By Thomas Miller
Decatur, Illinois-based Archer Daniels Midland Company, which has been operational in Lloydminster since purchasing the facility in 1991, is building a new biodiesel plant in the Border City.
The 265-million-litre plant will be built beside the company’s canola crushing facility on 62 Avenue.
“Biodiesel represents a smart investment for ADM,” said Seth Becker, spokesperson for ADM in Decatur. “With the federal mandate for renewable content in diesel and growing provincial support for renewable fuels, it seems like the right time for us to expand our biodiesel footprint in Canada.”
According to Environment Canada, all producers and importers of diesel must now have an average of at least two per cent of renewable fuel annually, making biodiesel an necessity for all diesel producers and importers.
“Certainly the federal mandate of two per cent biodiesel usage provides a demand base,” said J.P. Montalvo, commercial manager at ADM in Lloydminster. “I certainly expect that we will have the opportunity to service that and other markets out there that would take biodiesel as well.”
Montalvo went on to say that it’s an exciting project for ADM because it means a 50 per cent increase in their North American biodiesel capacity.
The construction of the facility will also create jobs within the community, said Becker.
“There’s two phases,” he said of the job creation aspect, which is set to begin in the spring. “This is an estimate but we think probably better than 100 jobs in terms of construction and after the plant is operational about a dozen.”
Becker added that no decisions have been made regarding staffing of the plant.
At the Nov. 14 city council meeting, Mayor Jeff Mulligan said the plant is good news for the community.
“When a big company like this takes a big initiative, it is good for all business at all levels,” said Mulligan. “It’s more capacity, more consumption, more purchase from our local providers and an ability for us to generate, let’s hope, more assessment on the other side of it from a tax perspective.”
According to the Natural Resources Canada website, biodiesel is a non-toxic and biodegradable fuel. It comes from vegetable oils, waste cooking oil, animal fats or tall oil.
The process of producing biodiesel is called transesterification, in which the oils are reacted with methanol or ethanol and a catalyst.
Earlier this year ADM started a project to double their canola seed receiving capabilities and storage capacity in Lloydminster, which, according to a press release, is expected to reduce unloading times for farmers.
“The growth in agriculture is being seen all over the world,” added Montalvo. “(The increase in canola seed receiving and storage) is a great opportunity for us to participate in and a great opportunity for us to partner with farmers and be able to bring value to them as well as local communities.”