Canada biofuels industry seeks bigger mandate, incentives

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Canada's biofuels industry will ask the Canadian government early in 2010 to expand fuel blending mandates and production incentives, even as plants rapidly boost capacity to meet incoming targets, the president of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association said on Thursday.

"We absolutely would be looking at all those instruments as a way of ensuring we build out the additional capacity," Gordon Quaiattini said in an interview with Reuters from Ottawa.

Industry officials have not settled on the specific new targets they will request or when they will take effect.

Canada's current biofuel supply will fall short when the first federal government mandate of 5 percent renewable content in gasoline takes effect in September 2010 and a 2 percent federal mandate for renewable content in diesel takes effect in 2011.

Canada will have to import 150 million to 300 million litres of ethanol during late 2010 and 2011 to fulfill the first mandates, Quaiattini said.

(Reporting by Rod Nickel)