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Agriculture Roundup for Thursday August 26, 2021

Aug 26, 2021 | 12:47 PM

MELFORT, Sask. – Imperial will build a renewable diesel manufacturing facility near Edmonton, Alta.

Imperial chair, president and chief executive officer Brad Corson said the announcement demonstrates Imperial’s commitment and support for Canada’s transition to lower-emission fuels.

“This world-class facility will be a significant value-generating, forward-looking project that brings together our proprietary technologies and refining scale to the benefit of the environment, the economy and local job creation,” Corson said in a media release.

Corson said studies have shown renewable diesel can provide greenhouse gas emissions reductions of approximately 40 per cent to 80 per cent compared to petroleum-based diesel.

The reduction of three million tonnes of greenhouse gases is estimated to be the equivalent to taking more than 650,000 passenger vehicles off the road for one year.

The facility could produce about 20,000 barrels, or three million litres of renewable diesel, per day in 2024

Saskatchewan rural municipalities were among the recipients of the Targeted Sector Support (TSS) initiative, which is aimed at building capacity, fostering good governance and encouraging inter-municipal co-operation.

The program provides cost-shared grants up to 75 per cent of eligible costs.

One grant was for the R.M. of Frenchman Butte, which received $13,000 to provide municipal governance training to elected officials in the RM, as well as officials from surrounding municipalities.

Reeve Tom Hougham said they hosted a three-part training program shortly after the 2020 municipal elections last fall.

“As a newly elected reeve myself, the timing of the training was perfect and helped prepare me for my role,” Hougham said in a media release. “Returning council and staff also shared how beneficial the training was for them.”

Seventeen participants from the five municipalities attended the training.

Information about the next intake of grant applications will be posted online as it becomes available.

alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

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