New biofuels program to help farmers take ownership

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

Producer groups in Saskatchewan have the opportunity to diversify Saskatchewan’s economy while contributing to Canada’s supply of renewable fuel alternatives by applying for funding through the Biofuels Opportunities for Producers Initiative (BOPI).

BOPI will be administered in Saskatchewan by the Saskatchewan Council for Community Development (SCCD) Inc. Saskatchewan’s share of the program will be $591,180, of which a group can apply for as much as $300,000 per project.

“The BOPI program will allow producers the opportunity to be closely involved in the production of biofuels, giving them more ownership of the process and increasing their share of the benefits from renewable fuels production beyond delivering feedstock,” said SCCD Biofuels Advisory Group Chair Murray Purcell.

The Government of Canada is committed to requiring, nationally, an average of five per cent renewable fuel content in transport fuel by 2010. Environment Canada is leading the development of the overall strategy to implement the goal, with support from Natural Resources Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).

AAFC wants to ensure that the five-per-cent target is implemented in ways that result in the greatest possible benefit to the agriculture sector, including significant ownership of biofuels production facilities by agricultural producers.

In order to provide as much benefit as possible, the objective of the initiative is to help agricultural producers in the development of sound, well-documented business plans for projects that have significant producer ownership (greater than one-third), as well as aiding to undertake feasibility or other studies to support the creation and expansion of the biofuel production capacity.

Application forms for the BOPI program are available through the SCCD website at www.sccd.sk.ca/bopi. The application deadline is Friday, October 13, 2006, with the SCCD Board of Directors to adjudicate project applications on November 22, 2006. Projects are not eligible if started before November 22, 2006.

The Biofuels Advisory Group of SCCD will include the following members:

* Murray Purcell, Board of Directors, SCCD (Chair of Biofuels Advisory Group)
* Dr. Ashley O’Sullivan, Board of Directors, SCCD
* Dr. W.M. (Mike) Ingledew, Department of Applied Microbiology and Food Science, University of Saskatchewan
* Grant McVicar, Director of the Office of Energy Conservation, Saskatchewan Research Council
* Mark Stumborg, Section Head, Applied Science and Technology Transfer, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
* Judie Dyck, Executive Director, Saskatchewan Canola Growers Association
* Dwayne Moore (Producer Representative), Rosetown

The BOPI program is administered under the existing terms and conditions of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) Program.

For further information, contact:

Dallas Carpenter, Communications Officer
Saskatchewan Council for Community Development
Phone: (306) 975-6856
E-mail: info@sccd.sk.ca
Website: www.sccd.sk.ca/bopi