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Commercializing Innovation
Celebrating Canada’s 150th:
A Short History of the Biofuel Industry in Canada
This report presents the history of the biofuel industry - including
gaseous, liquid and solid biofuels, and biomass power - in Canada
from 1867 to 2017.
2
FOR PUBLIC CIRCULATION
This report is for information purposes only, and its contents have been prepared
in good faith, derived from management's knowledge and experience in the
industry, as well as a variety of third-party sources, such as independent industry
publications, government publications, company websites, and other publicly
available information, but no representation or warranty, expressed or implied,
is made by Sixth Element Sustainable Management or its employees as to the
accuracy, completeness, quality, usefulness, or adequacy of the information and
opinions in the report, and Sixth Element Sustainable Management cannot take
any responsibility for the consequences of errors or omissions. This material has
been prepared for general circulation without regard to any specific project and
circumstances of persons who receive it, and the information and opinions
expressed in this report may not be applicable to you. All rights reserved.
Prepared by: Gerald Kutney, Ph.D.
© Gerald Kutney – 2017
3
Bio of the Author:
Dr. Kutney, Ph.D. in chemistry, has two decades of executive experience with global corporations and entrepreneurial
enterprises in the forest bioeconomy. He brings the innovation of research and technology development, the financial
discipline of big business, and the spirit of entrepreneurship to start-ups and early-stage companies.
Forestry, Forest Products & Biofuels
Mentored and edited the business plans for a biomass pellet venture in the U.S.
Audited the commercial preparedness of a pyrolysis venture for an IPO in Canada
Prepared a technology-vetting study on the commercial status of wood-to-fuel technologies for a European
client
Prepared a technology-vetting study on the commercial status of hydrothermal carbonization technologies
for a European client
Prepared a technology-vetting study on the commercial status of pyrolysis-type technologies for a Canadian
client
Prepared a technology-vetting study on the commercial status of waste-to-energy technologies for a
Canadian client
Prepared business plans, feasibility studies and pro forma design for Indigenous bioenergy venture in
Canada
Prepared business plans, feasibility studies and pro forma design for Indigenous wood pellet venture in
Canada
Prepared business plans, feasibility studies and pro forma design for Indigenous logging ventures in
Canada
Prepared business plans, feasibility studies and pro forma design for Indigenous lumber ventures in Canada
Executive of a pyrolysis/biochar venture in Canada
Director of Biochar Ontario
Chairman of the expert panel on international standards for solid recovered fuels (SRF) for ISO (TC 300)
Member of the expert panel on international standards for solid biofuels (wood/biomass pellets, torrefied
pellets and biochar briquettes) for ISO (TC 238)
Member of the expert panel on Canadian standards for solid biofuels for CSA
Executive Vice President, Director of Emerging Technologies and lead consultant in forestry bioenergy for
the world’s largest bioenergy and biofuels consulting group (Lee Enterprises Consulting)
Forest products research manager for an international corporation (ICI Canada – CIL)
Executive of a biomass processing business in Canada
Executive of a bioproducts/bioenergy business of a major forest products company (Tembec) in Canada
Entrepreneurship and New Ventures
Managing Director of own consulting venture
Executive coaching and mentoring for a start-up venture
President of an emerging-technology venture
Chief Operating Officer with a new-technology venture
Approved consultant with the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC, Entrepreneurs first)
MBA mentor at the University of Ottawa
Entrepreneur mentor with Invest Ottawa
4
Contents
Biomethanol ................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Bioethanol ..................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Biobutanol .................................................................................................................................................................. 12
Biodiesel ...................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Pyrolysis Oil ............................................................................................................................................................... 13
Wood Pellets & Advanced-Wood Pellets ................................................................................................................. 14
Biomass Power ........................................................................................................................................................... 16
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow of the Canadian Biofuel Industry .................................................................. 18
5
Celebrating Canada’s 150th:
A Short History of the Biofuel Industry in Canada
The 150th anniversary of Confederation on July 1st is a time to reflect upon the country’s
achievements; this article covers the evolution of the Canadian biofuel industry - including
gaseous, liquid and solid biofuels, and biomass power - from 1867 to 2017.
The foundations of the biofuel industry in Canada are found in the nation’s forest resources. A
lumber industry had emerged for shipbuilding long before Confederation. Ottawa, itself, had only
been officially founded in 1855, but sawmills had existed on the site (then called Bytown) since
1830. In the First Session of the First Parliament, on November 13, 1867, the importance of the
“timber trade… of the province of Quebec,” was reported in Parliamentary records,1 and the
following week, the first bill on the industry, “the rafting of timbers,” had been introduced by
Joseph Bellerose (1820-99).2 At the time, there were fears that Canada was becoming only “hewers
of wood;” the phrase was common in Parliamentary debates of the day, first expressed by the
Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, on May 3, 1872.3 And by the end of the century, Canada
was more than hewers of wood, as a new value-added forest products industry based on biofuels
was emerging, which started with biomethanol.
