UBC is also conducting a supply chain analysis to understand the total carbon footprint of the lifecyle of the process. But flax straw is a carbon sink, and this process would prevent the straw from being burnt in the fields, which are both positives, Cooper says. This research is set to be completed in March. In the meantime, Prairie Clean Energy is using the compressed bale method in its test runs. Hunterwood Technologies, based in Cochrane, Alta., has done most of the analysis and production for the company. So far, these test runs have shown that the biofuel produced from flax straw is highly efficient. “When properly dried, flax straw produces 8,500 BTUs per pound, and the chemical composition is fairly similar to wood,” Cooper says. “From our perspective, as a fuel source, it’s as good as wood is – it even burns a little hotter. So, it’s a great product.” EXPANDING PRODUCTION BUILDING AWARENESS Prairie Clean Energy plans to expand their production in the next year to be able to produce 20,000 tonnes of product per month, or about 250,000 tonnes per year. While flax is typically harvested in September and October, Prairie Clean Energy plans to collect flax straw from the farmers throughout the year, so that they can produce product year-round. “We’re not intending to be seasonal in our delivery, and we think that will provide steady supply for folks,” Cooper says. When it comes to customers, Prairie Clean Energy is having conversations with industrial users in B.C., companies in the UK and companies in Japan. Once the company has signed a con-tract with a customer, they will begin construction on a dedicat-ed production facility in the Regina area. LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES Looking ahead, the next step for the company is to further build awareness about flax straw as a viable biomass fuel, Cooper says. They also need to secure clients who are prepared to purchase flax straw from the company, and then get their production plant up and running to be able to deliver on their commitments. The company is also working to build more awareness about agricultural biomass and support further research in the field. To help accomplish these goals, Cooper and his partners recently founded the Prairie Biomass Association. “We recognize there’s a lot of opportunity in Canada – especial-ly on the Prairies – for growth of the use of biomass, especially as we have to move away from burning coal and as we see increased pressure from the federal government and internationally to re-duce the carbon footprint of our energy sector,” Cooper says. In the Prairies alone, there is more than two million tonnes per year of available agricultural biomass, he says. This is a massive opportunity for Canada, but more research needs to be done on the viability of different products such as wheat straw, barley and corn. “One of the reasons why we wanted to launch the association is that we want to partner with the research groups and we want to get that research going now, because while we focus on flax, we want to support and understand how those other agricultural products can be used and brought to market,” Cooper explains. “Because as the market continues to improve for biomass, we think that Canada – which is already a powerhouse in providing wood pellets – can supplement the pellet market with really solid agricultural waste.” • There are, of course, some challenges when launching a new business in a relatively new field. “The single biggest challenge is the logistics and managing the logistics of aggregating a product from over 500 different farms in a given year, and the location of those farms and the amount of product that they have from year-to-year changes,” Cooper says. “So, aggregating that is a huge problem.” Despite the strong response from farmers, the demand for the product is not at the same level because customers first need to understand what the product is and how it will work in their boilers, among other things, Cooper says. “So, it’s just taking time to get that market developed,” he says. There are also regulatory barriers depending on customer loca-tion. In B.C., for example, if a customer wants to burn flax straw, it has to be included in their permit from BC Hydro. This means BC Hydro needs to be educated about the product and customers need to go through the permitting process. Meanwhile, to be able to export product to Japan, Prairie Clean Energy has to get their product to be considered part of the feed-in-tariff. But the company has multiple partners to help them over-come these regulatory hurdles. “We’re lucky that we’ve got great partners here in Saskatch-ewan, like the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership, the Ministry of Trade and Export Development and the Ministry of Agriculture, that are working closely with us to aggregate all of those things and to help clear the path for us to be able to get to market,” Cooper says. 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