Edmonton to be Site of World's First Industrial Scale Municipal Waste-to-Ethanol Facility
Edmonton, Canada (ots/PRNewswire)
Edmonton will be home to the world's first industrial scale facility to produce biofuels from municipal solid waste. The City has signed a 25-year agreement with GreenField Ethanol, Canada's largest ethanol producer and Enerkem, a leading biofuels technology company.
The CDN$70 million biofuels facility will initially produce 36 million litres of biofuels per year and reduce Alberta's carbon dioxide (CO2) footprint by more than 6 million tonnes over the next 25 years - the equivalent of removing 12,000 cars off the road every year.
"This facility is another fine example for the world that Alberta is a great place for companies to bring newly commercialized technology to the marketplace," said Doug Horner, Minister of Advanced Education and Technology. "All of the partners can be pleased that they are part of a facility that is taking a lead role in developing innovative technologies and making a real difference for the environment."
The City of Edmonton and the Government of Alberta through the Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI) are contributing CDN$20 million to the facility. The City of Edmonton will also contribute CDN$50 million to a related processing facility and research facility. AERI's total contribution to all the components is CDN$29 million.
"This unique partnership with private companies and the provincial government builds on our global leadership in municipal waste management," said Edmonton Mayor, Stephen Mandel. "It will enable us to make a noted contribution to reducing greenhouse gases and become the first major city in North America to achieve 90 percent residential waste diversion from landfill. We are also excited to be proceeding with the calibre of this partnership and look forward to seeing this facility on stream in the near future."
"This new facility will be a first for both the biofuels and waste management industries. This is the world's first agreement signed between a large urban centre and a biofuel producer to turn municipal waste into ethanol," said Vincent Chornet, President and Chief Executive Officer of Enerkem. "Edmonton is a pioneer in waste management practices and it is setting new standards for other municipalities. We are proud to be working with Edmonton, Greenfield Ethanol and the Government of Alberta through the Alberta Energy Research Institute as partners on this exciting project."
"This next generation biofuels facility will offer drivers a new choice in transportation fuels," said Donald Pierce, President of Greenfield Ethanol's Advanced Biofuels Group. "Greenfield is thrilled to be leading in the development of next generation ethanol along with partners Enerkem, the City of Edmonton and the Province of Alberta-world leaders in providing innovative technologies that help build a sustainable future."
This plant is the first to be announced by Greenfield Ethanol and Enerkem since the recent announcement of their partnership to jointly design, build and operate commercial next generation ethanol plants.
About Edmonton:
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For more information on Edmonton, visit: http://www.edmonton.ca.
Backgrounder
About Greenfield Ethanol
- GreenField Ethanol Inc. (http://www.greenfieldethanol.com) is Canada's leading ethanol producer. The company produces 350 million litres a year of fuel ethanol at its plants in Chatham and Tiverton, Ontario and Varennes, Quebec. Its largest plant to date, a 200 million litre facility in Johnstown, Ontario, will be operational in December 2008. Another plant is in development in Hensall, Ontario. GreenField is actively involved in the development of biochemical process technology to produce cellulosic ethanol at its state of the art research facilities in Chatham, Ontario. The company is also working with Enerkem Inc. to build thermochemical cellulosic ethanol plants. GreenField's ethanol is available at more than 1,300 gas stations across Canada.
About Enerkem
- Enerkem (http://www.enerkem.com) is a leader in the development and production of next generation biofuels. It is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec and has engineering offices in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Enerkem's gasification, sequential gas conditioning and catalysis technology converts sorted municipal solid waste, agricultural and forest residues into cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels. The company has operated a pilot plant since 2003 and is currently building another commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol production plant in Westbury, Canada. The company is backed financially by Braemar Energy Ventures, Solidarity Fund QFL and Rho Ventures.
About the City of Edmonton
- The City of Edmonton (http://www.edmonton.ca) is at the forefront of waste management practices having established the leading Edmonton Waste Management Centre (EWMC) and associated Centre of Excellence. The EWMC is North America's largest collection of modern, sustainable waste processing and research facilities. Facilities at the 233-hectare site include a Materials Recovery Facility, the Edmonton Composting Facility, the GEEP Electric and Electronic Waste Recycling Facility, the Clover Bar Landfill, a leachate treatment plant, a landfill gas to electricity system, a construction and demolition waste recycling operation, and a research facility. At the development stage is the biofuels project and a paper production facility.
About Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI)
- The mission of the Alberta Energy Research Institute (http://www.aeri.ab.ca) is to increase the energy industry's capacity to develop and adapt innovative technologies that maximizes the value of Alberta's natural and renewable resources. AERI develops and implements the energy innovation strategy for Alberta and, in partnership with industry and other government agencies, invests in collaborative applied research, technology development and pilot demonstrations along the entire innovation chain. AERI's six strategic programs areas are: Bitumen Upgrading, Clean Carbon/Coal, Improved Recovery, Renewables, CO2 & Emissions and Water Use.
About Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI) cont.
AERI's investments are focused on technology platforms that include:
- Carbon capture and storage
- Gasification
- Catalysis
- Hydrogen generation
- Separation technologies
- Advanced in-situ processes
- Advanced and nano materialsAbout Ethanol
- Ethanol is a renewable transportation fuel made from grains such as corn and wheat, or from the cellulose fibres found in biomass including agricultural, municipal and forestry waste. Ethanol is affordable and offers unique environmental benefits. National Resources Canada's GH Genius model shows that corn ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 40 to 60 per cent compared to gasoline. Cellulosic ethanol has the potential to reduce GHGs by up to 87 per cent according to the US Department of Energy's GREET model. The federal government's commitment to requiring gasoline to contain an average of five per cent ethanol by 2010 will bring GHG reductions equivalent to removing one million cars from Canada's highways each and every year.
For more information visit http://www.greenfuels.org.
For additional information, contact:
Connie Boyce
Waste Management
City of Edmonton
+1-780-496-5407
connie.boyce@edmonton.ca
Marie-Hélène Labrie
Enerkem Inc.
+1-514-875-0284 ext. 231
Melissa Armstrong
Greenfield Ethanol
+1-416-304-1700 ext.8431
m.armstrong@greenfieldethanol.com
Donna Babchishin
Alberta Advanced Education & Technology
+1-780-422-1562
donna.babchishin@gov.ab.caContact:
For additional information, contact: Connie Boyce, Waste Management,
City of Edmonton, +1-780-496-5407, connie.boyce@edmonton.ca;
Marie-Hélène Labrie, Enerkem Inc., +1-514-875-0284 ext. 231; Melissa
Armstrong, Greenfield Ethanol, +1-416-304-1700 ext.8431,
m.armstrong@greenfieldethanol.com; Donna Babchishin, Alberta Advanced
Education & Technology, +1-780-422-1562, donna.babchishin@gov.ab.ca