How the Forest Industry is Growing the Biobased Economy.

Advanced Biofuels and Biorefinery Platforms.

Gurminder Minhas

Managing Director

Performance BioFilaments.

Nanocellulose Opportunities in the Biobased Economy

The Company

• Joint Venture between Mercer International and Resolute Forest Products.

• Licensed technology developed by FPInnovations for the mechanical production of cellulose filaments.

• Focused on commercial development of cellulose filament technology in new and novel applications.

• Conducting strategic R&D projects with Universities, FPInnovations and Government Research Labs.

The JV Partners

Combined annual capacity of 1.54 M tonnes of NBSK pulp and 305MW green power

• Celgar British Columbia• 520,000 ADMT per year NBSK• 100 MW of green power

• Rosenthal Germany• 360,000 ADMT per year NBSK• 57 MW Green Power

• Stendal Germany• 660,000 ADMT per year NBSK• 148 MW of green power

21 pulp and paper mills• 6.5M tonnes of combined pulp

and paper capacity

18 wood products facilities• 3 Billion of board feet of lumber

capacity• 145M linear feet of engineered

wood capacity

566 megawatts of installed capacity• 7 hydroelectric facilities• 8 cogeneration facilities

Nanocellulose Biomaterials

A significant amount of work is being conducted by various organizations on advanced cellulose based nano materials.

Generally divided into 2 broad product categories:

1. Fibrillated cellulose: typically involve a chemical and mechanically process for isolating filaments from the fibre.– cellulose filaments, cellulose fibrils, cellulose nanofibrils

– cellulose microfibrils, microfibrillar cellulose

2. Crystalline Cellulose: typically involve a chemical process for isolating crystalline portions from the cellulose fibre.– microcrystalline cellulose

– nanocrystalline cellulose

– cellulose (nano) whiskers

FPInnovations ’s Process

• Mechanical treatment on Kraft or TMP fibres.

• CF is produced at high solids content.

• Can utilize repurposed papermaking equipment for manufacturing and drying.

• Close to 100% yield, with filaments retaining degree of polymerization (DP) and crystallinity.

• High aspect ratio and high surface area.

• The process is well proven at pilot scale.

• Demonstration plant is producing 5TPD at Trois-Rivières.

CF Dimensions

Typical dimensions of CF

• Length: 100-500 µm

• Width: 80-300 nm

Typical dimensions NBSK

• Length: 2 - 3 mm

• Width: 30 – 50 µm

Market Opportunities for Nanocellulose

Automotive Plastics

A key driver in the automotive sector is the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations.

• Average fuel economy was 24.1 MPG in 2011 and must be 54.5 MPG by 2025.

• Between 0.6% to 2.3% improvements in fuel economy from every 100 lbs reduction in weight.

• Ford’s MMLV project “multi-material lightweight vehicle”– Use advanced material solutions to achieve a nearly 25% weight

reduction by 2025.– Ford F150 utilizes aluminum to reduce weight by 700lbs ( ≈12%)

• Forecasted market of 108,000 TPY in North America1.

1) Tappi Journal, June 2014, Market potential for nanomaterial -enabled products.

High Strength Concrete

The addition of 0.5 to 1% of addition nanocellulose can produce a 20% strength increase1.

• Option to reduce concrete volume by 17% and still maintain concrete strength.

• Cement industry produces 5% of the global anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

• GHG reductions will resulting from less concrete produced and less emissions from transportation.

• Forecasted market of 51,000 TPY in North America2.

1) Stephenson, KM. Characterizing the be behaviour and properties of nanocellulose reinforced ultra high strength concrete, University of Maine, Orono, ME 2011.

2) Tappi Journal, June 2014, Market potential for nanomaterial -enabled products.

Thank You.

Gurminder MinhasManaging Director

Performance BioFilamentsgminhas@performancebiofilaments.com

www.performancebiofilaments.com

CF Market PotentialPaper and Packaging

% of Current Market

USATonnes (000)

GlobalTonnes (000)

Paper Based Packaging 20 1,657 5,288

Plastic Packaging 3 897 4,153

Plastic Films 10 727 3,366

Paper Strength Additives 25 1,003 2,394

Totals4.3 Million

Tonnes15.2 Million

Tonnes

Tappi Journal, June 2014, Market potential for nanomaterial-enabled products

Market PotentialDeveloping Applications

% of Current Market

USTonnes (000)

GlobalTonnes (000)

Automotive Body 20 320 3,573

Automotive Interior 20 108 587

Concrete Additives 25 51 413

Hygiene & Absorbents 25 700 3,241

Textiles 25 275 1,273

Totals1.6 Million

Tonnes9.1 Million

TonnesTappi Journal, June 2014, Market potential for nanomaterial -enabled products