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

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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

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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).

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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.

20

Sixth Element is a “boutique” consulting firm specializing in concept planning, start-ups, and early-stage companies

in the bioeconomy that do not have the senior management depth or experience. We provide C-level consulting

services for inventors, entrepreneurs, investors, and public sector agencies. Sixth Element helps create small

businesses.

Services include pro forma design and analysis, feasibility studies and business plans, technology/venture vetting and

audits (see Projects for recent studies). Our focus sectors are emerging biofuels and Indigenous bioeconomy ventures

in the forestry sector, including lumber, logging and bioenergy. Sixth Element maintains a comprehensive global

database of over 1,000 biomass pyrolysis-type ventures. The Pyrolysis Venture Database is important for investors

and entrepreneurs alike. The information is a valuable resource for vetting the investment choices and assessing the

competitive position of pyrolysis ventures. Sixth Element works with its clients to prepare for the investment

community.

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