Figure 1. Early Logging in Canada4
1 Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources, House of Commons Debates, 1st Parliament, 1st Session, Volume 1,
p. 49. 2 Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources, House of Commons Debates, 1st Parliament, 1st Session, Volume 1,
p. 101; also see pp. 134, 148. 3 Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources, House of Commons Debates, 1st Parliament, 5th Session, Volume 1,
p. 124. 4 Painting by George A. Reid (1860-1947), Logging 1888, National Gallery of Canada.
6
Biomethanol
The first biofuels industry in Canada was based on the slow pyrolysis of hardwood.5 An industrial-
scale “destructive distillation” facility to manufacture methanol (“wood alcohol”) and charcoal6
was opened by Edward Wilkes Rathburn (1842-1903) in Deseronto, Ontario, in 1887. A decade
later, Arthur Peuchen7 created a forestry-based chemical conglomerate, Standard Chemical
Company Limited, whose primary products were methanol, acetate of lime, and charcoal. By 1918,
sales of Standard Chemical had reached $7.6 million, and they operated an integrated biorefinery
network across Ontario and Quebec:8
Slow pyrolysis
o Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario – 112 cords per day
o Longford Mills, Ontario – 84 cords per day
o South River, Ontario – 72 cords per day
o Thornbury, Ontario – 48 cords per day
o Donald, Ontario – 48 cords per day
o Parry Sound, Ontario – 48 cords per day
o Cookshire, Quebec – 48 cords per day
o Fassett, Quebec – 48 cords per day
o Lac Mercier, Quebec – 48 cords per day
o Weedon, Quebec – 24 cords per day
Methanol
o Longford Mills, Ontario
o Montreal, Quebec – 4,000 imperial gallons per day
Formaldehyde (from methanol)
o Montreal, Quebec – 3 million pounds per year
Acetic Acid (from acetate of lime)
o Montreal, Quebec – 2 million pounds per year
Acetone9 (from acetate of lime) – 1800 tons per year
o Longford Mills, Ontario
o Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (operated only during World War I).
5 Such technologies are of interest today to produce biochar. 6 The first charcoal kiln was reported to have opened in 1812 (Warrington, C.J.S., and Nicholls, R.V.V. 1949. A
History of Chemistry in Canada, p. 240. Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Toronto). 7 Presidents of Standard Chemical were:
1897-1914: Arthur Godfrey Peuchen (1859-1914; he was one of the survivors of the Titanic in 1912)
1914-1919: L. M. Wood
1919-1924: David Gilmour (1867-?)
1924-?: Meurig Lloyd Davies (1865-?)
?-1951: K. S. McLaughton. During his term, the noted Canadian investor E.P. Taylor (1901-89) was
Chairman; in 1951, Taylor took control of Domtar, who then acquired the chemical assets of Standard
Chemical. 8 Bates, J. 1922. Distillation of Hardwoods in Canada, Forestry Branch - Bulletin No. 74, pp. 27-8. 9 During World War I, acetone was especially important as it was a raw material for the manufacture of cordite
(smokeless powder; acetone was the solvent for nitrocellulose).
7
In 1922, the noted pulp and paper chemical engineer, John Seaman Bates (1888-1991), reviewed
the achievements of Standard Chemical and concluded (see Figure 2):10
The plants reflect the general growth of the industry over a long period of years. The demand for acetone,
methyl hydrate [methanol], formalin and other hardwood distillation products was very great throughout the
war period and industry served the nation during the war crisis to an extent that few realize. The industry
enjoys the benefits of competent centralized control and is in a position to make the most of the situation
within limits of the uncertain economic and trade conditions that exist. It is a significant fact that a single
well organized company handles practically all operations from the cutting of the wood to the manufacture
and sales of the finished chemicals. Furthermore, the industry is now on a satisfactory basis of technical
control, and science is being applied to the further development of derived products originating in the crude
wood distillation.
Figure 2. Flow Sheet of the Destructive Distillation of Hardwoods11
During the early 20th century, wood was the major raw material to produce methanol, but was later
replaced by more economic feedstocks, such as natural gas. Charcoal is still produced from
hardwoods, but today, there are only two charcoal producers in Canada (Table 1), and methanol is
not collected in their processes. Biomethanol processes have recently started up again, but the
technology is no longer “destructive distillation” but gasification (Table 2).
10 Bates, J. 1922. Distillation of Hardwoods in Canada, Forestry Branch - Bulletin No. 74, p. 6. 11 Bates, J. 1922. Distillation of Hardwoods in Canada, Forestry Branch - Bulletin No. 74, p. 4. This remarkable
review by John Bates describes the process to refine the various products from the “pyroligneous acid.” The Standard
Chemical Company had “cooperated” with Bates in the preparation of the monograph.
