Biodiesel produced in western Canada


January 31, 2006

In a pilot plant two-and-one-half years in the making, Agri-Green Biodiesel Inc. located in the Fernie/Sparwood area of southeastern B.C. will be producing 2 million liters of biodiesel per year in 2006. Within 2 years it hopes to reach 10 to 20 million liters per year.

On January 7, the company filled its first contract and provided 13,000 liters of biodiesel to the B.C. BioFleet Program. BioFleet is currently running a test program of 6 municipalities in B.C. The program started after a study placed biodiesel on a list of cost-effective emission reduction strategies.

“It’s a win-win situation for farmers and the agriculture industry; we see the potential and profits in making biodiesel,” says Patrick Moffat, sales manager for Agri-Green Biodiesel Inc. Although biodiesel is still in its infancy, he sees nothing but good things for the future of the fuel.

“We are providing a quality product,” he says. “There are a lot of home hobbyists, which is fine for personal consumption, but one bad batch or one ruined engine can really make it difficult to sell the product. We need regulation so all Canadians get good fuel. It’s important to get the Canadian government on board.”

Moffat says British Columbia offers financial and administrative support and is a leader in environmental protection. Alberta, however, needs to see an economic reason to support biodiesel.

Agri-Green is the brainchild of Lila and Gary Tomlinson. Their goal was to provide an environment-friendly alternative to diesel and support Canadian agriculture by using canola.

“In time we are going to see a big change in the agriculture industry,” says Moffat, adding that biodiesel has great potential for farmers and there are many benefits. Crops grown for fuel can be cheaper, non-GMO varieties that require less in terms of chemical use and pesticides.It’s possible for farmers to not only grow the crop, but to benefit from crushing the product themselves, keeping the cake for feeding livestock and in turn benefit from the use of a cheaper, cleaner fuel.

Brian MacDonald, vice-president of sales for Canada Clean Fuels (CCF), says although there are no regulations or laws against anyone making biodiesel in their backyard he doesn’t recommend it.

“It can be done and people do brew it for their own use,” he notes. “But long term, they would probably damage their engines — if it was that easy everyone could do it.”

Located in Ontario, CCF is the largest distributor of the only biodiesel that meets ASTM (American Society of Testing and Materials) standards. The selling of biodiesel involves meeting strict government and ASTM specifications.

The biodegradable, non-toxic fuel is made from renewable and recycled resources such as used vegetable oils, animal fats, soy, canola and hemp oils. MacDonald says that using waste products such as used vegetable oils is probably using the product for greatest efficiency level. All the processing to produce the fats and oils in the first place has already been done, thereby reducing the amount of processing needed to produce fuel.

MacDonald explained the 2-part process, estrification and transestrification, in its basic terms as converting the fats into methyl esters which becomes the biodiesel.

“Information from National Renewable Energy labs has studied and proven the biodiesel life cycle to produce 3 times more energy in its final fuel product than it uses in the production of the product. That is, it requires one unit of petroleum in order to produce 3.2 units of end-product biodiesel,” says MacDonald.

Biodiesel can be used with current fueling stations and in all diesel vehicles with little or no modifications. It can also be used alone, or as a mixture of biodiesel and petroleum diesel.

In the U.S. biodiesel is getting lots of use. Minnesota has passed a mandate that requires all fuel to contain 2% biodiesel.

“This may not sound like much, until you consider the United States burns 30 million gallons per year. And just by displacing 2% is a 35 million-pound reduction in petroleum diesel use per year,” says MacDonald.

Biodiesel also passes tests on human health. Petroleum diesel contains known carcinogens, particulate matter and hydrocarbon, and it emits sulfur. MacDonald says biodiesel is definitely going to be part of the puzzle to greener fuel along with ethanol, solar and wind energies.

The product that Agri-Green produces meets ASTM standards. The company began selling its product to the general public in January. The price per liter fluctuates with the type of oil it receives, but consumers can expect to pay between 92¢ to $1 per liter.

Moffat says Canada could easily meet its one tonne challenge (the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions) by utilizing biodiesel instead of petroleum diesel. "It only takes 525 liters of biodiesel burned to take one tonne of carbon out of the environment,” says Moffat. “That is one person filling their tank once per week over two-and-one-half months.”