Parkland produces first batch of low-carbon jet fuel made in Canada

The first commercial batch of made-in-Canada low-carbon aviation fuel sourced from non-food grade canola and tallow has been produced and quickly purchased.

Fuel retailer Parkland Corp. said Tuesday it has successfully produced about 100,000 litres of the fuel at its refinery in Burnaby, B.C. "using existing infrastructure."

Parkland senior vice-president Ferio Pugliese said it means production can easily be scaled up, but only if Canada provides the necessary conditions to create an ecosystem around the nascent commodity and its adoption across the country.

"We need to do more to make low-carbon air travel a reality," Pugliese said during the announcement in Vancouver on Tuesday. "We need a long-term Canadian solution for low-carbon, sustainable aviation fuel."

While the potential for emission reduction is massive production in Canada is also significantly more expensive, Pugliese said.

He notes that similar low-carbon fuels used in vehicles, buses and ferries have about one-eighth of the carbon content when compared to traditional fuels.

Pugliese said other countries such as the United States incentivize production and use of low-carbon jet fuel, creating the necessary ecosystem to support a local industry.

"Currently, the Canadian aviation industry purchases low-carbon aviation (fuel) from other countries and imports it from across the globe into Canada. That makes little sense."

Parkland began trying to develop the fuel in 2017, and the entire batch of the first production run has already been bought by Air Canada.

Pugliese said the purchase of the fuel by Air Canada completes a value chain within the country that shows local development, production, sale and use of low-carbon jet fuel can be achieved to the benefit of everyone — but only if the support from government is there.

"Airlines need very practical solutions, and today, right here in B.C., Parkland has created a made-in-Canada solution to a global challenge," he said.

The comments echoed that of WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech, who in 2023 said the global push for decarbonizing commercial aviation by 2050 will cause spikes in airfares unless governments intervene.

Part of the challenge, von Hoensbroech said, is that alternative energy sources such as electric or hydrogen aircraft remains a long way from reality, making the sector difficult to decarbonize.

In February, a pair of industry groups, including the National Airlines Council of Canada, said the country needed incentives matching that of the United States to spark production of sustainable aviation fuels.

Commercial aviation giant Airbus has said that low-carbon jet fuel can reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by about 80 per cent, and development is ongoing for planes to be able to run completely on it instead of needing to mix it with conventional fuels.

But Airbus also said the ecosystem for the fuel is still "in its infancy," with just 600 million litres produced last year, making up 0.2 per cent of all aviation fuel for 2023.

"Appropriate regulatory mechanisms and inventive structures still need to be put in place, and even then, there are challenges associated with the limited availability of land and biowaste," Airbus said of the technology on its website.

Airbus has said it is increasing its own use of low-carbon fuels with a goal of reaching 30 per cent of its total fuel mix by 2030. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024.