INCA RENEWTECH TO BUILD ADVANCED BIO-COMPOSITES MANUFACTURING FACILITY IN ALBERTA INCA Renewable Technologies announced plans to build a state-of-the art 200,000-square-foot fibre processing and com -posites manufacturing facility in Vegreville, Alta. Their chosen location is adjacent to InnoTech Alberta – the Alberta government’s premier research facility for hemp composites, genomics and agronomics. The INCA factory is expected to be operational in early 2024 and create 70 jobs, scaling to about 100 jobs by 2026. “When ramped to capacity, INCA’s operation will pur-chase 54,000 tonnes of biomass per year generated from farmers growing hemp for plant-based protein,” said David Saltman, chairman and CEO of INCA. “We will process this renewable resource into highly refined fibre. The short fibre will be transformed into INCA BioBalsa, a direct substitute for the balsa wood used as an essential core mate-rial in the construction of boats and wind turbine blades. The long fibre will be sent via rail to our second factory in Bristol, Indiana where we will manufacture BioPanels for the RV industry and BioPlastics for the automotive indus -try. Winnebago and Toyota are commercialization partners for these products.” INCA chose Alberta in part thanks to the provincial govern-ment’s investments over the past 20 years to develop a thriving hemp supercluster and research capability. Alberta is now a global leader in the production of sustainably grown hemp and responsible for 40 per cent of Canada’s hemp production. INCA’s purchase of waste hemp fibre from local farmers will make hemp a dual use cultivar and one of the most valuable cash crops in the prairies. Alberta Agriculture Minister Nate Horner said, “by purchasing hemp directly from Alberta’s farmers, and processing it here in the province, this project will mitigate production risks for producers, and create new value-added hemp products that will help grow Alberta’s thriving hemp industry.” GREEN IMPACT PARTNERS PROPOSES WHEAT-TO-BIOFUELS FACILITY IN CALGARY Green Impact Partners Inc. is moving forward with the development of the Future Energy Park – an innovative clean energy project connecting Alberta’s agriculture and energy sectors. Located within the City of Calgary, Future Energy Park is a proposed net CO 2 -negative biofuels facility using non-food grade wheat to produce renewable natural gas (RNG), and ethanol. “A first of its kind, Future Energy Park is an exciting op -portunity for us to link the circular economy and decarbon-ize agriculture and our energy future,” said Jesse Douglas, CEO. “The facility will be fully integrated, co-producing two forms of renewable fuels using advanced technology, including CO 2 capture from the production process to go beyond the goal of net zero CO 2 emissions.” Future Energy Park represents a nearly $1-billion invest -ment in Alberta and Calgary. Once operational, the facility is expected to produce approximately 3.5 million MMBtu per year of RNG, over 300 million litres of ethanol annually, ap-proximately 235,000 tonnes of cattle feed annually, and create carbon credits. Douglas added, “This significant investment in Alberta will advance the local contribution to the province’s existing Renewable Fuels Standard which requires no less than five per cent renewable fuel content for gasoline blended in the province. Currently, there is a domestic ethanol supply gap which we hope to fill by using a unique and technologically advanced process. The Future Energy Park will forge a new path between Alberta’s energy and agriculture sectors as we work collectively towards making a positive impact and building sustainable, resilient communities for generations to come.” The proposed facility is being sited in an industrial area in southeast Calgary and will be constructed and operated on 52 acres of land designated for future industrial use. Subject to receipt of major regulatory approvals, Green Impact Partners is targeting completion in late 2024 to early 2025. CANADA OPENS $81.5M CALL FOR CARBON CAPTURE RD&D PROJECTS The federal government has announced a $81.5-million call for expressions of inter-est to support research, development and demonstration (RD&D) projects in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). Project applications are open now until Oct. 3, 2022, and include three in-takes: capture, storage and sequestration, and utilization. In a news release from Natural Re-sources Canada, the government said the projects are aimed at emission-intensive industries, such as steel and cement. “Many of the technologies needed to reach our goal of net zero by 2050 are still in various stages of development, including decarbonization solutions such as CCUS. The Government of Canada is investing in innovative clean energy RD&D projects to help grow the economy, fight climate change and create good jobs for Cana-dian workers,” Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in the release. This is the second call in support of CCUS innovation, the first of which fo-cused on front-end engineering and design studies for large-scale projects. Eleven projects were selected in April 2022, including SAF+ Consortium Inc., in Montreal, Que. Canadian BIOMASS 7
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