continuously – seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Our expertise from running biodiesel plants in Europe since 2001 helped in-crease the efficiency and production ca -pacity of the plant while reducing costs significantly. What is your current annual produc-tion at the Welland plant? What are your long-term production targets? The plant has an annual production ca-pacity of approximately 150,000 tons of biodiesel and 18,000 tons of raw glycer-in. However, renewable energy markets are subject to the regional and global mar-ket conditions. We have been pleased with the results being achieved by our Welland plant. In the past years, we have developed readily executable plans to increase pro-duction capacity, produce higher value by-products and use lower grade feed-stocks. As one of the leading global renewable energy companies, Verbio has always been reviewing plans for potential expansion and/or upgrades of its existing facilities as well as investigating options for new proj-ects. However, current market conditions tied to regulatory uncertainty are delaying decisions for numerous renewable energy companies. With clear sets of governmental and reg-ulatory guidelines, Verbio will be able to make decisions on long-term investments. The energy business has always been and will continue to be very capital inten-sive. Therefore, certainty and stability are desired in the market to ensure long-term success for its shareholders and employees. Can you describe in detail the pro-duction and quality control processes used in the Welland operation to pro-duce crude glycerin and biodiesel? For our biodiesel and glycerol production we use renewable sources like vegetable oil and methanol. The chemical process called “transesterification” is catalyzed by a caustic catalyst. This process is very efficient, using very little energy and pro -ducing nearly no waste or wastewater. Biodiesel produced in Welland is defi -nitely an environmentally friendly and CO 2 emission-saving biofuel. Has sourcing feedstock for the Welland plant been challenging? Sourcing feedstock for the Welland plant so far has not been a challenge. It is actu-ally quite the opposite. A major advantage of the plant is its connection to the railway infrastructure, which makes it easier for us to bring in raw materials. How many people are currently em-ployed at the facility? Has finding qualified staff been difficult during the labour shortages taking place over the past few years? We currently employ 33 people at our plant in Welland, and we can say that it is not easy to find qualified staff in the Welland region. Therefore, we invest a lot in training our employees and provid-ing a good working environment to avoid fluctuation. With countries and companies look-ing to meet more aggressive carbon emissions reduction targets, how do you see facilities like the Welland plant and Verbio playing a signifi-cant role in helping them meet their targets? All of what we do at Verbio is based on the principles of sustainability. Not only are we using an innovative approach to con-tinuously optimize our use of resources, we also have steadily expanded our range of climate-friendly products that are creat-ed in an energy and CO2 efficient manner. The raw materials we apply are almost completely utilized in multiple produc-tion steps. This steadily increases the efficiency of our production processes and reduces our own carbon footprint. With the products we supply, we drive decar-bonization, especially in the industry and mobility sector. Our customers are able to increase their carbon handprint goals and save a signifi -cant amount of GHG emissions. To learn more about Verbio Vereinigte BioEnergie AG Welland biodiesel fa-cility and other ongoing projects, visit: verbio-north-america.com . • Canadian BIOMASS Untitled-2 1 15 2023-03-27 8:50 AM
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