Producing Canadian Ethanol How soon will Canada meet production expectations? he current need for an increase to our national ethanol production has been clearly demonstrated. According to a report from the U.S. Renewable Fuels As-sociation, of the 2.1-2.2 bil-lion litres of ethanol needed in Canada to meet the 5 per cent fuel blend requirements as implemented by the feder-al government, approximate-ly 893 million litres came from south of the border. That 893 million litres of imported ethanol must now be the primary target for the growth of the industry in Canada. The producers of ethanol in this country, as well as government officials, should see it as a realistic target for the industry’s growth and work to come up with a strategy to meet it within a reasonable amount of time. There are, however, a few variables that must seriously be considered in that process. First of all, which is the best to develop in order to offset the nearly 900 million litres needed in this country: further growth of the corn ethanol market or production of cellu-losic ethanol from municipal waste? Both corn and municipal waste are proving to be excellent sources of ethanol production in Canada, but both come with significant questions like feedstock sources, initial in-vestment costs, and getting the local com-munity to both understand and accept the facility in their own backyard. The waste-to-biofuel group may have the edge on feedstock. Waste facilities continue to be an issue in communities across Cana-da, highlighted by Toronto’s debacle of hav-ing its garbage shipped to the United States. Taking that same garbage through a large-scale waste-to-ethanol facility could be a profitable venture for someone able to invest BIOMASS CANADIAN Volume 6 No. 4 Editorial Director/Group Publisher -Scott Jamieson (519) 429-3966 ext 244 [email protected] Associate Editor -Andrew Macklin (519) 429-5181 [email protected] Contributors -Cameron McAlpine, Gordon Murray, Carroll McCormick, Améline St-Laurent Samuel Market Production Manager Josée Crevier Ph: (514) 425-0025 Fax: (514) 425-0068 [email protected] National Sales Manager Ross Anderson Ph: (519) 429-5188 Fax: (519) 429-3094 [email protected] Quebec Sales Josée Crevier Ph: (514) 425-0025 Fax: (514) 425-0068 [email protected] Western Sales Manager Tim Shaddick [email protected] Ph: (604) 264-1158 Fax: (604) 264-1367 Media Designer -Chris Springle Canadian Biomass is published six times a year: February, April, June, August, October, and December. Published and printed by Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. Printed in Canada ISSN 2290-3097 Circulation Carol Nixon e-mail: [email protected] P.O. Box 51058 Pincourt, QC J7V 9T3 Subscription Rates: Canada -1 Yr $49.50; 2 Yr $87.50; 3 Yr $118.50 Single Copy -$9.00 (Canadian prices do not include applicable taxes) USA – 1 Yr $60 US; Foreign – 1 Yr $77 US Occasionally, Canadian Biomass magazine will mail information on behalf of industry-related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above. No part of the editorial content of this publica-tion may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission ©2013 Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. No liability is assumed for errors or omissions. All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of the publication. www.canadianbiomassmagazine.ca T the capital resources necessary to make it work. In the case of corn, not all regions are able to produce the crop, but it has provided new opportunities for farmers who have struggled with crop produc-tion or have needed to make the transition to something new (for example, the de-cline in tobacco production in southern Ontario). But the fact of the matter remains that, in a country seeing significant growth in the bioeconomy, facilities like Enerkem’s waste-to-energy project in Edmonton and the IGPC facility in Aylmer, Ont., have provided strong exam-ples of how both types of ethanol produc-tion can be done to offset the current ethanol trade deficit with the United States. So what comes next? Clearly, there needs to be interest from potential investors look-ing for a new way to profit from the green economy. We also need a continued push by the industry to educate government of-ficials in each province of both the national demand and the environmental offsets of the production of corn or cellulosic ethanol. As Canada’s leaders in the bioeconomy and renewable fuels industries continue to emerge, it will be fascinating to watch how they are able to work with government and industry partners to both shrink our etha-nol deficit and look for new ways to use this green technology in both residential and commercial applications. Andrew Macklin, Associate Editor [email protected] Official Media Partner of: @CanadianBiomass 4 Canadian BIOMASS MAY/JUNE 2013
Canadian Biomass August/September 2013: Page 4
