August 14, 2025
On July 11, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) published the Clean Fuel Regulations 2024 Quarterly Credit Market Report covering the four quarters of the 2024 compliance period. The report summarizes activity in the compliance credit market, including credit creation and credit transfers that occurred between January 1 and December 31, 2024
This report was highly anticipated, following the first Credit Market Data Report released in June 2024, which reported on compliance periods 2022 and 2023. While the latest report offers less detail than its predecessor, there’s still value in comparing the two to get a sense of how the Clean Fuels Regulation is evolving and where the credit market stands today.
Credit Transfers
In the 2024 compliance year, 3.3 million credits were transferred with a recorded price under compliance categories CC1, CC2, and CC3, an 11% increase compared to 2023. In addition, 5 million credits were transferred without a recorded price — meaning they were either transferred at zero cost or at a price under $1 CAD. Please note that this transaction data does not include credit transfers upon creation through Section 108 agreements, or transfers with near-zero prices under Section 106.
Credit Price
The average price of the CFR credit in the 2024 compliance year was $157.07, and the prices ranged from $3.52 to $280 per credit. For comparison, the average credit price in the credit market report for 2022 and 2023 compliance years was $133.
Credits Generated
The July 2025 report provides figures for credit creation under compliance categories 2 and 3 but does not distinguish between them:
- At least 7.03 million CC2 and CC3 credits were generated during 2024, an increase of approximately 26% compared to 2023. Data is not available for Category 1 credit generation, as well as for a number of low-CI fuels under Category 2 and 3, and so this figure significantly understates the actual total.
- 4% of these credits were generated from Renewable Natural Gas (RNG). This figure is likely an underestimate, as data on produced and imported biogas and imported RNG was withheld due to confidentiality constraints.
- Based on the average credit price, RNG’s contribution equates to more than $14 million in credit value. Again, the actual number is probably higher, given the data limitations.
Carbon Intensity
Unlike the June 2024 report, which provided details on whether carbon intensities (CIs) were calculated or derived using the Fuel LCA model, the July 2025 report presents a broader picture. RNG CIs ranged from 7 to 79 gCO₂e/MJ, with an average of 63.1 gCO₂e/MJ.
This is notably higher than the average approved CI of 29.7 gCO₂e/MJ reported in 2022 and 2023. The difference likely reflects the use of fixed default values or calculated defaults, rather than project-specific calculations that fully account for emissions reductions. As an example, the fixed default CI for 2024 was 79 gCO2e/MJ as per schedule 6 of the Clean Fuel Regulations, and was included in the weighted carbon intensity average by volume if a fixed default was used to create credits.
Future Outlook
With RNG contributing over 4% of credits in the 2024 compliance year, up from 0.4% in 2022 and 2023, there are potentially positive signs for biogas & RNG under the CFR. Despite some fluctuations in average credit prices, which are normal with a relatively new market and periods of political uncertainty throughout 2024, prices were overall steady and showed a slight increase, which may offer some reassurance around market stability.
This report provides useful data for the industry, but ongoing access to credit market information will be important to increase certainty. More detailed reporting, including data on RNG feedstocks and carbon intensity calculation methods, would help build a clearer picture of how the market is working and where emissions reductions are coming from.
