What is ethanol?
	Benefits of ethanol
	Safety and performance
	Vehicle and fuel availability
	Research and programs
	Refuelling stations
	Ethanol Links

Research and programs

Research

The Government of Canada and some provincial governments have supported the development and use of ethanol fuel through research and development programs. Past efforts have addressed problems related to vehicle components and the fuel distribution system.

Current research is focusing on reducing the costs of ethanol production. Canada has become a world leader in the development of processes for converting less expensive cellulose-based feedstocks to ethanol.

Known as cellulosic ethanol, this fuel is manufactured from agricultural and wood waste products and fast-growing trees such as wheat straw, corn stover, wood residue, switchgrass and poplar. Plant by-products are used to generate the energy that runs cellulosic ethanol-manufacturing processes.

With support from the Government of Canada, Iogen Corporation has built the world's first and only full-scale demonstration plant to convert biomass fibres to ethanol using enzyme technology. Located in Ottawa, Ontario, the plant can process 25 tonnes of wheat straw per week, using enzymes produced in an adjacent facility. Since the early 1980s, Iogen has received $6.9 million in federal funding for its pre-treatment and cellulose enzyme development. In early 2002, the Government of Canada announced an additional $2.7 million in funding. The Government of Canada also provided $10 million in repayable loans for the construction of the demonstration plant in the late 1990s.

Iogen is planning to build the world's first cellulose-based ethanol production plant. The hope is that this new technology will result in further growth of the ethanol industry and in substantial cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.

Programs

The Ethanol Expansion Program (EEP): This program aims to increase the percentage of gasoline in Canada that is blended with ethanol from approximately 7 percent in 2003 to 35 percent by 2010.

The Future Fuels Initiative aims to boost Canada's annual ethanol production and use by a factor of four (by 750 million litres).