The moment Alberta’s canola sector has been anticipating has arrived: Imperial Oil Ltd. has officially begun producing renewable diesel at its Strathcona refinery in the Greater Edmonton area. This brand-new facility is the largest renewable diesel facility in Canada, with a production capacity of 20,000 barrels a day. The renewable diesel produced by Imperial Oil at Strathcona “is similar to traditional diesel, can be used with no engine modifications and is well-suited for Canada’s cold weather conditions.”1 The production of renewable diesel aims to empower hard-to-decarbonize industries to lower their GHG-emissions in their industry.
A Major Win for Canola
“This facility creates a secure, domestic market for a significant share of our crop, right here in Alberta,” said Roger Chevraux, Chair of the Government & Industry Affairs Committee, Alberta Canola. “It adds value to our economy, reduces reliance on volatile export markets, supports jobs across the agriculture and energy sectors, and proves that economic growth and value-added processing can go hand in hand.”
Why is this facility relevant to Alberta farmers? Canola oil is the primary bio-feedstock required by the facility to produce renewable diesel. The refinery capacity unlocks a new source of domestic demand for up to 2.5 million metric tons of canola seed from Canadian farms — over 40% of the canola production within Alberta. With trade uncertainty clouding over major canola export markets like the United States and China, encouraging investments to domestically process and use canola within Canada has been an important priority of Alberta Canola.
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