisting farmers to seize new opportunities in this sector
• Accelerating the commercialization of new technologies

On April 23, 2007, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Foods officially launched the ecoAGRICULTURE Biofuels Capital (ecoABC) initiative, a new $200 million initiative that will provide repayable contributions of up to $25 million per project to help farmers overcome the challenges of raising the capital necessary for the construction or expansion of biofuel production facilities.

In March 2007, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Foods announced an additional $10 million to the Biofuels Opportunities for Producers Initiative (BOPI) (for a total of $20 million to help agricultural producers develop sound business proposals, as well as undertake feasibility or other studies to expand biofuels production capacity.

The Biofuels Opportunities for Producers Initiative ended on March 31, 2008.

Myths & Facts