By Luke Geiver
The wait for canola oil as a U.S. EPA-approved biofuel pathway is over. Five months after releasing the final rule for the revised renewable fuel standard (RFS2), the EPA released a Notice of Data Availability, stating that the canola oil biodiesel pathway creates a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the diesel fuel baseline. Using the same RFS2 lifecycle analysis modeling for other biofuels already approved, the EPA also compared canola oil conversion efficiencies to biodiesel produced from soybean oil. Not surprisingly, the final analysis shows one pound of canola produces 0.40 pounds of oil compared to soybean’s 0.18 pounds of oil.
EPA also created a Delayed RINs provision. “This proposed provision…would apply only to those producers who use canola oil, grain sorghum, pulpwood or palm oil to produce renewable fuel, only for renewable fuel produced in 2010,” EPA said. Noting a current annual capacity of canola-based biodiesel production of 226 million gallons, spread between Archer Daniels Midland Co., Imperium Renewables Inc., Western Dubuque Biodiesel LLC, Inland Empire Oilseeds and Sun Power Biodiesel, EPA indicated the amount of canola-based biodiesel produced in 2009 was roughly 35 million gallons, down from 96 million gallons in 2008.
Even with the possibility of generating delayed RINs in 2010, Dale Thorenson, assistant director for the U.S. Canola Association, said he believes no producers will opt to create delayed RINs for canola biodiesel. “Producers large and small have had to stop production due to lack of demand since biodiesel buyers are unwilling to take the risk that canola might not qualify,” Thorenson said. “There may be increased use of canola,” he also added, “because some biodiesel plants that are regionally located far from soybean supplies (West Coast) will increase production from canola oil to meet the RFS2 mandates.”
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