Generating $30 billion per year as Canada’s highest earning crop, the canola industry, which was originally developed by Canadian farmers, is central to the financial stability of Canada’s agricultural sector. With increasing demand from both the food and the biofuel industries, canola oil production is expected to grow from its annual 20 million tons to 26 million by 2025.
However, canola oil is only half of the picture. Through its production, canola oil generates large amounts of canola meal, a low-value solid byproduct with extremely limited uses. While a small portion of this byproduct is used to supplement livestock feed, most is simply discarded, where its decomposition contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) production.
To combat this problem, Queen’s researchers Kevin De France (Chemical Engineering) and Warren Mabee (Policy Studies) are leading an interdisciplinary project between four universities and five partner organizations to increase agricultural sustainability by repurposing canola meal. With $3.2 million in funding provided over four years by the NSERC-SSHRC Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative in collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the researchers intend to refine canola meal into a series of eco-friendly products and understand the policy and financial implications for these changes.
“As a critical aspect of Canada’s agricultural economy, canola oil demand will continue to grow, and with it, so will the environmental impact of the industry,” says De France. “In fact, canola processing capacity in Canada is set to explode within the next few years, so it’s essential that we find alternative uses for canola meal. Developing novel products and technologies to curb GHG production while also improving productivity and financial success for Canadian farmers is central for us.”
Despite its current lack of use, canola meal is a promising starting point for the development of these new technologies as it provides a cost-effective source of plant protein and cellulose. De France and colleagues plan to explore the purification of these compounds for manufacturing into four products; bioplastics including silage wraps and mulch films, delivery vehicles for chemical agents such as pesticides, biodegradable scaffolds used to produce lab-grown meat, and electrodes for carbon capture and storage.
“With an estimated 60,000 tons of plastic used each year within Canada’s agricultural sector alone, it’s clear that practical bioplastic alternatives would help reduce plastic waste and microplastic pollution. Combining this with other applications such as carbon capture would provide far reaching effects benefiting Canada’s efforts to fight climate change.” Dr. Kevin De France
To address knowledge gaps regarding the application of canola-based bioproducts, the project will also focus on the development of a policy roadmap for the new Canadian canola bioeconomy. By working directly with The Canola Council of Canada who represent canola farmers, the researchers will analyze the financial impact associated with applying these new steps of canola meal recovery and processing. As well as assess the willingness for farmers to adopt these new eco-friendly technologies.
“Recent research in Canada’s bioeconomy has focused more on biofuels, but we see immense potential to create practices that repurpose a wide variety of agricultural byproducts,” says De France. “To do this we need to ensure that these practices are implemented within an environmentally and financially sustainable policy framework.”
By providing training opportunities for 40 highly qualified personnel, including undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers, this project will foster long-lasting innovation and growth within Canada’s agricultural economy – helping advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) along with the Government of Canada’s goal for net-zero plastic waste by 2030.
To learn more about the NSERC funding, read the announcement.
This article was written by Caroline Alexander, Communications and Media Relations Intern and posted in the Queen’s Gazette.