alBerta invests in Biochar development Vermilion, AB – The development of biochar technology received a boost from a collaborative initiative that includes federal funding of $900,000 to Lakeland College to acquire two mobile pyrolysis units to test, evaluate, and demonstrate biochar products for agricultural and environmental markets. Additional support towards this project includes a contribution of $450,000 from Alberta Innovates Technology Futures (AITF). Today’s investment will provide the tools needed to test, develop, and commercialize innovative biochar technologies that lead to new products and applications for the global market,” said MP Leon Benoit. Biochar is the carbon-rich residue produced by pyrolysis, a process of burning organic matter such as agricultural and forestry waste in a low oxygen environment. The substance can be used to improve soil texture and crop productivity, as well as accelerate re-vegetation of uncultivable lands. Further, preliminary studies also indicate that biochar has the potential to clean up wastewater in the petroleum sector. Biofour to test Biomass incinerator Saint-Alexis-de-Monclams, QC - The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture), announced an investment of up to $126,400 in Biofour Inc., through the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP), to test an incinerator for agricultural biomass combustion. “This project offers producers new opportunities and will generate positive economic benefits while reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and the contamination of the water table and soil,” said Minister Paradis. Biofour Inc. will use this investment to test a boiler incinerator that burns biomasses other than those derived from forest products. The goal is to verify its effectiveness and its economic value in the sector’s daily applications. This trial will attempt to evaluate the energy potential of various biomasses. The project will supply a poultry house and will allow for use of the incinerator in a heating network supplied by crop residues and poultry litter. alBerta gets Bio-refining money Edmonton, AB - Three companies in Edmonton’s nascent bio-refining sector are receiving a $4-million boost to help take products developed from crop and forest biomass and municipal waste to the marketplace. Ceapro Inc., Radient Technologies Inc. and TerraVerdae BioWorks beat out about 30 other Alberta companies to receive grants from Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions (AI Bio) according to a report in the Calgary Herald. The provincial government agency funds science and technology in energy, health, environment, agriculture and forestry. The funding over the next three years will assist commercialization efforts, including production and technological scale up. “These companies are ones that are using unique kinds of technologies to produce the kinds of products that expand the portfolio of bio-products,” said AI Bio CEO Stan Blade. in Brief... Edmonton, AB The province of Alberta has committed $444 million over the next three years to encourage Albertans to develop bioenergy alternatives using waste such as manure and wood chips. London, UK Scientists at Imperial College London have demonstrated that a key part of biomass processing could be made 80 percent more energy-efficient by taking advantage of the slippery properties of fluids called ionic solvents. CALgAry, AB Mustus Energy Ltd. Will work with Lockheed Martin to build a 41.5 megawatt biomass power plant in La Crete, a forest community in northern Alberta that will provide enough power for over 30,000 homes. EngLAnd Sources say that the biomass power plant at Tilbury in Essex that shut down due to a fire will likely not start up until the end of July. VanCoUVEr, BC The B.C. Bioenergy Network announced a $1.5 million grant to Fraser Richmond Soil and Fibre to support the development of a waste to energy plant that plans to divert approximately 27,000 metric tons of organic waste from landfills. PerPignAn, Fr German utility Eon will build the largest biomass-fired power plant in France, planned to be online at the end of 2015, after receiving approval for the 150MW facility from the French government. rUSSiA Japanese wood products firm Arkaim is constructing a 250,000 t/yr wood pellet plant in the Khabarovsk region of far east Russia to exclusively serve Asian markets.