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So you probably
think of canola oil

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is just something you
put on the frying pan.

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But a lot of it now ends
up in diesel tanks.

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Canola is by far Canada's
most valuable crop,

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generating $3.7 billion in

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farm cash receipts in the first
three months of the year.

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And a growing source of
that value is in energy.

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The climate policy that

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started under the
Harper government

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pushed refineries to add
cleaner sources to the mix.

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And that's where
canola comes in.

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So how does it work?

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First, the seeds are crushed,

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separating the oil from the
solid part of the seed,

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which is called meal.

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After that, the oil
can go two ways.

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It can either become cooking
oil or it can be sent into

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the fuel system as a raw
material for renewable diesel.

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So now we get to the
refinery and the canola oil,

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it can't just be mixed
into the diesel.

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It has to be processed further
before it can become fuel.

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The simple version.

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Well, the refinery upgrades

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the oil so that the
finished product

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becomes chemically similar to

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regular petroleum based diesel,

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and that finished fuel
is renewable diesel.

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And drivers, they might not
even notice it at the pump

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because it can move directly
into the diesel supply.

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The refining process is known as

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Co-processing. And get this.

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Existing refineries, they can

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actually handle
renewable feedstocks

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like canola oil alongside
regular petroleum operations.

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That means refiners don't
always have to build

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a brand new plant
totally from scratch.

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They can actually just
add the equipment to

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the sites that already exist.

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And really, that's the way
Canada's already moving.

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Ten out of 18 oil refineries
in Canada have either

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finished or are working on
equipment for renewable fuels.

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And it's huge for farmers.

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According to an industry group,

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about a third of

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Canadian canola now ends
up in the fuel industry.

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Some of that canola
stays in Canada,

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but some also gets exported
to the US and Europe.

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Either way, the
fuel market is now

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a major customer for the crop.

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Imperial Oil Strathcona
refinery just near Edmonton,

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shows what this can
look like at scale.

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With a $720 million
renewable diesel facility

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that just came
online in July 2025.

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That facility alone can yield

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1,000,000,000l of
renewable diesel annually.

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That's a big Canadian example
of canola just moving from

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farm supply chains into fuel
production and geography.

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Well, that helps
massively to a lot of

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Canadian refineries are actually
close to canola country.

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So the crop and

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the fuel plants are
often not too far apart.

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So in the end, it's not really

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about replacing
traditional diesel.

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It's more of a way to lower

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the carbon intensity
of fuel that trucks,

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farms, mines and industry
still use every day.