Canola's role in bio-fuels

July 12, 2026

Key points from this story:

• Technology advancing farming possibilities
• Need to maintain crop varietal lines
• Canola potential role in bio-fuels
• Co-processing uses existing refineries
• Co-processing generates carbon credits
• Raises food-versus-fuel land concerns

It's one of the reason the system needs to work hard at maintaining varietal lines for crops, and breeds for livestock, because we do not know what science might break through on to make something thought a thing of the past to hold greater relevance moving forward.

While the idea of maintaining rare lines could be a column itself, in this case the news is once again around canola and its potential role in regard to bio-fuels.

One of the hurdles to canola as a bio-fuel is getting the big players in the fuel sector on-side to invest big dollars on processing facilities for bio-fuels.

While the benefits of bio-fuels are rather obvious the sector also remains largely tied to government policy and we only need to look across the 49th parallel at the daily upheavals to a range of policies and government programs that happen amid the blustering deluge which swirls around US president Donald Trump.

And, here in Canada we see government policy gutting a significant chunk out of this country's farm research capacity with announced closure to facilities from Lacombe, Alta., to Indian Head, Sask. and various other locales.

But in terms of canola as a bio-fuel what if existing fuel processing facilities could be used?

It would obviously be a game changer which could create a massive new market for canola.

According to a recent producer.com article that technology might be right around the corner.

The article notes Patrick Bergermann, associate vice-president, energy road map, with Federated Co-operatives, saying Canadian refiners are keenly interested in co-processing, which is a more efficient way to produce bio-fuel.

The process would allow "refiners to use existing production facilities to make bio-fuel, rather than building expensive bio-diesel or renewable diesel plants," states the article.

"Co-processing enables refiners to simultaneously run canola oil and crude oil through their existing facilities and generate carbon credits from the resulting fuel."

It's the sort of innovative technology which really has a double positive.

On the one hand it would create a more cost-effective way to create bio-fuel, a sector of the energy industry which needs to grow.

And, in producing that bio-fuel canola producers get a new end user which grows overall demand.

Now of course there is one obvious question looming over a development like this and that is whether it is good practice, even in the short to medium terms, to be taking more acres out of food production to create base ingredients for fuel?

As populations grow, and hunger remains a very real crisis for many, it is a question that will need to be wrestled with as we move forward.

But today canola producers must we watching reports on co-processing with a level of hope and expectation.