8
Table 1. Charcoal Facilities in Canada
Company Site
Basques Hardwood Charcoal Riviere du Loup, QC
Maple Leaf Charcoal Sainte-Christine d’Auvergne, QC
Table 2. Biomethanol Facilities in Canada
Company Site
Al-Pac Boyle, AB
Enerkem Edmonton, AB
Dating back to the 1970’s (and continuing today), Canada has been a global leader in the use of
biomass gasification12 to produce biomethanol. A major research project into fluidized-bed
gasification of RDF (refused-derived fuel) had been undertaken by the Canadian chemical
corporation, CIL (Eco-Research), and a pilot facility was built in Kingston, Ontario. CIL
abandoned the project, but the management team - John Wright Black, Keith Bircher, and John
Chisholm - formed their own gasification venture Omnifuel Technologies. Omnifuel installed an
industrial-scale facility of the process (10 teph) in 1980 at Levesque Plywood in Hearst, Ontario.
The Hearst project was a technical, but not economic, success. Technology development switched
from Ontario to Quebec, being taken over by Biosyn,13 which developed a biomass-gasification
process to produce methanol,14 and built a demonstration facility (10 teph), in St-Juste de
Bretennieres, Quebec.15 Further progress on the technology took place at the University of
Sherbrooke, starting in 1990, under the direction of Esteban Chornet.16 In 1993, Kemestrie, a spin-
off from the university, was formed to commercialize the technology, and five years later, Enerkem
Technologies was created as a division of Kemestrie. A biomass gasification facility was open by
Enerkem in Westbury, Quebec, in 2009, and five years later, a full-scale biomass waste-to-energy
facility opened in Edmonton, Alberta.17
12 In the past fifty years, over fifty biomass-gasification ventures have opened in Canada. 13Biosyn was a joint venture between Nouveler (a division of Hydro-Quebec) and Canertech (a Crown corporation
formed to promote biofuels, dissolved in 1984). An advisory committee to the project included Esteban Chornet (1942-
) of the University of Sherbrooke, Maurice Bergougnou (1928-2015) of the University of Western Ontario, and John
Black. Nouveler formed a joint venture with SNC to commercialize the technology (Biodev); a facility was constructed
in French Guyane to produce biomass power (7 MW), but closed shortly after opening. The commercialization of the
Biosyn technology was then taken over by Biothermica, formed by Guy Drouin who had led Biodev. 14 In 1980, a Parliament report, entitled Biomass Energy, had promoted the production of biomethanol from the
gasification of wood (Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources, House of Commons Journals, 32nd Parliament,
1st Session, Volume 126, Pt. 2, pp. 2036, 2038). 15 Operated between 1984 and 1986; assets sold to BECESCO in 1989. 16 For references to the early developments see, E4Tech 2009. Review of Technologies for Gasification of Biomass
and Wastes, pp. 75-8; Chornet, E. 1996. Biosyn Genealogy, Bioenergy Lists: Gasifiers and Gasification; Reed, T.B.,
and Gaur S. 2001. A Survey of Biomass Gasification 2001, pp. 3.8-3.9. 17 For a recent overview of Enerkem, see Lane, J. 2016. Methanol as a Chemical Platform: The Digest’s 2016 Multi-
slide Guide to Enerkem, Biofuels Digest, April 12.
9
Bioethanol
Industrial (denatured) alcohol had long been produced in Canada, usually from the fermentation
of molasses in the earlier years. Production rose during World War II to 65 million liters per year,
where the industrial ethanol was utilized as a raw material to produce butadiene for synthetic
rubber manufacturing.18 As markets emerged for fuel alcohol, corn and other grains became major
feedstocks. The first fuel-alcohol19 company in Canada was Mohawk Oil (now Husky) in
Minnedosa, Manitoba (methanol/ethanol), in 1980. During the 1980’s, the largest industrial
ethanol facility had been Commercial Alcohols in Varennes, Quebec (70 million liters per year;
closed 1991). A new company, also called Commercial Alcohols, opened a facility in Tiverton,
ON, in 1989; Greenfield Global, as they are now called, is the largest ethanol producer in Canada
(Table 3).20
A less common feedstock for ethanol production has been wood. The first cellulosic-ethanol-from-
wood operation in Canada opened at Thorold, Ontario, in 1943; the Ontario Paper Company21
fermented the sugars in spent liquor from the sulphite pulping of wood to produce 2,400 gallons
per day of ethanol. A second Canadian facility was opened by Commercial Alcohols in 1948,
across the river from Ottawa, in Gatineau, Quebec.22 During the 1980’s, another cellulosic-ethanol
plant using sulphite spent liquor was opened by Tembec in Temiscaming, Quebec. No sulfite spent
liquor, cellulosic-ethanol facilities are now operating in Canada, since the closure of the Tembec
facility in 2014.
