ENERKEM WINS ‘THE SKY’S THE LIMIT CHALLENGE’ FOR PRODUCING SAF FROM FOREST BIOMASS Enerkem has been selected by an independent panel of inter-national aviation experts as the winner of “The Sky’s the Limit Challenge” hosted by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), from among the four finalists. This prestigious honour underscores its significant achievement in producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from forest biomass carbon. The resulting biogenic fuel will contribute to a 93 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from air transport per unit of fossil fuel replaced by SAF . “The Sky’s the Limit Challenge” is a national competition focused on developing clean, sustainable and economically viable aviation fuel in Canada that allows the commercial aviation sector to reduce its carbon footprint. The prize won by Enerkem consti-tutes a $5-million grant to continue commercializing its innovative fuel. As a finalist, the company was selected in 2019 to receive $2 million to develop its technology to compete for the grand prize. Most of the research leading to the production of the sustain-able aviation fuel was conducted at Enerkem’s Innovation Centre in Westbury, Que. CRB deconstructed and fractioned the biomass into recoverable intermediaries. Enerkem and CRB conducted the research using these intermediaries, leading to the production of sustainable aviation fuel. Some of the research was carried out in collaboration with the CanmetENERGY research centre in Ottawa. The work was led by Michel Chornet, executive vice-president, engineering, innovation and operations, Enerkem; Stéphane Ma-rie-Rose, director, catalytic processes group, Enerkem; and Esteban Chornet, co-founder of Enerkem and CRB, and scientific director at CRB Innovations. The aviation sector alone accounts for three per cent of total global GHG emissions, and its carbon footprint seems difficult to reduce. There are currently several sources of exploitable biofuels, including residual lipids such as used cooking oils and vegetable oils, municipal solid waste and CO2 from green power produc-tion. “The research we conducted as part of ‘The Sky’s the Limit Challenge’ allowed us to develop another source, specifically forest biomass. It has often been described as Canada’s ‘green’ edge. It’s affordable and has been used nationally for generations in various applications. The carbon in forest biomass comes from the atmo-spheric CO2 captured and transformed into constituent molecules through photosynthesis. We were able to recover it by combining the technologies of biomass deconstruction and fractionation (CRB), gasification (Enerkem), oligomer production (Enerkem and CRB) and catalytic hydrocracking by Enerkem, as well as by CRB/ Canmet. As a result, we managed to produce sustainable aviation fuel allowing GHGs from air transportation to be reduced by 93 per cent,” said Chornet. EDGEWOOD FOREST PRODUCTS TO PHASE OUT BEEHIVE BURNERS, BUILD BIOREFINERY Edgewood Forest Products, based in Carrot River, Sask., is plan-ning to build a biorefinery that will convert sawmill waste into bioproduct such as biochar. The biorefinery will replace the mill’s beehive burner, and should be fully operational in October 2023. The first phase of construction on the biorefinery is slated to begin May 2022 and will be finished this fall, with a new production line to produce biochar. The biorefinery is expected to create 10 new jobs. The second phase of construction will see four new production lines added, and is set to begin May 2023 and be completed in October 2023. At that point, an additional five jobs will be added. Edgewood Forest Products produces 140 million board feet per year of stud lumber and boards. Its parent company, Dunkley Lumber, operates mills in B.C. and Alberta. I.C.S. (LACROIX) LUMBER RECEIVES $35K TO EXPAND OPERATIONS The Ontario government on March 28 announced a $682,529 investment in six economic development proj-ects in Hearst, Ont., including $35,808 for wood pellet pro-ducer I.C.S. (Lacroix) Lumber. The funds will help I.C.S. (Lacroix) purchase new equipment that will help it increase its production capacity and ex-pand operations. “Through the collaborative partnerships we are announc-ing today, our government is ensuring Hearst’s economy continues to grow,” said Greg Rickford, Ontario Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry, in a statement. “By investing in projects from var-ied sectors, we are promoting a more diverse, dynamic and innovative economic climate.” I.C.S. (Lacroix) produces premium wood pellets under the LacWood brand. Canadian BIOMASS 7
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