has a low euricic acid content compared to traditional rapeseed.
Canola was selected because it is readily available in Western Canada,
where it serves as a major supply of edible oil and animal feed.
Camelina, on the other hand, is not widely grown in Western Canada
but has been tested on a trial basis [35] and shows great promise
as a feedstock for HDRD production. Compared to canola,
camelina does not compete with food and has a shorter growing
season, better cold weather tolerance, and requires less fertilizer,
pesticides, and water. However, a major drawback of camelina is
that camelina meal has not been approved for animal feed in Canada,
and has only been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration
for up to 10% by weight for beef cattle and broiler
chickens [36]. If meal cannot be sold as animal feed, a major revenue
stream for the oilseed producers is lost, which drives up the
overall vegetable oil production cost.
Canola oil and camelina oil are typically produced by crushing
the seeds to extract the oil, separating the oil from the meal, then
using a solvent (hexane) to extract residual oil from the meal.
Small scale oil extraction plants may only crush the seeds, which
results in a lower capital cost but also lower oil extraction efficiency
and higher overall oil production cost [37]. Further details
regarding the oil extraction process can be found in literature
[38,39]. After extraction, the oil is normally degummed in order
to meet the quality requirements of HDRD producers [40]. Previous
work [37] has shown that the production cost for vegetable oil in
Western Canada is approximately $0.55/L for canola oil and
$0.28/L for camelina oil. These production costs are for oil extraction
plants at their economically optimal sizes and use a meal price
of $0.26/kg. If camelina meal cannot be sold, the production cost
for camelina oil is approximately $0.82/L.
Although the oil extraction processes for canola and camelina
are similar, the compositions of the oils are significantly different.
As with other vegetable oils, canola oil and camelina oil are primarily
made up of fatty acids linked by glyceride backbones (triglycerides).
The fatty acid profiles of canola oil and camelina oil are
shown in Table 3.