On May 23, 1980, a Parliamentary Task Force on Alternative Energy and Oil Substitution had
been formed. Their report in a section entitled Biomass Energy stressed the potential of cellulosic
ethanol:23
The proposal to make ethanol from cellulose is very appealing as it would allow exploitation of Canada’s
substantial cellulosic biomass resource, including wood waste, spruce bud-worm and fire-damaged wood,
for feedstock… Unfortunately, there are problems in breaking down cellulose to sugars which can be
fermented to ethanol…
Canada can become a world leader in cellulose-to-ethanol technology by encouraging the research,
development and demonstration of novel processes already being developed in this country.
18 Warrington, C.J.S., and Nicholls, R.V.V. 1949. A History of Chemistry in Canada, p. 263. Sir Isaac Pitman and
Sons, Toronto. 19 In 1831, a patent for producing a fuel from a mixture of turpentine and alcohol (“burning fluid”) for lamps had been
issued to John Ratcliff of Odelltown (Lacolle), Quebec (John Ratcliff, 1831. Canada patent 25). 20 The fuel-ethanol market was spurred on by the Renewable Fuels Regulations requiring an average of at least 5%
renewable fuel content in gasoline, which were published by the government on April 10, 2010 and came into effect
at the end of the year (Environment and Climate Change Canada 2017. Current Regulations, Renewable Fuels
Regulations; accessed May 21, 2017). 21 The facility later produced vanillin; the first production of vanillin from wood (spent sulfite liquor) had taken place
in Cornwall, Ontario, in 1937, by Howard Smith Paper Mills. 22 Warrington, C.J.S., and Nicholls, R.V.V. 1949. A History of Chemistry in Canada, pp. 236-7. Sir Isaac Pitman and
Sons, Toronto. 23 Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources, House of Commons Journals, 32nd Parliament, 1st Session, Volume
126, Pt. 2, pp. 2032, 2034.
10
Another section of the report, entitled Canada’s Energy System Tomorrow, recommended the use
of biofuels as a future energy source, which concluded:24
On the other hand, energy from cellulosic biomass, particularly wood, is an attractive alternative energy
opportunity in Canada and seems well-suited to making a significant contribution to energy supplies… the
Committee recommends that Canada develop methanol from cellulosic methanol rather than ethanol from
food crops, for use as a fuel in the transportation sector. (The promise of producing ethanol from cellulose
is also attractive but this process requires further R&D at the present time.)
In 1986, a paper by Energy, Mines and Resources Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Energy
presented a brief overview of the leading developers of cellulosic ethanol technology in Canada.25
The unfortunate timing of the paper in 1986 coincided with oil being plentiful again, and public
interest in such technologies waned. A noted venture that forged ahead was Iotech,26 which had
been created in 1974 by Patrick Foody. The company began with research into steam-explosion
technology, but later switched to enzymatic processes, and the name was changed to Iogen in 1986.
Bioethanol from enzymatic treatment became the focal point of the business in 1997, and Iogen
became a world leader in cellulosic ethanol development. In 2012, Iogen produced over two
million liters of cellulosic ethanol in Ottawa, and two years later, a commercial facility using their
technology treating bagasse was built at the Raizen facility in Brazil.27 A new generation of
cellulosic ethanol technologies are currently under development, and fermentation ethanol remains
an active sector in Canada. Ethanol production in Canada had reached 1.65 billion liters by 2016.28
24 Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources, House of Commons Journals, 32nd Parliament, 1st Session, Volume
126, Pt. 2, p. 1920. A section of the report was on Biomass Energy (p. 2026), and recommendations on biofuels
appeared on pp. 2246-8. 25 Barclay, J.C., Hayes, R.D., and Greven R.G. 1986. The Technical and Economic Potential for Ethanol Production
from Biomass Resources in Canada, p. 102, VII International Symposium on Alcohol Fuels, October 20-23, Paris.
