Alberta canola farmers lobbying province to increase biofuel requirement

Representatives of Alberta’s canola industry met with Alberta environment minister Jason Nixon and agriculture minister Devin Dreeshen last week to lobby for increasing the province’s renewable fuel standard for diesel from two per cent renewable fuel to five per cent.

According to the Calgary Herald, by law, all diesel sold in Alberta must contain a minimum of two per cent biodiesel. Typically, cooking oil, rendered animal fats, or oilseed crops like canola or soy are used to produce biofuel.

The Canadian Canola Growers Association says that if a five per cent renewable fuel standard was implemented across Canada, 1.3 million more tonnes of canola oil would be used domestically instead of shipped overseas, new jobs would be created, and Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by 3.5 million tonnes of CO2 annually.

Alberta’s renewable fuel standard is set to expire in January, reports the Calgary Herald. Canola producers hope the provincial government will replace it with a more aggressive requirement, but government representatives have declined to say if the Alberta government will be increasing the biofuel requirements.

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