The project, first announced in
That will make it the largest facility of its kind in
"We would consider ourselves world-class. When you look around the world, there are not many (renewable diesel) plants at 20,000 barrels per day or higher," said
Renewable diesel is the term given to a biomass-based fuel that is chemically equivalent to petroleum diesel. This means it can be transported directly in petroleum pipelines or sold at retail stations without any infrastructure modifications or fuel blending.
Renewable diesel can be made from vegetable oil, animal fats, used cooking oil or even algae. In Imperial's case, the
Imperial will also be partnering with
As a non-fossil fuel-based product, the renewable diesel produced at the Imperial facility is expected to reduce annual greenhouse emissions by about three million tonnes compared to conventional fuels, the company said.
A significant portion of the production from the
The facility's construction will create about 600 direct construction jobs, Imperial said.
"A big day for
"This investment will create and support jobs, lower emissions, and help ensure Canada’s economic prosperity."
The news was also praised by clean energy think-tank the
Pembina, as well as other environmental organizations, has been critical of the Canadian oilsands industry over the last year for what the think-tank believes is the industry's failure to move quickly on decarbonization plans during a period of high commodity prices and record profits for oil companies.
Imperial, for example, reported its 2022 third-quarter profit more than doubled compared with a year ago, totalling
Imperial is also a member of the
The renewable diesel announcement, Gorski said, falls into that first category.
"It's a perfect example of that," Gorski said. "But we’re still waiting to see investments in reducing emissions from their existing operations."
Wetmore said from
“Decarbonization is such a diverse set of issues that there is no one item here that is a silver bullet that can be done quickly and easily," he said. "If that was the case, the oil industry would have already moved on to the very, quick urgent projects that we could drive home very quickly.
"(Renewable diesel) can be implemented sooner than things like carbon capture, and some of the technologies that are not quite ready."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published
Companies in this story: (TSX:IMO)
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