An Update on Renewable Diesel Infrastructure in Canada

The report is available here: An Update on Renewable Diesel Infrastructure in Canada - PDF (upload PDF version of the report)

The Government of Canada has a four-pronged biofuels strategy in order to: reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from fuel use; encourage greater production of biofuels; accelerate the commercialization of new biofuel technologies, and provide new market opportunities for agricultural producers and rural communities. One component of this strategy is to increase the retail availability of renewable fuels through regulation. On July 1, 2011, the requirement for 2% renewable content in diesel fuel and heating distillate oil under the federal Renewable Fuels Regulations came into force.

Natural Resources Canada commissioned this study to survey the state of existing and planned renewable alternative to diesel blending infrastructure, and understand the types and sources of fuels that will be used to meet both federal and provincial renewable mandates. More specifically, the objectives of the study are: to assess the physical blending, storage and distribution infrastructure for renewable content in diesel and heating oil in place on July 1^st 2011; where and what infrastructure remains to be installed for regulated parties to comply with the Regulations; the types of renewable alternatives to diesel refiners intend to use to meet the federal requirements in the short- medium, and long-term; preferences regarding renewable fuel production technologies and/or the key fuel parameters (e.g. cloud point, cost, etc.) and rationale for preferences; key criteria used by refiners to select suppliers of renewable alternatives to diesel and typical supply arrangements; and refiner experiences with biodiesel, hydrogenation derived renewable diesel (HDRD), and other emerging fuels technologies.