A 2021 Toyota Tundra Trail edition pickup truck. (Media.toyota.ca)

Sale of new fuel-powered cars, light trucks to be banned from 2035

Interim targets to be set for 2025, 2030

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will ban the sale of fuel-burning new cars and light-duty trucks from 2035 in an effort to reach net-zero emissions across the country by 2050, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government said on Tuesday. Only zero-emissions cars and trucks can be sold from 2035, according to a statement, adding that a […] Read more

Storage tanks at a PBF Energy refinery at Delaware City, Delaware on Aug. 21, 2015. (File photo: Reuters/Charles Mostoller)

U.S. refiners amass biofuel liability as Biden mulls relief

Open RIN positions could hit refiners' earnings

Reading Time: 3 minutes New York | Reuters — U.S. merchant refiners have amassed up to a US$1.6 billion shortfall in the credits they will need to comply with U.S. biofuel laws, according to a Reuters review of corporate disclosures, an apparent bet that the Biden administration could let them off the hook or that credit prices will fall. […] Read more


A pair of Bombardier C series jets. (Bombardier.com)

U.S. lawmakers to propose tax credit for sustainable aviation fuel

Fuel from plant oils, animal fats would qualify

Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — U.S. lawmakers plan to introduce a bill on Thursday that would create a tax credit for lower-carbon sustainable aviation fuel, which they hope will slash emissions of greenhouse gases from the aviation industry. The legislation, seen by Reuters, would impose a tax incentive of up to US$2 for every gallon […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Cost index up for CN, down for CP in grain revenue formula

CP expects lower labour costs, CN higher

Reading Time: 2 minutes Expected labour costs were the major difference in a new ruling on the index that determines how much revenue each of Canada’s big two railways get to keep in the coming crop year from hauling Prairie grain. The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) on Thursday announced its decisions on the volume-related composite price index (VRCPI) for […] Read more


(SimonSkafar/iStock/Getty Images)

Some U.S. ethanol producers cut production to sell natural gas for profit

Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — Sky-high U.S. natural gas prices have prompted some Midwestern ethanol producers to reduce processing in the last week, hoping instead to sell off some of their natural gas to take advantage of current high spot prices caused by the spike in cold weather, industry sources said. Ethanol margins in the […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Diesel prices, carbon tax cause headaches for farmers

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Crude oil prices have been steadily on the rise since last November as oil-producing nations implement production cuts and Canadian farmers already affected by climbing diesel prices will have to dig deeper into their wallets this April. On April 1, the federal government’s carbon levy on diesel will go up from 8.05 cents […] Read more


Yara is seeking Norwegian government funding toward switching its Porsgrunn ammonia plant’s production process to electricity by 2026. (Yara.com)

Facing green push on farm, fertilizer makers look to sea for growth

Reading Time: 4 minutes Winnipeg/Oslo | Reuters — Two of the world’s biggest fertilizer producers, CF Industries and Yara International, are seeking to cash in on the green energy transition by reconfiguring ammonia plants in the U.S. and Norway to produce clean energy to power ships. The consumption of oil for transportation is one of the top contributors to […] Read more

(Fentino/E+/Getty Images)

Bibeau promises help to farmers on rising carbon tax

Funds expected to help farmers cut emissions

Reading Time: 2 minutes A steadily rising carbon tax has a lot of Western Canada’s grain farmers wondering how they’ll compete in world markets against competitors not subjected to a similar tax. “I think the world market is also looking towards a greener economy and always more sustainable agriculture,” federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said when the question was […] Read more


Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Conservative ag critic John Barlow discussed the impact of carbon pricing on farm expenses when Bibeau addressed an agriculture committee meeting on June 10, 2020. (Video screengrabs from Parl.gc.ca)

Carbon pricing not having ‘significant impact’ on grain drying, Bibeau says

Conservatives, ag groups dispute government's numbers

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa — Grain drying costs an average of $210 to $819 per farm in carbon taxes, according to federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. Her department used data provided by grower groups – including Manitoba’s Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) – to arrive at the figures. The federal estimate […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Union warns of fuel supply disruption in ‘Dear Farmers’ notice

Farmers 'should not be worried,' FCL says

Reading Time: 3 minutes The union representing locked-out workers at Regina’s Co-op Refinery Complex is warning Prairie farmers that a disruption of fuel supplies during seeding could be the “only option” it has in its labour dispute with Federated Co-operatives (FCL). Unifor 594, whose 730-odd members at the CRC were locked out Dec. 5 after serving 48 hours’ strike […] Read more