Alberta's Climate Change and Emissions Management awards C$15M to three projects that will convert industrial waste into renewable energy, biofuel; companies include West Fraser Timber, Growing Power Hairy Hill, Tolko Industries, Ensyn Technologies

Rachel Carter

http://www.fpinfomart.ca/ , June 22, 2011 (press release) – Three projects that turn industrial waste into energy will receive $15 million from Alberta's climate-change organization.

Climate Change and Emissions Management Corp. invests money collected in penalties for violations of the province's rules on greenhouse gas emissions.

The CCEMC is an arm'slength corporation created by the provincial government.

On Tuesday, it announced its third round of renewableenergy projects to receive funding, totalling $15 million this time.

"In total, with this one, we've awarded a little over $113 million, but one of the really important points to note is we never pay the full amount," CCEMC chairman Eric Newell said.

"What we try to do is bring in industry partners so we leverage a lot of other funds, so that $113 million represents almost about $595 million worth of research and development projects. So it's very powerful."

Tuesday's $15-million announcement translates into projects valued at more than $129.9 million, Newell said.

West Fraser Timber in Slave Lake received $5 million. The wood-products company will integrate an anaerobic digestion system into an existing effluent-treatment system to generate a methane-rich biogas. The biogas will be used to generate electricity and heat for the pulping process.

At the same time, the system will reduce energy and chemical use and cut sludge generation.

Growing Power Hairy Hill LP was chosen to receive $5 million for what CCEMC calls the world's first largescale carbon-neutral biofuel plant.

Because it will use agricultural waste to power its systems and produce ethanol and high-nutrient cattle feed as a byproduct, it achieves net zero status, CCEMC said.

High North BioResources LP, based in High Level, also receives $5 million.

The project is a partnership of forest products company Tolko Industries Ltd. and Ensyn Technologies, a company specializing in pyrolysis, a means of extracting energy from biomass.
It will be the world's largest commercial fast pyrolysis plant, capable of producing 75 million litres of pyrolysis oil a year from 400 tonnes per day of sawmill residual biomass, currently being burned with no energy recovery. The oil will be used to pro duce renewable energy in Tolko's High Level sawmill.

Another two renewableenergy projects will be announced later this month, Newell said.

Alberta's industrial facilities reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 6.5 million tonnes in 2010 -the equivalent of removing 1.3 million cars from the road, Alberta Energy Minister Ron Liepert said Tuesday.

Alberta facilities emitting more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents a year must improve emissionsper-unit performance by 12 per cent, compared with a baseline measurement.

Facilities that don't meet their targets can purchase offsets or pay $15 per tonne into the Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund.

"Under the Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund, we've curbed greenhouse gas emissions for a third consecutive year," Liepert said. "To date the fund has collected over a quarter of a billion dollars, which is being invested in clean-technology projects."

Copyright The Calgary Herald. All rights reserved.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.