The Manitoba government is coming through on a promise made four years ago to require fuel companies to blend ethanol into their gasoline.
As of Jan. 1, the industry must have an average five-per-cent ethanol blend in gas. By April, the minimum requirement will ramp up to 8.5 per cent.
The government first promised a mandatory ethanol blend in 2003, but Energy Minister Jim Rondeau says it took time to ensure a proper supply was ready.
Much of the ethanol will come from a recently built $200-million plant, which is not yet at its full production capacity of 130 million litres a year.
The new Minnedosa plant, which is owned by Husky, replaces a 25-year-old facility that produced 10 million litres a year.