BIOMASS update CHAR ACQUIRES ALTECH GROUP, PLANS TO PRODUCE BIOCOAL Mississauga, Ont.-based CHAR Technologies has closed on its acquisition of To-ronto’s Altech Group and has announced plans to manufac-ture and sell a biocoal product branded as CleanFyre. The GHG neutral product will be marketed as a cost-effective coal replacement. “CleanFyre will leverage both Altech’s experience and expertise, and CHAR’s platform pyrolysis technology, the same technology used to create SulfaCHAR, to create a solution with strong market pull and significant growth opportunity,” CHAR CEO Andrew White said in a news release. CHAR currently produces SulfaCHAR, which can be used to remove hydrogen sulfide from gas streams, with a focus on methane-rich and odorous air. SulfaCHAR can also be used as a sulfur-en-riched biochar for agriculture. Altech – an environmental consulting company and provider of air pollution control and water treatment technology – currently has 12 employees. CHAR acquired all of the outstanding shares in both Altech Environmental Consulting Ltd. and Altech Technology Systems Inc. “The acquisition of the Altech Group adds over 30 years of experience in environmental technologies and professional engineering consulting,” CHAR chairman Bill White said in the release. “Altech provides CHAR with a growth catalyst to move much of our engineering design in-house, while at the same time allows us to greatly expand our technology solutions offering for industrial clean air and clean water.” Alexander Keen, founder and CEO of Altech, said in the release, “CHAR brings an excit-ing future for Altech. Our joint efforts going forward will bring tremendous opportunities.” BBI’S TIM PORTZ NAMED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PFI Pellet Fuels Institute has selected Tim Portz as its new executive director beginning Jan. 2. Portz previously served as the executive editor of BBI Interna-tional’s Biomass Magazine and Pel-let Mill Magazine , and has been a renewable industry observer, reporter, and commentator for nearly a decade. “Tim has established himself as a consistent and outspoken champion for biomass energy – spe-cifically the wood pellet sector,” PFI states in its release. With BBI International, Portz developed the agendas of the International Biomass Conference & Expo and the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop. Prior to BBI, Portz worked in sales and sales management for global printing company RR Donnelley. He graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor of fine arts. Born and raised in central Iowa, Portz, his wife, and their two sons now live in Minneapolis. True North Timber to buy Rentech’s Atikokan pellet facility Rentech’s Atikokan, Ont., wood pellet facility has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Ontario’s True North Timber, according to the company’s latest news release. The facility supplies wood pellets to Ontario Power Generation’s 100 per cent biomass-fuelled generating station in Atikokan. Earlier this year the 100,000 tonne-capacity facility reduced its production to 45,000 tonnes per year to meet the OPG contract. Rentech’s Wawa, Ont., pellet facility remains idle, and the company has applied to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for the appointment of a receiver and manager to facilitate the sale or liquidation of that facility. Rentech also announced its subsidiary, Rentech WP U.S. Inc., filed a voluntary petition for relief under the United States Bankruptcy Code. “The purpose of the bankruptcy filing is to seek to sell the assets of the company’s Fulghum Fibres and New England Wood Pellet subsidiaries and facilitate an orderly wind-down of Rentech Inc.,” the release states. BIC HONOURED BY CANADIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has named Sarnia, Ont.-based Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC) one of Canada’s Resource Champions.BIC was recognized as part of the cham-ber’s Canada’s Resource Champions Award, created to support natural resource development and trade across the country. Since its establishment in 2008, BIC has made it its mission to invest in and support companies that are just starting out who develop clean, green and sustainable technologies. It cur-rently has 16 organizations in its portfolio. “It’s good to be recognized for the work we’re doing in the renewable space,” Sandy Marshall, executive director of BIC, told the Sarnia Observer . JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 6 Canadian BIOMASS
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