The summer of 2023 was the hottest in recorded history—and by a lot. Hundreds of thousands suffered through heatwaves in Europe and the southwestern United States. Phoenix endured 54 days of temperatures soaring to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, including an unbroken streak of 31 days in July. The 2023 wildfire season in Canada left a trail of devastation, burning an area larger than Greece with smoke reaching as far as Norway while turning the skies above New York City in an eerie orange hue. This record-breaking summer reminds us that natural disasters do not respect national borders, and none of us are immune.As concerning as the summer was for many, it is still possible to limit global warming to safer levels. A March report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that doing so will require industrialized nations to slash greenhouse gases roughly in half by 2030. It is a sizeable challenge only possible with low-carbon transportation fuels like ethanol.Canada and the U.S. have renewable fuel standards as crucial policies to reduce carbon emissions in the transportation sector. Both nations also have new investment-orientated biofuel policies like the Canadian Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR) and its credit market, and the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). However, as this summer demonstrated, time is truly of the essence, and decisions—like how these and other policies are designed and implemented—carry significant weight.First and foremost, implementation is crucial. The signatories of the Paris Agreement, including Canada and the U.S., have committed to their climate ambitions. Now, the focus must shift to implementing these commitments, which requires both technical and political effort. One of the constant challenges is balancing the cost concerns of specific carbon-cutting policies and the opportunities our sector can provide. As an industry, we must continually highlight how ethanol drives economic activity, remains affordable, provides value to consumers, and delivers significant carbon reductions here and now.Second, certainty is a driving force for capital. Policy has played and continues to play a crucial role in the utilization of ethanol and the advancement of biofuel technology. In addition to renewable fuel standards, new industry-based policies incentivize attracting capital and mitigate investment risks. Embedded in the U.S. IRA, the Canadian CFR and its credit market, for example, are mechanisms that acknowledge ethanol as a legitimate and valuable contributor to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in transportation fuels. These credit markets are vital for attracting capital and local investments in carbon-cutting technologies. In short, addressing carbon takes capital, and effective climate policy must now also be investment policy.Next, the focus should be on lifecycle carbon, not simply combustion. Canada aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Ethanol, with its approximately 50 percent lower greenhouse emissions than traditional gasoline, plays a significant role in this effort. By using existing technologies and implementing proper lifecycle carbon assessment and accounting, ethanol has the potential to become a fuel with no carbon emissions. Correctly measuring emissions throughout the entire fuel lifecycle, rather than focusing solely on tailpipe emissions, is vital to ensure environmentally effective and commercially viable net-zero policies.Finally, much depends on the policy choices of this decade. Time is a valuable tool when used effectively, but there can be dire consequences when it is squandered. Ethanol presents various opportunities to contribute to the energy transition our planet and economies need. Specifically, ethanol is a unique and efficient low-carbon solution today with a pathway toward achieving a net-zero carbon future. And it's precisely the practical and straightforward solution we need to make summers of extreme weather become the exception and not the norm.&nbsp;Author: Andrea Kent&nbsp;&nbsp; Board Member, Renewable&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Industries Canada&nbsp;&nbsp; Vice President of Industry and&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Government Affairs, Greenfield Global&nbsp; andrea.kent@greenfield.com&nbsp;

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has called on industrialized nations to slash greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. Low-carbon transportation fuels and policies to support their use and development are needed to reach that goal.  

Urgency Mounts After the Hottest Summer Ever

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