First Ever Economic Assessment of Canadian Renewable Fuel Plants Released

The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association today released the first-ever comprehensive third party economic impact assessment of renewable fuels investments in Canada. The assessment conducted by econometric firm Doyletech Corporation, concluded that, “the grand total of the annual positive economic impact of renewable fuels is $2.013 billion.”

The report studied 28 ethanol and biodiesel plants across Canada and added that there were major benefits from renewable fuels in “rural re-vitalization, increased oil exports from western Canada, industrial development, and valuable options for re-balancing fuel “mix”.”

The economic impact of the construction phase of renewable fuels plant was assessed to include:

• A total direct investment of $2.326 billion.
• The total net economic activity of $2.949 billion, including $100.2 million to municipal governments, $492.1 million to provincial governments, and $679.9 million to the federal government.
• And the creation of 14,177 direct and indirect jobs during the respective construction periods.

The economic impact of operating the 28 Canadian renewable fuels plants was assessed to include:

• The production of a total of 2.25 billion litres of renewable fuels annually.
• A net annual economic benefit of $1.473 billion to the Canadian economy across Canada, including $14.1 million to municipal governments, $108.8 million to provincial governments, and $111.8 million to the federal government.
• The creation of a net 1,038 direct and indirect jobs annually.
• An estimated annual benefit of $540 million in additional oil exports that are possible because of western Canada biofuels production (using value of CDN $80/barrel).
• The grand total of the annual positive economic impact of renewable fuels is accordingly $2.013 billion.

“Even making allowance for the opportunity costs of alternate investments, and the opportunity costs of alternate feedstock sales, renewable fuels plants in Canada represent a positive net economic benefit,” the report concludes.

Source : Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA)