Biotech Updates

Canadian Government Funds Waste-to-Energy Project

October 2, 2013

News release: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/node/7406

News article: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/09/20130928-vanerco.html


The Government of Canada has committed $734,500 for the initial front-end development phase of a new waste-to-energy demonstration facility in Varennes, Québec.

The project, to be carried out by Enerkem and GreenField, intends to build a facility that can convert 100,000 metric tons of urban waste into 38 million litres of cellulosic ethanol every year. The Enerkem thermo-chemical process to be used in this project includes feedstock preparation, gasification of biomass, syngas conditioning and catalytic synthesis of ethanol – the steps necessary to convert waste to ethanol.

The government support, through the NextGen Biofuels Fund of the Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), will be repayable from free-cash flow once the project demonstrates commercial success. SDTC funding could reach $39.8 million based on subsequent project milestones and required governance approvals.