Biodiesel rules a boost for farming

Thursday, February 10, 2011

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

The Harper government announcement Feb. 10 that it is moving forward with the requirement for an average two per cent renewable content in diesel fuel and heating oil could be a boost for facilities like the biodiesel plant at the Ridgetown College Campus of the University of Guelph.

Regulations that require an average of five per cent renewable content in gasoline also contained the provisions to require an average of two per cent renewable content in diesel fuel and heating oil.

The proposed regulatory amendment will be published in the Canada Gazette, Part I in the coming weeks for a 60-day public comment period. The Government of Canada is proposing a coming into force date of July 1, 2011.

Last spring was the launch of production from the Ridgetown facility which was designed to be a template for rural or farm-based biodiesel business producing biodiesel from recycled or new vegetable oils. It has the capacity to produce 800,000 to one million litres of biodiesel a year, although it produced just 60,000 in its first year, 2010, in keeping with demand at that time.

Art Schaafsma, director of the Ridgetown Campus, describes their biodiesel facility as a “pilot facility to try and demonstrate a new opportunity for individual producers or a group of producers.” He said a farmer using an existing building could get into the biodiesel business on a scale similar to Ridgetown for about $100,000. For interested producers, the college is more than willing to share the experience it has gained.

In a news release issued Friday, Don Kenny, Grain Farmers of Ontario chair, noted the new renewable fuel requirement should have a positive impact on soybean prices, given the impact of the ethanol industry on local corn prices. He estimated that local corn prices have increased $0.10 to $0.25 per bushel “depending on the year and location of the farm” because of ethanol production.

The two-per cent mandate translates into a demand for 500 million litres per year of bio-diesel across the country and will also strengthen prices for canola farmers, the news release noted. BF