feedstocks. It is based at McGill University. Saddler agrees with Bacovsky and her colleagues about there being many ‘vari-ations on a theme’ available in the cellu-losic ethanol pretreatment arena – plenty of options are available in terms of which feedstock to use, how to pre-treat it and how to convert it. Of the three biofuel pretreatment methods (chemical, physi-cal and biological) available, the scientists state that hydrotreatment (variations on steam explosion or dilute acid hydrolysis), as pursued by companies like Abengoa, Inbicon and Mascoma, currently accounts for most of the front-end commercial pre-treatments being pursued by the bio-fuel industry worldwide. The interactive world map in the re-port references several cellulosic ethanol demonstration or pilot plants in Canada that use different processing methods. Tembec Chemical Group’s Temiscaming, Quebec demonstration plant uses thermo-chemical conversion of ligno-cellulosics into ethanol. Enerkem is building several commercial plants that use municipal sol-id waste (including woody biomass from construction debris and other sources), and they have a pilot plant in Sherbrooke, Quebec, and a demo facility in Westbury, Quebec (see the March/April issue of Ca-nadian Biomass for details). Both use ther-mochemical conversion. Iogen Corpora-tion has a demo plant in Ottawa that uses biochemical conversion of lignocellulosics into ethanol (see page 25 for details). RegulatoRy haRmony If the industry was asked to choose one aspect of biofuel pre-treatment in this country that needs attention, it might well choose the quest to allow the same en-zymes and yeasts that are legal to use in other markets to be legally permitted for use here. “There are new products that are approved in Europe and the United States, but not yet approved in Canada,” Thurlow explains. “Regulatory barriers and incon-sistencies like this are giving biofuels pro-ducers in the global marketplace a distinct competitive advantage over our producers here.” This disparity creates a situation where foreign biofuel producers can pro-duce higher volumes, with more fuel to export, and potentially have the ability to undercut Canadian producers. Furthermore, the fruits of some of the enzyme research and development occurring here in Canada are approved for use in other markets (helping to boost yields there), but these same domestic products are not yet allowed for domestic biofuel production. The problem is being addressed, but it’s anyone’s guess as to when it will be solved. The main mechanism for harmo-nizing and streamlining industrial and commercial regulations in the U.S. and Canada is the joint governmental ‘Regula-tory Co-operation Council.’ “Prime Minis-ter Harper and President Obama and oth-er representatives of both nations attend Council meetings regularly, but dialogue is constant,” Thurlow explains. He says the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association provides information on regu-latory disparities to the Canadian govern-ment for addressing within the ‘Regulato-ry Co-operation Council’ framework, but also works on the same issues with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Envi-ronment Canada and Health Canada. “The development of new pre-treat-ments is limitless,” notes Thurlow, “but regulatory harmony is critical. Canada has a natural biomass advantage in terms of the volume of agricultural and forestry-re-lated feedstocks we have available and the harvesting infrastructure we have in place, but we cannot turn that into a competitive advantage until we have a level playing field. We must have that for the industry to prosper as it should.” But regulatory harmony is only one of many important recommendations that the CRFA outlines in its new vision and ac-tion plan entitled ‘Evolution and Growth: From Biofuels To Bioeconomy,’ released April 8th. In it, the association recogniz-es how far the industry has come already and is positive about the future: “A thriv-ing and fully realized domestic renewable fuels industry is more than possible – it is viable and working in Canada. Now is the time to build off this successful platform and do more.” • For an interactive map of global biofuel projects visit: http://demoplants.bioener-gy2020.eu/projects/mapindex. A global report on biofuel facilities can be found online at: http://task39. org/files/2013/12/2013_Bacovsky_Sta-tus-of-Advanced-Biofuels-Demonstra-tion-Facilities-in-2012.pdf. The new CRFA vision and action plan is also online at: www.evolutionandgrowth.ca. American-made hammermills and pellet mills from your partner in biomass pelleting equipment. CPM OFFERS: • Total pelleting system knowledge • Around-the-clock customer support • Large inventory of parts, with same-day shipment on many • Test center for analyzing and improving pellets Canadian BIOMASS 31
Canadian Biomass May June 2014: Page 31