The cellulosic ethanol ventures listed in the article were: “Iotech Corp., Stake Technology, Forintek Canada Corp.,
St. Lawrence Reactors, Bio-hol (Weston Research), U. de Sherbrooke, U. of Guelph, Ontario Research Foundation,
Queen’s Univ., U. of Waterloo, U. of Western Ontario, Acres Davy McKee, Stone and Webster, W.L. Wardrop, U.
of Toronto, U.B.C., Canertech, National Research Council, Tembec Inc., Carleton, Univ., Manitoba Research Council,
Institut Armand-Frappier, Wellington Engineering, U. of Sask., Saskatchewan Research Council, POS Pilot Plant and
Labatt Brewing Co.” 26 The name of the company was a play on words for IOU; in this case, it was I Owe Tech, referring to an engineering
firm, Techtrol Limited (also owned by Patrick Foody), which sponsored the early research and development of the
company. 27 See Iogen, History of Iogen; accessed May 21, 2017; Reference for Business, Iogen Corporation, History of Iogen
Corporation; accessed May 21, 2017; Lane, J. 2016. What’s Next in Cellulosic Biofuels?: The Digest’s Multi-Slide
Guide to Iogen, Biofuels Digest, December 11. 28 Renewable Fuels Association, Industry Statistics 2016; also see Natural Resources Canada, About Renewable
Energy, Bioenergy; accessed May 21, 2017.
11
Table 3. Bioethanol Facilities in Canada29
Compnay Prov. Type Capacity
MML/y
Enerkem Inc.-Westbury QC Cellulosic 5
Woodland Biofuels Inc. - Demonstration Plant ON Cellulosic 2
Iogen Corporation ON Cellulosic 2
Enerkem Alberta Biofuels LP30 AB Cellulosic 38
Husky Energy - Lloydminster SK Sugar/Starch 130
Husky Energy - Minnedosa MB Sugar/Starch 130
GreenField Global - Varennes QC Sugar/Starch 175
North West Bio-Energy Ltd. SK Sugar/Starch 25
GreenField Global - Tiverton ON Sugar/Starch 27
GreenField Global - Johnstown ON Sugar/Starch 260
GreenField Global - Chatham ON Sugar/Starch 195
Suncor - St. Clair Ethanol Plant ON Sugar/Starch 400
IGPC Ethanol Inc.31 ON Sugar/Starch 170
Kawartha Ethanol Inc. ON Sugar/Starch 80
Permolex Ltd. AB Sugar/Starch 45
Pound-Maker Agventures Ltd. SK Sugar/Starch 15
Terra Grain Fuels Inc. - Belle Plaine SK Sugar/Starch 150
# Plants = 17 1,849
29 Ethanol Producer Magazine, Canadian Ethanol Plants; accessed May 21, 2017. Also see Renewable Industry
Canada, Industry Map; accessed May 21, 2017. 30 The status of ethanol production at the Edmonton facility has not been publically reported; for a recent update, see
Enerkem achieves all production milestones at its Edmonton biofuel facility, April 11, 2017. 31 Expansion announced to 378 million liters per year.
12
Biobutanol
The market demand for acetone during World War I led to the production of acetone and butanol
by fermentation by Gooderham and Worts.32 The production company was known as “British
Acetones, Toronto Limited,” which used the ABE (acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation) process
in Toronto from May 1916 to November 1918. On April 3, 1919, Sir Albert Edward Gooderham
(1861-1935), who had donated the facility and staff to the service of the British government for
the war effort, sent a detailed report of his operations to Sir Frederick Lewis Nathan (1861-1933),
Director of Propellant Supplies in London; the report began:33
I have the honour to submit herewith a report on the work done by the British Acetones Toronto, under the
Weizmann process.
The report is lengthy, going into all details, but is well worth more than a casual glance. It sets forth the
difficulties met with in making a commercial success of what had been little more than a Laboratory
Experiment, and the means employed to overcome these difficulties. On our success I need not elaborate, as
our output and exceedingly low percentage of spoiled grain (viz.: less than one-half of one percent) speaks
more forcibly than any words of mine can do.
During the first fifteen months of operation, we shipped 2,162,000 pounds of Acetone…
When the Armistice was signed, I received orders to close down immediately. I called my staff together, in
my office and thanked them all for the support that they had given the Company, and while thankful that the
Great War was over, we all regretted that the very happy relations that had existed between us during the
past two and half years was so soon to be served. “They all did their bit.”
Personally, I am most thankful that I had the opportunity of doing something helpful for these brave fellows
at the Front.
No commercial biobutanol facilities are operating today.34
32 Also, briefly produced methyl ethyl ketone [MEK] from butanol, which started up just before the war ended and
only produced ten tons of MEK. 33 Gooderham, A.E. 1919. Report on British Acetones Toronto Limited, p. 49. The report of almost 700 pages provides
exceptional detail of the process. Pictures of the facility can be found at Distillery District Heritage Website. 34 Another company, Cosmos Chemical Company, in Port Hope, Ontario, was isolating a higher alcohol - amyl alcohol
(pentanol) - from fusel oil (a by-product from fermentation) to produce amyl acetate (Warrington, C.J.S., and Nicholls,
R.V.V. 1949. A History of Chemistry in Canada, pp. 262, 266. Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Toronto).
