Manitoba Hydro and NRCan Support Extreme Cold Weather Biodiesel Research
Manitoba Hydro, in partnership with Natural Resources Canada’s National Renewable Diesel Demonstration Initiative (NRDDI), is supporting a C$340,000 (US$326,000) project that will demonstrate the use of biodiesel blends (5%) and long-term storage under extreme cold weather conditions in electric generators in a remote northern Manitoba community.
This study on the quality and reliability of biodiesel will contribute to a better understanding of the technical issues related to the use of the fuel. This research will also identify the best solutions to overcome any potential challenges to biodiesel implementation in Canadian operations.
The project is a follow-up to an initial test conducted by Manitoba Hydro in which 173,000 liters (45,702 gallons US) of 5% biodiesel were shipped to Brochet, Manitoba, in January 2008, stored for more than a year and then burned successfully in the winter of 2008/2009.
This project includes an additional 170,000 liters of 5% biodiesel, which were blended and stored in late 2009 and shipped to Brochet on winter roads in January 2010. Testing of the original diesel fuel, the straight biodiesel and the blend will continue over several months and will be conducted by the Manitoba Hydro laboratory at Selkirk, the BIOX laboratory in Hamilton and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. The project will study the ability of biodiesel blends to be stored and used in northern diesel sites.
As well, some vehicles in the Manitoba Hydro fleet in Winnipeg have been using biodiesel blends since October 2006. The project includes analysis of various effects of the long-term use on the vehicles’ fuel tanks, including the impact of long-term storage on dispenser filters.
The NRDDI supports projects that demonstrate how renewable diesel fuel will perform under Canadian conditions. This research is in support of the Government’s intention to regulate renewable fuel content, specifically the proposed requirement for an average of two percent renewable fuel content in diesel fuel and heating oil by 2011 or earlier. This requirement is conditional upon the technical feasibility of biodiesel use being demonstrated under a range of Canadian conditions. This is a part of the Government of Canada’s Renewable Fuels Strategy.
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