Thurlow, executive director of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Associa-tion (CRFA). Thurlow acknowledged that his members are very much in the ethanol and biodiesel business, but added that the uncertain nature of future biofuels mandates and renewable politics has many looking at diversifying their product streams. “We are in the biofuels industry today, but make no mistake – The bioeconomy is where we are heading. Our member plants are biore-fineries, so if there are ways to diversify those product streams and add value to the business model, whether on our own or with partners, that only makes sense.” Gord Surgeoner of Agri-Food Technologies agreed, noting that in the agribiomass sector, having biofuel plants as anchor tenants in a biotech cluster makes sense. With the infrastructure and logistics established to run the large plant, smaller specialty biochemical producers can tap into that to establish their own process streams, at times even using the larger plants’ waste streams as inputs. droP-In suCCess In addition to the benefits of creating biotech clusters, such as those forming in Sarnia and Drayton Valley, Alta., both speakers and partici-pants spoke to the benefits of targeting “drop-in” products that can re-place petrochemicals or fossil fuels with little or no investment in new infrastructure. One such player in Sarnia is French chemical supplier BioAmber, who is creating a bio-succinic acid plant in Sarnia’s biotech park. The plant will produce 30,000 tonnes/year to feed into an existing market for petroleum-based succinic acids used for food additives. BioAmber’s Anne Waddell says they will also target intermediate markets worth $10 billion where their product would be a drop-in replacement for petro-chemicals that are becoming increasingly expensive. “In some cases, the shortages or escalating prices are already happen-ing, for example with some C5 and C6 type chemicals. There are mar-kets where succinic acids derived from petroleum are just too expensive, but a cheaper bio-based product will open up totally new markets.” It is that economic imperative that biochemical or biofuel producers must pay heed to, noted Don Roberts, a managing director with CIBC World Markets, in the end-of-day panel session. If projects hope to se-cure mainstream financing, they must prove they have a firm grip on their biomass supply, both in terms of price and long-term availability. It also helps if they will be making a product that can act as a drop-in replacement for an existing product without the need to invest in new infrastructure or create new markets. In wrapping up the day, Shields reiterated that the broad range of play-ers attending and presenting in Sarnia reflects the new face of CanBio. “What we’ve heard before, and what we’re hearing loud and clear today, is the need for the industry to sing from the same songbook. Or-ganizations like FPAC have brought significant gains to their member-ship in the past by targeting two or three key issues, and making sure their message is clear and consistent. That’s what we have to do. This meeting and the bringing together of various players is just the appetizer in that sense. Our annual meeting in Gatineau in October will be the main course.” CanBio’s annual meeting will be held in Gatineau, Que., October 8-10. Visit www.canbio.ca for more information. • Dependable pneumatic and mechanical boiler fuel feed systems by Jeffrery Rader, a brand of TerraSource ™ Global, combine the best of our storage, reclaim, conveying and feeding equipment. We work closely with our customers to ensure that our designs meet the storage, metering and feed rate requirements of the boiler, whether it’s feeding 100% biomass or co-firing biomass with coal. (800) 615-9296 • www.terrasource.com For more on biofuels, visit www.canadianbiomassmagazine.ca TerraSource™ Global is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE: HI) ©2013 TerraSource™ Global. All Rights Reserved. Canadian BIOMASS 15
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