Imperial advances renewable diesel plans

"Our agreement with Air Products is an important milestone as we progress plans to build the largest renewable diesel manufacturing facility in Canada," said Jon Wetmore, Imperial's Vice President of Downstream. "This project highlights Imperial's commitment to investing in a lower-carbon future. We continue to progress discussions with our business partners and governments as we work toward a final investment decision in the months ahead."

Imperial will use Air Products' low-carbon hydrogen to produce renewable diesel at Strathcona that substantially reduces greenhouse gas emissions relative to conventional production. The hydrogen and bio-feedstock will be combined with a proprietary catalyst to produce premium low-carbon diesel fuel.

Air Products is increasing overall investment in its Edmonton hydrogen facility to CAN$1.6 billion to support the Imperial contract. The additional investment by Air Products will be used to facilitate integration with Imperial's proposed project, which is expected to enable further significant emissions reductions at Air Products' overall complex. Air Products will supply Strathcona with approximately 50% of the low-carbon hydrogen output from the 165 million ft³/d hydrogen production complex.

"There is significant demand for low-carbon hydrogen, and as a first-mover, Air Products is ready to meet that demand from our Alberta Blue Hydrogen Hub," said Dr. Samir J. Serhan, Chief Operating Officer at Air Products. "Canada is rapidly implementing an energy transition that emphasizes the use of low-carbon hydrogen, and Air Products is demonstrating that world-scale hydrogen facilities can be net zero for carbon emissions. We continue to set the stage for a competitive, low-carbon-intensity hydrogen network, which includes increasing liquid hydrogen production capacity at our site to 35 tpd, to provide clean hydrogen for the growing industrial and mobility markets across Canada."

Imperial's renewable diesel complex is expected to produce more than 1 billion l/yr of renewable diesel from locally-sourced feedstocks. First announced in August 2021, the project is anticipated to realise about 3 million tpy in emissions reductions in the Canadian transportation sector, which is estimated to be the equivalent to taking more than 650 000 vehicles off the road annually. The project is projected to create about 600 direct construction jobs, along with hundreds more through investments by business partners.

Third-party studies have shown renewable diesel from various non-petroleum feedstocks can provide life cycle greenhouse gas emissions reductions of approximately 40 – 80% as compared to petroleum-based diesel.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/clean-fuels/08092022/imperial-advances-renewable-diesel-plans/