May 27, 2009

Infrastructure

Edmonton issues permit for first-ever facility to create biofuels from municipal solid waste

Enerkem has completed the environmental regulatory process and been granted a permit to start construction of a facility to produce biofuels and green chemicals from sorted municipal solid waste in Edmonton, Alberta.

“This is North America’s first unconditional commercial permit ever awarded to produce advanced biofuels from sorted municipal solid waste,” said Vincent Chornet, president and CEO of Enerkem.

“This unprecedented project is set to change the dynamics of the waste and fuel industries by making waste – that would otherwise be landfilled – a resource for transportation fuels.”

The permit was granted by Alberta Environment under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act of the Province of Alberta.

Enerkem GreenField Alberta Biofuels (EGAB) entered into a 25-year agreement with the City of Edmonton to build and operate a waste-to-biofuels facility on municipal land and to receive the City’s sorted municipal solid waste as feedstock in 2008.

The City of Edmonton will supply 100,000 tonnes of sorted municipal solid waste per year.

The sorted municipal solid waste to be used is the end-waste after recycling and composting.

These residues would otherwise be landfilled.

Construction of the biofuels facility is expected to begin by the end of 2009, at a total cost of about $70 million.

The City of Edmonton and the Province of Alberta, through the Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI), are contributing a combined $20 million to its production.

The facility will initially produce 36 million litres (9.5 million gallons) of ethanol per year, reducing Alberta’s carbon dioxide (CO2) footprint by more than six million tons over the next 25 years – the equivalent of removing 12,000 cars off the road every year.

JOC News Service

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