Alternative oilseed crops for biodiesel feedstock on the Canadian prairies

Abstract

Blackshaw, R. E., Johnson, E. N., Gan, Y., May, W. E., McAndrew, D. W., Barthet, V., McDonald, T. and Wispinski, D. 2011. Alternative oilseed crops for biodiesel feedstock on the Canadian prairies. Can. J. Plant Sci. 91: 889–896. Increased demand for biodiesel feedstock has encouraged greater napus canola (Brassica napus L.) production, but there may be a need for greater production of other oilseed crops for this purpose. A multi-site field study was conducted to determine the oil yield potential of various crops relative to that of napus canola in the semi-arid, short-season environment of the Canadian prairies. Oilseed crops evaluated included rapa canola (Brassica rapa L.), juncea canola (Brassica juncea L.), Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata L.), oriental mustard (Brassica juncea L.), yellow mustard (Sinapis alba L.), camelina (Camelina sativa L.), flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Max.]. Crop emergence and growth were generally good for all crops, but soybean did not fully mature at some locations. The number of site-years (out of a total of 9) that crops attained similar or greater yields compared to napus canola were camelina (6), oriental mustard (5), juncea canola (3), flax (3), soybean (3), rapa canola (2), yellow mustard (2), and Ethiopian mustard (1). The ranking of seed oil concentration was napus canola=rapa canola= juncea canola=flax>camelina=oriental mustard>Ethiopian mustard>yellow mustard>soybean. Considering yield and oil concentration, the alternative oilseed crops exhibiting the most potential for biodiesel feedstock were camelina, flax, rapa canola and oriental mustard. Oils of all crops were easily converted to biodiesel and quality analyses indicated that all crops would be suitable for biodiesel feedstock with the addition of antioxidants that are routinely utilized in biodiesel fuels.

Comparison of several Brassica species in the north central U.S. for potential jet fuel feedstock

“…Research on B. carinata has shown that it can compete yield-wise with B. napus while producing industrial quality oil rather than that for food use (Pan et al, 2012). Likewise, S. alba is well adapted to cool short-season environments and has been considered as a potential feedstock for advanced biofuels (Blackshaw et al, 2011).…”

Camelina sativa: An ideal platform for the metabolic engineering and field production of industrial lipids

“…For example, Camelina has a relatively short growing season (85e100 days), and possesses winter and spring varieties, facilitating rotation with other crops [6]. Further, the oil yield of Camelina (variable from 400 to 850 kg ha À1 , depending on the study) is typically comparable with that of Brassica juncea and Brassica rapa and higher than that of soybean [6,7]. While the oil yield is somewhat lower than that of canola, studies have shown that the cost of production of seed oil from Camelina can be less than half that from rapeseed due to comparatively low input requirements [8].…”

Development of Dryland Oilseed Production Systems in Northwestern Region of the USA

“…Attention has been given to Camelina sativa, which has yielded around 550 kg of seed ha −1 following winter wheat without fallow under normal annual precipitation levels of 240 mm at Lind, WA [124], and yielded 639 kg ha −1 following durum in a 5-year study near Froid, MT, that had average annual precipitation that ranged from 338 to 524 mm [4]. Camelina is best adapted to cooler climates where excessive heat during flowering does not occur [21]. The potential for Brassica carinata as an oilseed crop for warmer, drier areas of western Canada was identified by Taylor et al [133].…”