Edmonton to be site of world’s first industrial scale municipal waste-to-ethanol facility
Edmonton will be home to the world’s first industrial scale facility to produce biofuels from municipal solid waste. The City has signed a 25-year agreement with GreenField Ethanol, Canada’s largest ethanol producer and Enerkem, a leading biofuels technology company. The USD70 million biofuels facility will initially produce 36 million litres of biofuels per year and reduce Alberta’s carbon dioxide (CO2) footprint by more than 6 million tonnes over the next 25 years—the equivalent of removing 12,000 cars off the road every year.
"This facility is another fine example for the world that Alberta is a great place for companies to bring newly commercialised technology to the marketplace," said Doug Horner, minister of Advanced Education and Technology. "All of the partners can be pleased that they are part of a facility that is taking a lead role in developing innovative technologies and making a real difference for the environment."
The City of Edmonton and the Government of Alberta through the Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI) are contributing USD20 million to the facility. The City of Edmonton will also contribute USD50 million to a related processing facility and research facility. AERI’s total contribution to all the components is USD29 million.
"This unique partnership with private companies and the provincial government builds on our global leadership in municipal waste management," said Edmonton mayor, Stephen Mandel. "It will enable us to make a noted contribution to reducing greenhouse gases and become the first major city in North America to achieve 90 percent residential waste diversion from landfill. We are also excited to be proceeding with the calibre of this partnership and look forward to seeing this facility on stream in the near future."
"This new facility will be a first for both the biofuels and waste management industries. This is the world’s first agreement signed between a large urban centre and a biofuel producer to turn municipal waste into ethanol," said Vincent Chornet, president and chief executive officer of Enerkem. "Edmonton is a pioneer in waste management practices and it is setting new standards for other municipalities. We are proud to be working with Edmonton, Greenfield Ethanol and the Government of Alberta through the Alberta Energy Research Institute as partners on this exciting project."
"This next generation biofuels facility will offer drivers a new choice in transportation fuels," said Donald Pierce, president of Greenfield Ethanol’s Advanced Biofuels Group. "Greenfield is thrilled to be leading in the development of next generation ethanol along with partners Enerkem, the City of Edmonton and the Province of Alberta—world leaders in providing innovative technologies that help build a sustainable future." This plant is the first to be announced by Greenfield Ethanol and Enerkem since the recent announcement of their partnership to jointly design, build and operate commercial next generation ethanol plants.
Second Generation Fuels
Second-generation biofuels is the term used to refer to the next generation of fuels, which are not produced from plants that are part of the food chain. They are produced from a large base of biomass materials, including waste from urban, forestry, and agricultural sources as well as municipal solid waste.
First-generation biofuels or agrofuels are produced from sugar-rich crops such as corn, sugar cane, and wheat.
Second generation biofuels can be produced from non-sucrose and non-starch parts of plants, which are often left in the field after harvesting, crushing, or milling (e.g.: bagasse, corn stover, wheat straw, and rice hulls); and from residual forest biomass (e.g.: thinnings, limbs, tops, needles, sawdust, and bark). Cellulose is the most important component of these materials, hence the term "cellulosic fuels".
Second-generation fuels can also be produced from other carbon-rich waste materials, such as municipal solid waste. In this case, only the non-recyclable and non-reusable portion of urban waste is considered. This waste (ultimate residues) is currently landfilled.
Enerkem produces second-generation biofuels using a thermo-chemical gasification process to produce a uniform synthetic gas ("syngas"). This syngas is subsequently converted into liquid fuels, such as ethanol.
Enerkem's gasification and catalytic synthesis technology is the result of several years of research. It includes a number of processes that have been tested in the laboratory and at the pilot plant. Enerkem's technology converts one tonne of raw material (dry base) into 360 litres of cellulosic ethanol, which is enough to drive a distance of approximately 2500 kilometres (a drive from Winnipeg to Montreal or from Los Angeles to Houston).
Enerkem uses diverse feedstocks, including sorted municipal solid waste, construction and demolition wood, treated wood, and forest residues. This technology can also convert syngas into other fuels, such as synthetic diesel, synthetic gasoline, and dimethyl ether, as well as green chemicals.
