(Bloomberg) -- Canola oil — invented in Canada 50 years ago as a healthier, shelf-stable cooking fat — may soon venture beyond the world’s kitchen cupboards to a spot in the airways. Most Read from Bloomberg A growing number of energy and agriculture firms in the US have been boosting spending in an effort to plant and crush more canola, an oilseed that could play a big role in the nascent renewable fuel markets — so long as a contentious election doesn’t derail President Joe Biden’s biofuel push before Americans can finally crack the crop. Chevron Corp.
, crop trader Bunge Global SA and seed company Corteva Inc. just wrapped the first season of their joint program that encouraged Tennessee and Kentucky farmers to sow a winter crop of canola before planting soy or cotton. It went so well that they plan to expand acreage sevenfold in the next season starting this fall and expand into three additional states: Illinois, the top US soybean producer, as well as Indiana and Missouri, Corteva said.
Farther west, grain handler Scoular Co. is spending tens of millions of dollars to convert a former sunflower processing facility into one capable of crushing canola, soybeans and other oilseeds starting in October. Chevron and Bunge’s own flexible plant meant to handle a wide-range of oilseeds, including canola, is set to start operations in Louisiana in 2026.
“This is very new to a lot of people in our area,” said Kentucky farmer Jed Clark, who planted canola this past .