For Immediate Release
SARM committed to producer participation in biofuels
Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food Canada released details today of the December 20, 2006, announcement of the Capital Formation Assistance Program, now renamed the ecoAgriculture Biofuels Capital Assistance initiative (ecoABC). The $200 million initiative is intended to increase renewable fuel capacity by providing funds for the construction or expansion of biofuels facilities.
“SARM is pleased that the federal government is moving forward on their commitment to producer participation in the biofuels industry with the ecoABC initiative,” said SARM President David Marit. “However, we have some reservations on how the program will actually help producers become involved.”
SARM had been lobbying for a program to help producers invest in biofuels facilities to become involved in the value chain, rather than just provide the raw feedstock. The ecoABC initiative provides loans up to $25 million to biofuels projects with at least five per cent producer ownership.
“This program provides repayable loans to projects with producer ownership, but in many cases producers simply do not have access to the capital necessary to invest in facilities,” said Marit. “This is a step in the right direction and will definitely help boost the industry in our province; but, producers still require a program to help with accessing capital to invest in biofuels projects.”
For more information contact:
David Marit
SARM President
306.476.7754 (cellular)
or
Ken Engel
SARM Executive Director
306.757.3578 (office)
306.536.2948 (cellular)
