BIOMASS update alberta fundS enerGy campuS Drayton Valley, AB – Scrap tree- tops and branches from forestry operations in Alberta will soon be converted to electricity at the Dray- ton Valley Energy Campus. The Alberta government is providing $25 million to develop a waste-to- energy production facility in the town of Drayton Valley. Minnesota- based Otoka Energy Corporation is receiving a $20-million grant from Alberta’s share of the Canada ecoTrust for Clean Air and Climate Change. The project also received $5 million in July 2009 through Alberta’s Biorefining Commercial- ization and Market Development Program, administered by Alberta Energy. “The Town of Drayton Valley is delighted to have Otoka Energy Corporation as part of our com- munity,” says Drayton Valley Mayor Moe Hamdon. “We have a shared interest in finding clean, renewable and rewarding energy solutions, and this project complements our bio-mile development, an ongoing initiative to create industrial devel- opment without waste.” Otoka’s Drayton Valley Energy Campus will convert an estimated 380,000 tonnes/year of wood waste into electricity once the project is fully operational. The project will reduce Alberta’s greenhouse gas emissions by about 400,000 tonnes/year. Otoka has plans to develop its Drayton Valley operations in three phases. Phase one includes the construction and operation of the Drayton Valley Energy Campus. The total cost of this development is estimated at $100 million. The next two phases are estimated to cost an additional $140 million and will add a methanogenic reac- tor to produce natural gas and an upgrader to produce ethanol. bc bioenerGy network fundS partnerSHip P rince George, BC – The BC Bioenergy Network, a provincially funded industry association supporting the growing bioenergy sector in British Columbia, has an- nounced funding of $52,500 to Initiatives Prince George to support the work of the Northern Bioenergy Partnership. The Partnership is an industry-led collaboration with govern- ment, communities, and the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) to establish northern B.C. as a leader in the bioenergy industry. Objectives of the Partnership include attracting further investment of capital in the bioenergy sec- tor to serve growing demand for renewable energy globally and establishing an industry-led research initiative at UNBC. “With the support of the BC Bioenergy Network, Prince George will lead the way in facilitating the growth of a com- petitive bioenergy cluster here in Northern British Colum- bia,” says Tim McEwan, president and CEO of Initiatives Prince George. “UNBC’s strength as a research institution and our region’s current leadership in commercial-scale bioenergy applications are strategic assets. This initiative will greatly support integrated economic development for the province of B.C.” enverGent’S pyrolySiS cHoSen for power Industria e Innovazione and En- Des Plaines, IL – Italian power company Industria e Innovazione has selected Envergent Technolo- gies’ rapid thermal processing (RTP) technology for the development of a facility to convert biomass into pyrolysis oil for renewable power generation. The RTP works by rapidly heating biomass at ambient pressure to generate high yields of pourable, liquid pyrolysis oil. The oil can then be burned in industrial burners and furnaces for heat or electricity generation. vergent, a joint venture of UOP and Ensyn, have signed an agreement to pursue the development of an RTP facility to convert a mix of pine forest residues and clean demolition wood into pyrolysis oil. The facility will be designed to process approxi- mately 150 bone-dry tonnes/day of biomass to pyrolysis oil for the generation of renewable electricity. Envergent will provide engineering for the facility, which is projected for start-up in 2012. 8 CanadianBIOMASS NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2009
Canadian Biomass November/December 2009: Page 8
