{"id":12051,"date":"2026-08-21T15:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T19:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadabiznews.ca\/press-releases\/pr\/new-analyses-show-limited-impact-of-clean-fuels-on-canadians-food-costs-household-budgets\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T15:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T19:13:09","slug":"new-analyses-show-limited-impact-of-clean-fuels-on-canadians-food-costs-household-budgets","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/canadabiznews.ca\/press-releases\/pr\/new-analyses-show-limited-impact-of-clean-fuels-on-canadians-food-costs-household-budgets\/","title":{"rendered":"New analyses show limited impact of clean fuels on Canadians\u2019 food costs, household budgets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Advanced Biofuels Canada data show that biofuels are an economic boost to Canada<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Criticism of the CFR has relied on incorrectly calculated biofuel costs. In reality, biofuel blending has an indiscernible impact on household spending, including food.\u201d<\/b>\n
\u2014 Fred Ghatala, ABFC President<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

VANCOUVER, CANADA, August 21, 2026 \/EINPresswire.com<\/a>\/ — Advanced Biofuels Canada Association (ABFC) released a statement by Fred Ghatala, President, sharing recent analyses on fuel costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmidst ongoing challenges to affordability for many Canadian households, we are addressing inaccurate statements relative to the Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR). Parties calling for the end of the Clean Fuel Regulations are relying on deeply flawed estimates and are failing to account for biofuels\u2019 irreplaceable benefits to Canada\u2019s economy. <\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the claims rely on a May 2023 report by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO). ABFC\u2019s May 2023 press release<\/a> details gross errors in the PBO\u2019s calculations. The PBO\u2019s projections of CFR costs are based on an impossible, upper-bound scenario that causes a significant overstatement of CFR costs. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe PBO\u2019s report relies on an assumption that obligated parties would acquire 100% of the compliance credits they need from third parties. This scenario is contradicted by the well-established practice of obligated parties (Canadian refiners and fuel importers) directly generating the majority of compliance credits through their own biofuel production and blending. BC\u2019s Low Carbon Fuel Standard is similar to the CFR design and was implemented July 1, 2013. Compliance reporting<\/a> by the BC Low Carbon Fuels Branch has shown that, over the past 10 years of its credit market, an average of 24% of compliance obligations have been purchased on the BC LCFS credit market.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecondly, the PBO report also assumes that all of these credits will be purchased at the full credit market price. This approach significantly overstates compliance costs since credit market trades represent the marginal cost of the next available credit (neither the average cost nor the intrinsic cost of biofuel blending to generate credits). Credit markets deliver the most expensive compliance, which is why obligated parties seek to internally generate compliance through activities such as biofuel production, co-processing, and blending.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo model CFR costs based on 100% credit purchasing at the marginal credit market price would be like projecting your annual food budget based on 100% use of expensive restaurant meals and food delivery services with zero grocery store purchases or cooking at home. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe PBO errors are evident when considering the case of ethanol, which all obligated parties blend with gasoline. Gasoline fuel use represents approximately 55% of CFR obligations, and the wholesale cost of ethanol has been cheaper than gasoline for years, making ethanol blending an attractive compliance strategy. As a result of this market pricing, more than 50% of CFR obligation costs are zero or less than zero. This makes clear the scale of the PBO\u2019s miscalculation when they forecast that CFR compliance costs could be up to 17 cents per litre by 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n

ABFC has analyzed the actual impact of the CFR on Canadian households based on market reporting by Navius Research; the data is summarized below:
\n1. In 2024, Canadian drivers and businesses spent $112 billion on fuel. Biofuels added $0.97 billion and saved $1.25 billion in diesel and gasoline fuel costs, respectively.
\n2. An average Canadian household\u2019s annual expenditures<\/a> are $76,750. Modeling the CFR\u2019s financial impact to show direct and indirect impact on all aspects of the economy, the data show biofuel in diesel to add $52\/year, offset by biofuel in gasoline (ethanol) savings of $101\/year for each household.
\n3. Regarding biofuels\u2019 impact on the cost of producing and shipping food, a household\u2019s $12,925 annual food budget will rise 0.04% (1\/17th of one percent) based on the predominance of diesel in the transport of all goods. However, ethanol\u2019s lower cost neutralizes that slight diesel cost impact.
\n4. Canadian data show transportation costs to be 3% of food costs. This mirrors the US Department of Agriculture\u2019s \u2018food dollar\u2019 showing total transportation costs to be 4 cents in every dollar of household spending on food, of which fuel is but one component. <\/p>\n

\u201cCriticism of the CFR has relied on incorrectly calculated biofuel costs. In reality, biofuel blending has an indiscernible impact on household spending, including food. The claim that Canadians\u2019 affordability is being worsened from biofuel blending is not supported by actual fuel use and market pricing data.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond impacts on household budgets, biofuels play a compelling, positive, and broader role in the Canadian economy. They provide an irreplaceable lifeline to a critical economic sector: agriculture. The instability of global markets has reached far into farming\u2019s economics. With strong provincial and federal clean fuel policies, domestic crop demand for biofuel production has replaced unreliable and unstable exports to Canada\u2019s major trading partners. Furthermore, additional biofuel supplies have dampened oil price shocks from global conflicts, limiting increases to fuel costs at the pump for consumers and industry. <\/p>\n

\u201cCanada\u2019s recent federal-provincial-territorial review of the strategic importance of the biofuels sector reached an accurate conclusion: ‘Canada\u2019s liquid and gaseous biofuels sector represents a strategic and economic opportunity to support Canada\u2019s energy security and competitiveness amid growing global trade uncertainty and energy market volatility. Growing Canada\u2019s domestic biofuels sector can help create jobs, contribute to GDP, mitigate tariff and supply chain exposure, and build demand for Canadian agricultural and forestry feedstocks while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Advanced Biofuels Canada (ABFC) is the national industry voice for producers, distributors, and technology providers for non-fossil, low carbon alternatives which can be blended with gasoline, diesel, marine, and jet fuels. ABFC members produce a portfolio of liquid clean fuels, sustainable feedstocks, and intermediary products. ABFC members operate over 45 billion litres of low carbon fuel production capacity globally and are significant suppliers to renewable and low carbon fuel in Canada and worldwide. For more information, please visit www.advancedbiofuels.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Farrah Shawky
\nAdvanced Biofuels Canada Association
\ninfo@advancedbiofuels.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

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Advanced Biofuels Canada data show that biofuels are an economic boost to Canada Criticism of the CFR has relied on incorrectly calculated biofuel costs. In reality, biofuel blending has an indiscernible impact on household spending, including food.\u201d \u2014 Fred Ghatala, ABFC President VANCOUVER, CANADA, August 21, 2026 \/EINPresswire.com\/ — Advanced Biofuels Canada Association (ABFC) released … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12052,"template":"","class_list":["post-12051","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadabiznews.ca\/press-releases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-releases\/12051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadabiznews.ca\/press-releases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadabiznews.ca\/press-releases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadabiznews.ca\/press-releases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadabiznews.ca\/press-releases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}