2021-02-11 02:25:27
The Quebec government has awarded funding totalling $5.943 million to a non-profit organization, Bioénergie La Tuque (BELT), under a program called Technoclimat from Transition Énergétique Québec (TEQ), for a project to develop and demonstrate the potential of producing advanced biofuels from locally-sourced forestry waste in La Tuque, Que. The funding will be used to continue project development and plant design, which are key enablers for making further decisions regarding the potential of building a renewable fuels plant in the area.
BELT, the Council of the Atikamekw Nation (CNA) and Neste have been collaborating on the project since 2017. The partners have been jointly assessing the feasibility of utilizing sustainably-sourced forest-based biomass, particularly harvesting residues – such as branches and tops that are not suitable for sale – in the production of advanced sustainable biofuels. Once in place, this biorefinery could produce advanced renewable biofuels based on logging residues from the Haute-Mauricie region in Quebec.
The advanced biofuel will be fully compatible with existing infrastructure and therefore an excellent candidate for supporting the energy transition into the next decade. Thus, the project has the potential to significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from Quebec’s transportation sector, allowing the province to reach significantly larger emission reductions than what is currently projected.
“The region developed around logging, yet, at the moment, residues from this industry are rotting in the woods. In a coherent energy transition towards a greener economy, projects that make it possible to recover what is currently considered to be waste is aligned with Atikamekw’s values of improving the use of the territory’s resources. These are not perfect industries but, by acting wisely, we can combine economic, social and environmental development,” said Constant Awashish, Grand Chief of the Atikamekw Nation.
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