Contributions:
Legal Perspectives

Experts predicted this spring that, weather permitting, Ontario was headed for a bumper corn crop. With the growing season now peaking, are predictions of record acreage panning out? If so, what does it mean for the province’s agriculture sector and, more specifically, its still relatively nascent ethanol industry?

Husky Energy Ltd.’s roots are in Cody, Wyoming, yet there has always been something distinctly Canadian about it––maybe it’s because it was all started by a Canadian. In 1938, Canadian rancher Glenn Neilson from Cardston, Alberta, convinced a farm supply cooperative and a Montana contractor to join him in purchasing two heavy oil refineries. Over the next two years, after acquiring oil-rich lands, a small chain of gas stations and a trucking line, the company gradually expanded to become Husky Refining Co. Today, Husky Energy Ltd. produces over 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, employs over 4,000 people and has been reborn into one of Canada’s largest energy companies. With its main energy assets in Alberta and Saskatchewan, its petroleum products are available at over 515 gas stations Canada-wide.

Canola currently contributes over $1.1 billion in economic activity to the Canadian economy. Whether it is used as an ingredient for food or renewable fuel, there is something to be said about why this crop, grown on 13 million acres of Canadian farm land, is the perfect candidate for biodiesel production. The Canola Council of Canada sheds some light on canola as a feedstock for biodiesel and the various benefits it brings to the renewable fuels industry.