Biofuels in Canada cannot be produced without a subsidy or a government order called a mandate.
The Canadian and various provincial governments are again increasing biofuel mandates as a simple solution to the serious climate change crisis we face. But are biofuels the solution politicians claim?
Biofuels sound good and with mandates they cost government nothing because mandates pass these increased costs to fuel users. So, everyone who fills their car, construction equipment, or farm equipment with diesel or gasoline will pay every time they fill up. This could add up to 30 cents a litre for farm diesel, yet achieves nothing for the climate.
No gains
Several years ago, at the National Farmers Union convention, Dr. Tad Patzek from the University of California at Berkeley explained claims of energy gained with biofuels underestimate the energy required to grow and process a crop into biofuel.
Patzek states in his peer-reviewed report “one burns one gallon of gasoline equivalent from ethanol from corn. Then this ethanol is burned as a gasoline additive or fuel. Burning the same amount of fuel twice to drive a car once is equivalent to halving the fuel efficiency of those cars that burn ethanol, and will cause manifold damage to air, surface water, soil and aquifers.”
Patzek is not the only one who has raised serious concerns about biofuels. World-renowned climate scientist Vaclav Smil at the University of Manitoba also criticizes biofuels. He describes how low crop yields and high water requirements make growing crops for biofuels in the Prairies totally impractical. Smil calls ethanol production an “egregious, excessive, incredible, unspeakable crime.”
Journey to nowhere
Canada uses about 110 billion litres of refined fuel annually. There is no way to produce enough biofuel to fulfil that demand. Simple math makes this obvious. Canadian farmers grow about 45 million acres of canola and wheat. An acre of canola yields 37 bushels (10-year average yield) and a bushel of canola produces nine litres of oil so that gives 333 litres of oil per acre. Even if we turn all 45 million acres into canola it would only produce about 15 billion litres of fuel. This biodiesel would fuel Canada for about 45 days.
Turning all the wheat and canola acres into biofuel would mean no wheat or canola exports, no canola oil, no wheat for flour for a hungry world. Even worse, the reality is that it would not create any energy as it takes more fossil fuel energy to grow the crop and process it than biofuels provide.
Regina project
It was recently announced that Federated Co-operatives Limited in partnership with AGT Foods will process canola at Regina and build a biodiesel plant by 2027. This announcement had the usual fanfare of being good for the environment yet FCL delegates once passed a resolution to oppose biofuels because of the costs of the mandate and the costs of transporting ethanol to the refinery.
All of the canola crushing in Regina (FCL, Cargill, and Viterra) creates infrastructure problems as most of the canola will have to be hauled by semi-truck into Regina. Taking grain off the rails and creating more greenhouse gas is not good for the environment. Of course, FCL will pass these costs on to the users of diesel and FCL members will pay the price when they purchase diesel.
Expensive process
A bushel of canola costs $24 and provides nine litres of biodiesel. That means it costs $2.70 a litre just for the seed to make it.
We must also consider the cost of the highly energy-intensive and expensive oil extraction and refining processes for making biofuels. These costs are why biodiesel is 2.8 times more costly than petrol diesel.
Making canola oil into biodiesel is not something you do in the backyard or in your garage. Refining raw canola into biodiesel requires expensive equipment, hazardous chemicals, protective equipment, and specialized waste disposal. Biodiesel refining uses many toxic chemicals such as hexane, sodium hydroxide, sulphuric and hydrochloric acids, and methanol. These present health hazards for workers and waste disposal issues in our communities. Ironically, farmers using petrol diesel will produce fewer greenhouse gases than they will using biodiesel.
Positive initiatives
When government pushes non-solutions such as biofuels it shoves aside more important initiatives. Using more rail to move bulk commodities, the electrification of transportation, wind energy, solar, ground-sourced geothermal, home insulation, and even planting trees are all effective ways to cut greenhouse gases. With thousands of commuter trips a day our cities need to step up by enhancing their public transit systems. Paris, France and Portland, Oregon have developed 15-minute cities where all people’s needs can be met within a 15-minute walk.
If we are serious about climate change, we should shut down all biofuel production in Canada and focus on these positive cost-effective solutions instead.
– Kenneth Sigurdson is a longtime member of the National Farmers Union and has researched biofuels extensively for the National Farmers Union.