13
Biodiesel
Biodiesel production did not begin in Canada until 2005; the first plant being located outside of
Montreal. There are nine plants operating today (Table 4). In 2013, Canadian production was 124
million liters.35
Table 4. Biodiesel Facilities in Canada36
Company Site Feedstock Capacity MM L/y
ADM Lloydminster Canola Oil 265
Atlantic Biodiesel Corp. Dain City Canola/Soy Oil 170
Biox Corp.37 Hamilton Animal Fats 67
Cowichan Biodiesel Co-op Duncan Waste Veget. Oil 0.2
Evoleum Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Multi-Feedstock 19
Innoltek Inc. Thetford Mines Multi-Feedstock 6
Milligan Biofuels Inc. Foam Lake Canola Oil 14
Noroxel Energy Ltd Springfield 5
Rothsay Biodiesel LLC Ville Ste. Catherine Animal Fats 45
# Plants = 9 591
Pyrolysis Oil
Canada was a pioneer in fast pyrolysis technology. Research in this country was pioneered at
universities in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s: the University of Western Ontario, the University of
Waterloo, and the Université Laval. This research led to the opening of some of the earliest
industrial-scale fast pyrolysis facilities in the world, including Dynamotive, Encon, Ensyn and
Pyrovac.38 Only Ensyn now has a facility operating in Canada (Table 5). Work on the technology
at Ensyn began when Robert Graham was a graduate student of Maurice Bergougnou (1928-2015)
at the University of Western Ontario. The company was formed in 1984 by Graham and Barry
Freel, and the first installation of the Rapid Thermal Process (RTP) took place in Manitowoc, WI
(Red Arrow Products) in 1989, and a facility (capacity = 3 million gallons per year) was built
outside of Ottawa, in Renfrew, ON, in 2006.39
35 Natural Resources Canada, About Renewable Energy, Bioenergy; accessed May 21, 2017. 36 Biodiesel Magazine, Canada Plants; accessed May 21, 2017. Also see Renewable Industry Canada, Industry Map;
accessed May 21, 2017. 37 Also, Sombra facility (ex. Methes), capacity = 50 MM L/y; currently being upgraded. 38 For a review of early developments in this area, see Hogan, E. 1994, Overview of Canadian Thermochemical
Conversion Activities; in Bridgewater, A.V. (ed.) 1994. Advances in Thermochemical Biomass Conversion, Vol. 1. 39 For a recent overview of Ensyn see Lane, J. 2016. Renewable Drop-in Fuels at Scale: The Digest’s 2016 Multi-
slide Guide to Ensyn, Biofuels Digest, November 21. In the past fifty years, eighteen fast-pyrolysis ventures opened
in Canada.
14
Table 5. Pyrolysis-Oil Facilities in Canada
Company Site
Ensyn Renfrew, ON
Wood Pellets & Advanced-Wood Pellets
The Parliamentary Task Force on Alternative Energy and Oil Substitution in their report to
Parliament, entitled Biomass Energy, had advocated for the production of wood pellets.40 By the
early 1980’s, Canada had one of the largest wood pellet capacities in the world, as BioShell (a
division of Shell; closed 1992) built three facilities, each with a capacity of 125,000 tpy: Hearst,
ON (operated 1980 to 1991), Iroquois Falls, ON (closed), and Lac Megantic, QC (opened 1982;
purchased 1993 by Energex). The industry grew rapidly, especially in Western Canada, where the
global trade of wood pellets was created. Today, there are about forty wood pellet facilities in
Canada, with an annual capacity of four million tonnes (Table 6).
There has been active work into advanced wood pellets to produce a solid fuel from biomass with
more coal-like properties; leading technologies in this regard are steam explosion and torrefaction.
As discussed above, Iotech had been a pioneer in steam-explosion technology. Another Canadian
firm, Stake Technology of Toronto, founded in 1973, built a continuous pilot facility at the
University of Sherbrooke and another in Italy.41 No manufacturing facility currently exists in
Canada, but OPG-Thunder Bay utilizes steam-treated pellets (“black pellets”) imported from
Arbraflame in Norway. A demonstration facility to produce torrefied biomass (“biocoal”) has
recently been opened by Airex (Table 7).
40 Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources, House of Commons Journals, 32nd Parliament, 1st Session, Volume
126, Pt. 2, p. 2048. 41 Stake subsequently became SunOpta, and in 2010, this technology was sold to Mascoma. For reviews, see Chen,
H. 2015, Gas Explosion Technology and Biomass Refinery, Springer, New York, pp. 148-52; Lam, P.S. 2011. Steam
Explosion of Biomass to Produce Durable Wood Pellets, Ph.D. Thesis, University of British Columbia, Chapter 1.
