The Oil Drum: Canada

"The opportunity exists to produce gas from grass or pellets from grass and heat buildings or even use it for transport,'' Samson told a seminar sponsored by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy in Regina Tuesday.

"This (biomass) is a very viable option for the transportation sector,'' said Samson, who's based in Quebec.

Yet governments continue to pour millions into subsidies to produce ethanol and biodiesel, which are less energy efficient than biogas produced from switchgrass, said Samson, who's been working in the field of bioenergy development since 1991.

The Washington Post recently hailed Ontario's electricity sector as an innovator, claiming that Ontario "makes clean energy pay". According to the Post, "the growing chorus of cheerleaders for the program say it is an example of the kind of individual, grass-roots effort that many see as the solution to intractable problems ranging from energy shortages to global warming".

"We love the idea," said Keith Stewart, an energy specialist at World Wildlife Fund Canada. "The small stuff adds up. This model should be taken right across North America."

It sounds ideal, but, looking a little deeper, can Ontario's draft program of Standard Offer Contracts (PDF warning) for renewable energy - billed as "the most progressive renewable energy program in 20 years in North America" - live up to the hype? There is no lower limit on the size of project eligible to participate, but can it really encourage the proliferation of backyard generation, or farm and community scale projects, as its "cheerleaders" believe?