The first commercial batch of made-in-Canada, low-carbon aviation fuel sourced from non-food-grade canola and tallow has been produced and purchased by Air Canada, reported Global News. Parkland first began trying to develop the fuel in 2017.
“Fuel retailer Parkland Corp. said Tuesday it has successfully produced about 100,000 liters 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,” wrote Global News.
“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. “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.”
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, wrote the news outlet.
According to Global News, commercial aviation giant Airbus has said that low-carbon jet fuel can reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by about 80%. 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 liters produced last year, making up 0.2% of all aviation fuel for 2023.
Last month, Parkland Corporation announced its 2025 guidance and “reaffirmed its 2028 ambitions.”
Parkland said it anticipates generating approximately $5 billion in cumulative available cash flow from 2025 to 2028 and “is positioned to deliver sustainable growth while enhancing shareholder returns and strengthening our balance sheet.”