April 17, 2024
The Canadian Biogas Association (CBA) is pleased to see the development of Canada’s biogas & RNG industry included as a priority in today’s federal budget. The CBA is optimistic that the budget’s announcement of several new streams of funding for biofuel projects will begin to move the biogas & RNG industry forward. The announcement is a positive signal to our sector, which will create jobs and investment opportunities in Canada.
Budget 2024 included three sources of funding that will support Canadian biofuel production, with RNG listed as one of three priority fuels, alongside sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel. The government announced intentions to rework the Clean Fuels Fund to more efficiently deliver $776.3 million over four years, with a continuous intake process set to be launched by the end of 2024. The budget announced $500 million in biofuel production investments by the Canada Infrastructure Bank and an intention to dedicate $500 million from Clean Fuel Regulations compliance payments towards further support for biofuel production. More details are expected later this year, and the Canadian Biogas Association will continue to work closely with government over the coming months as these funding avenues are developed.
Biogas & RNG production empowers Canadian farmers, municipalities, and industry to transform organic waste into a clean energy source. Yet today, Canada is only achieving about 13 per cent of its available biogas and RNG potential, and further investments in domestic projects have been largely stalled due to more substantial American incentives such as an investment tax credit of 30 to 50 per cent for new American biogas projects. Today’s recognition of biogas & RNG’s potential along with the funding announcement begins to recognize that, with competitive policies in place, Canada can attract over $1.5 billion in new biogas and RNG investment and generate 4.4 petajoules of annual clean energy by 2030.
Still, more must be done to restore Canada’s competitivity for investment in this important sector. The Canadian Biogas Association remains committed to ensuring that this program is implemented with Canada’s biogas & RNG producers and customers in mind. The association urges the Canadian government to build on today’s announcement and introduce additional incentives to close the competitivity gap with the United States.
“The Canadian Biogas Association is thrilled to see biogas & RNG listed as a top priority for the biofuel funding announced today, but our work is far from done,” says Jennifer Green, the CBA’s executive director. “Our members are looking to the Canadian government for leadership and collaboration to build a robust and competitive market for biogas & RNG. This is a good start, but our industry has lots of catching up to do. We look forward to continuing to work with the government to strengthen Canada’s biogas sector.”