15
Table 6. Wood-Pellet Facilities in Canada42
Company Prov. Capacity
Tonnes/y
CDN Biofuels Inc. BC 100,000
Chetwynd Sawmill BC 110,000
Energex Pellet Fuel Inc. QC 132,000
Foothills Forest Products Inc. AB 33,000
Fort St. John Sawmill BC 82,500
Gildale Farms ON 13,200
Groupe Savoie Inc. NB 60,500
H.J. Crabbe & Sons Ltd. NB 44,000
Hamilton Biofuel ON 55,000
Houston Pellet Limited Partnership BC 242,000
K.D. Quality Pellets ON 96,800
La Crete Sawmills Ltd. AB 77,000
Lacwood Pellets ON 16,500
Lauzon Recycled Wood Energy - Papineauville QC 63,800
Lauzon Recycled Wood Energy - Saint-Paulin QC 64,000
Marwood Ltd. NB 11,000
NorSask Forest Products LLP SK 16,500
North Country 100% Softwood Pellets AB 16,500
Okanagan Pellet Co. Inc. BC 66,000
Pacific Bioenergy Pellet Mill BC 385,000
Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. - Armstrong BC 66,000
Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. - Burns Lake BC 441,000
Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. - Quesnel BC 110,000
Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. - Strathnaver BC 242,000
Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. - Williams Lake BC 220,000
Premium Pellet Ltd. BC 203,500
Princeton Co-Generation Corp. BC 118,800
Rentech Inc. - Atikokan ON 121,000
Shaw Resources - Belledune NB 110,000
Shaw Resources - Shubenacadie NS 55,000
SPB Bio Materials ON Undisclosed
Stein Industries Inc. ON Undisclosed
T.P. Downey & Sons Ltd. NB Undisclosed
Thunder Bay Pellet Plant ON 49,500
Tolko/Pinnacle Pellet Plant - Lavington BC 297,000
Trebio Renewable Biomass QC 143,000
Urban Biofuels ON 27,500
Vanderhoof Specialty Wood Products BC 16,500
Vanderwell Contractors Ltd. AB 55,000
# Plants = 39 3,961,10043
42 Biomass Magazine, Canada Plants; accessed April 8, 2017. 43 Rentech – Wawa (495,500 tonnes per year) was idled in 2017. Scotia Atlantic Biomass (93,500 tonnes per year)
was put into receivership in 2017.
16
Table 7. Biocoal Facilities in Canada
Company Site
Airex Beacancour, QC
Biomass Power
An early biomass power facility (75 kw) was installed in Calgary by Peter Anthony Prince (1836-
1925) at the Eau Claire and Bow River Lumber Company in the late 1880’s (closed 1928).44 In
1978, the Federal government issued the Forest Industry Renewable Energy (“FIRE” – a
wonderful Canadian acronym if there ever was one) program to encourage the forest industry to
replace fossil fuels by biomass residuals.45 There are now seventy biomass power facilities across
Canada with a capacity of more than 2.4 GW.46 The large-capacity facilities are listed in Table 8.
44 Alberta Culture and Tourism, Electricity & Alternative Energy, Biomass in Modern Alberta History; accessed May
21, 2017. 45 Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources, House of Commons Journals, 32nd Parliament, 1st Session, Volume
126, Pt. 2, p. 2044. 46 National Energy Board, Canada’s Adoption of Renewable Energy Power Sources – Energy Market Analysis –
Biomass; accessed May 21, 2017; Natural Resources Canada, About Renewable Energy, Bioenergy; accessed May 21,
2017.
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Table 8. Large-scale (>10 MW) Biomass-Power Facilities in Canada
Facility Prov. Capacity
MW
OPG - Atikokan47 ON 205
OPG – Thunder Bay48 ON 153
Al-Pac - Boyle AB 131
Domtar - Kamloops BC 76
Atlantic Power – William’s Lake BC 66
Nova Scotia Power – Port Hawkesbury NS 63
Canfor – Prince George BC 60
DMI – Peace River AB 52
Mercer - Castlegar BC 52
Tembec - Skookumchuk BC 51
West Fraser - Hinton AB 50
International Paper – Grand Prairie AB 48
Fibrek – Saint-Félicien QC 43
Fraser Papers - Edmundston NB 38
Conifex Power - Mackenzie BC 36
Atlantic Power - Hearst ON 35
Boralex - Senneterre QC 35
TransCanada – Grande Prairie AB 30
Emera Energy - Brooklyn NS 27
Northland Power - Chapais QC 27
Resolute FP - Dolbeau QC 27
TransAlta – Medicine Hat AB 25
Macquarie Power - Whitecourt AB 25
Fortress Specialty Cellulose - Thurso QC 24
Montenay - Burnaby BC 22
Riverside Forest Products - Armstrong BC 20
Kruger Energy - Brompton QC 19
Verdant Energy - Dapp AB 16
Kruger Energy – Corner Brook NL 15
Algonquin Power - Brampton ON 15
Northland Power – Kirkland Lake ON 14
Algonquin Power – Drayton Valley AB 12
# plants = 32 1,51249
47 Power generation lower than this as the facility is a “back-up” generating station. 48 Power generation substantially lower than this as the facility only operates during periods of “peak demand.” 49 Capacity does not include Northland Power in Cochrane, ON (42 MW) closed in 2015 and Becker in Hornepayne,
ON (15 MW) closed in 2015.
