Simona Lubieniechi and Stuart Smyth
University of Saskatchewan
Through their diverse range of economic, environmental, and policy impacts, biofuels and their use have been routinely polarized by the mass media and in the academic literature. Although the body of literature investigating macro and microeconomic biofuel effects is rapidly growing, there is no clear depiction of the Canadian biofuel industry. Our research identifies the leading economic and regulatory barriers that presently exist for the Canadian biofuel industry. A modified expert Delphi survey was used to collect qualitative information from Canadian public-sector biofuel researchers and private-sector industry managers. The top three barriers to the development of biofuels in Canada include the absence of a coordinated and integrated federalprovincial policy framework, the technical capacity for scale-up is currently lagging, and the lack of integration between the increased use of biofuels and sustainability.
Key words: Government policy, innovation, second-generation biofuels, subsidies, sustainable development.