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Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow of the Canadian Biofuel Industry
Before Confederation, wood was the dominant fuel for energy, and bioenergy was not surpassed
by fossil fuels as the major energy source until 1906.50 Between 1867 and 2017, Canada has been
a pioneer and commercial leader in the biofuels sector, which can be grouped into three exceptional
periods of innovation in Canada (and elsewhere):
1. World War I
2. The Oil Crises of the 1970’s
3. Climate change of the new millennium.
Standard Chemical and British Acetones exemplify the early Canadian leadership in the biofuels
industry, before the rise of petrochemicals. These companies were particularly known for their
contribution of essential raw materials for munition manufacturing during World War I.
The second round of biofuel initiatives in Canada was heralded by the oil crises, along with new
incentives from the government to replace fossil fuels. Progress was swift, and several biofuel-
technology ventures emerged in the early 1980’s. Canadian ventures, such as Ensyn and
Dynamotive, led the world in fast pyrolysis technology. Canadian wood pellet firms, such as
Pinnacle Renewable Energy, would later forge the global trade in wood pellets. And the Canadian
pulp and paper industry was among the early adopters of biomass power. An event of note was
that the first time the term “biofuels” appeared in Parliamentary records was on May 12, 1981.51
The biofuels innovation of the early 1980’s came to an abrupt halt in the second half of the decade
when oil prices had normalized. Public interest and the market-pull for these technologies
disappeared as quickly as they had arisen. Many of the early technology developers failed in the
aftermath. A few exceptional ventures survived - including Ensyn, Iogen and Enerkem – and are
leading the third period of biofuels innovation in Canada, which started near the beginning of the
millennium, being driven by the looming threat of climate change from fossil fuels. Today, there
are over two hundred ventures in Canada involved in biofuel technology development and
production.52
Canada has a history of disproportionately contributing (on a GDP basis) to the biofuels sector,
and further development continues53 by many of the more established Canadian companies (listed
in the tables above), as well as newer ventures working on emerging technologies (Table 9). Over
50 Sandwell, R.W. (ed.) 2016. Powering Up Canada: A History of Power, Fuel and Energy from 1600; see Chapter
5, MacFayden, J., Hewers of Wood: A History of Wood Energy in Canada, p. 129, McGill-Queen’s University Press. 51 Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources, House of Commons Journals, 32nd Parliament, 1st Session, Volume
126, Pt. 2, p. 1918. 52 Only producers are listed in the tables above. 53 The latest news in biofuel developments in Canada can be found at The Top Canadian Bioenergy Stories of the
Week (“Top Cdn BE”).
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its 150-year history, Canada has become one of the global leaders in biofuel-technology
development and commercialization.54
Table 9. Ventures in the Emerging-Biofuel Sector in Canada55
Company Technology
ABRI-Tech Pyrolysis, Biochar
Agrisoma Biomass - Carinata
Airterra Biochar
Bioamber Succinic Acid
Biocube Biodiesel
Biomass Secure Power Torrefaction
Borealis Wood Power Gasification - CHP
Canfor/Licella Hydrothermal Liquefaction
CelluForce Nanocrystalline Cellulose
CelluFuel Biodiesel
Comet Biorefining Sugars
Diacarbon Torrefaction, Biochar
G4 Insights PyroCatalytic Hydrogenation
Forge Hydrocarbons Renewable Diesel
Klean Industries Pyrolysis, Gasification - tires
PCS Biofuels Hydrothermal Polymerization
Pond Technologies Algae biofuels
Pyrobiom Pyrolysis
Pyrogenesis Gasification - MSW
S2G Biochemicals Biochemicals from sugars
SBI Bioenergy Drop-in Biodiesel
Steeper Energy Canada Hydrothermal Liquefaction
Terragon Environmental Gasification - MSW
Titan Clean Energy Pyrolysis, Biochar
54 I would like to thank Ed Hogan, formerly of CanmetEnergy (Natural Resources Canada), for reviewing this article
and providing his expert comments and suggestions. 55 Ventures listed in other tables in this report are not included in this table. Firms mentioned in this report are not
endorsements of these firms or technologies.
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Sixth Element is a “boutique” consulting firm specializing in concept planning, start-ups, and early-stage companies
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Services include pro forma design and analysis, feasibility studies and business plans, technology/venture vetting and
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