Nova Scotia iHub intends to attract proposals to construct a biorefinery

By -


Nova Scotia, one of the four provinces which form Atlantic Canada, is aware that the emerging global bioeconomy represents an opportunity for its renewable bioresource sector that is formed by several subsectors (forest, agricultural, ocean and municipal solid waste). The first one of them is undergoing an unprecedented period of structural change in Canada. A new industry is raising to make sustainable use of wood, but the right actions must be taken to nurture and support successful transformation. In that context, stakeholders in the energy, forest research and economic development sectors have joined with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources (NSDNR) to create the Nova Scotia Innovation Hub (iHub).

iHub is primary aimed to attract proponents interested in constructing a biorefinery in the province. To this end, FPInnovations and BioApplied have been mandated to provide NSDNR and other stakeholders with factual information on feedstocks, market access and financial opportunities that could benefit the province’s bioresource sector. Seven projects (Governance, Feedstocks, Biofuels, Industrial and Technological Benefits, Supply Chain, Modelling, Operations and Outreach) were undertaken in the first year to assess Nova Scotia’s current value proposition to potential proponents and to identify strategies to improve competitiveness. The results have been set up in this easy-to-read report: “Value Proposition for a Biorefinery Sector in Nova Scotia” (18/01/2017).

Figure 1. Cover photo of the report “Value Proposition for a Biorefinery Sector in Nova Scotia”

I would just like to highlight some interesting points about the results of the projects Feedstocks and Biofuels.

Feedstocks
  • Seven potential sites for establishing a biorefinery were identified across the province.
  • Each of the seven sites would have more than sufficient volumes of feedstock available to supply a commercial biorefinery. The Ensyn plant under construction in Quebec was taken as one of the references for this analysis (see previous post about this project).
  • Current and future prospects of supporting a biorefinery investment will be impacted by provincial policy planning and developments in the private sector. For example, there are 510,000 dry tons per year of harvest residues that could be sustainably recovered if forest management policy would allow for it and proper contractor infrastructure was in place.
  • The feedstock is available at a price comparable to neighboring jurisdictions.
Biobased Fuels
  • This project assessed the size of the local market for petroleum fuels and the existing supply chain for opportunities to introduce a new liquid biofuel (biodiesel).
  • 4 billion liters of petroleum fuel is consumed in Nova Scotia annually, 720 million liters of which is in the marine and heating fuel markets. If Nova Scotia were to introduce a 5% mandate for biodiesel, the result would be the de-risking of a significant portion of a future commercial biorefinery’s output.
  • The report emphasizes the importance of policy, prices, technology and local market opportunities.

Popular Posts

Hidrotratamiento (HVO) – Conceptos, materias primas y especificaciones

By -
Image
English version Sección: BIOCOMBUSTIBLES AVANZADOS Serie: HVO - Hidrotratamiento (HVO) – Conceptos, materias primas y especificaciones - Hidrotratamiento(HVO) – Ventajas sobre el biodiesel convencional y propiedades - Biorrefinerías de Aceites Vegetales Hidrotatados (HVO) – El auge del diésel renovable - Entradas: HVO                El acrónimo HVO significa en inglés “ Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils ” (“Aceites Vegetales Hidrotratados”) o ” Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils ” (“Aceites Vegetales Hidrogenados”). Clave del proceso: Tratamiento con hidrógeno. En el proceso de producción de HVO, el hidrógeno se usa para eliminar el oxígeno de los triglicéridos produciendo una mezcla de parafinas lineales, CO 2 y agua. Posteriormente, el producto de la primera etapa se isomeriza, siempre en presencia de hidrógeno, para ramificar las cadenas lineales con el propósito de mejorar las propiedades de flujo en frío de los productos finales. Por tanto, los HVO son
Read more

Hydrotreating (HVO) – Advantages over FAME and properties

By -
Image
Versión en Español Section: ADVANCED BIOFUELS Series: HVO - Hydrotreating (HVO) – Concepts, feedstocksand specifications - Hydrotreating (HVO) – Advantages over FAME and properties - Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils (HVO) Biorefineries – The rise of renewable diesel - Posts: HVO Hydrotreating is an alternative process to esterification to produce diesel from biomass. Traditionally, diesel components produced from vegetable oils are made by an esterification process. In fact, HVO are commonly referred to as renewable diesel or green diesel in order to distinguish from Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME), best known as biodiesel. Other acronyms are also used depending on the feedstock, such as Rape Seed Methyl Ester” (RME), “Soybean Methyl Ester” (SME), “Palm Oil Methyl Ester” (PME) or “Used Cooking Oils Methyl Ester (UCOME). In the HVO production process, hydrogen is used to remove the oxygen from the triglycerides and does not produce any glycerol as a side product. Additi
Read more

Fotobiorreactores

By -
Image
El cultivo de microalgas no es algo novedoso, muchos de los métodos y conceptos que se usan hoy en día fueron desarrollados a finales del siglo XIX y principios de la pasada centuria. En décadas posteriores, se han ido refinando por la intervención de varias disciplinas que han trabajado de manera conjunta: biología, ingeniería de procesos, matemáticas y física. En los últimos 30 años, la industria biotecnológica de las microalgas ha crecido y se ha diversificado de manera significativa. Sin embargo, las aplicaciones comerciales existentes, todavía se hallan limitadas a comercios de bajo volumen y gran valor añadido como el de los suplementos alimenticios o el de los extractos (por ejemplo, el beta-caroteno). De acuerdo con un informe de IEA Bioenergy del 2010, la cantidad de biomasa algal producida comercialmente estaba en el entorno de las 9.000 toneladas. 1,2,3,4 Actualmente, el interés creciente que despiertan el empleo de las microalgas en la obtención de biocombustibles y e
Read more

Biorrefinerías de ácido succínico

By -
Image
Fecha de publicación: 16/10/2015. Última actualización: 20/12/2016. Introducción Dentro de muy poco, el blog contará con una nueva sección centrada en resumir la información disponible sobre las plantas piloto y comerciales de los bloques modulares verdes (BCBB por sus siglas en inglés, “Biobased Chemical Building Blocks”) más prometedores. Esta sección contará con enlaces a entradas monográficas que se actualizarán de manera regular. El motivo fundamental de empezar la serie con el ácido biosuccínico es que varias empresas han conseguido alcanzar objetivos importantes relacionados con su comercialización a gran escala. Claramente, es una de las 12 principales BCBB identificadas por el DoE que está cumpliendo con las expectativas generadas previamente. Descripción 1,2,3 El ácido succínico (ácido butanodioico) es un ácido dicarboxílico cuya fórmula química es C4H6O4. Se trata de un cristal incoloro y soluble en agua que posee sabor ácido. El nombre deriva del voc
Read more

Biobased polyolefins - Biobased Polyethylene (bio-PE)

By -
Image
Versión en Español Section: BIOBASED PLASTICS Series: Biobased Vinyl Polymers. - Biobased Polyethylene (bio-PE). Biobased Polyethylene (bio-PE) / Green Polyethylene / Renewable Polyethylene - Its biobased carbon content can reach 100%. - Renewable resource . It is produced from renewable biomass feedstocks as sugars or vegetable oils. - It reduces GHG emissions. Each ton produced captures and sequesters CO 2 from the atmosphere. - 100% drop-in . Chemically identical to its petrochemical counterpart. It has the same processing characteristics as fossil PE, therefore, it can be processed in the same equipment. - Non-biodegradable . It cannot be composted or biodegraded. - Thermoplastic . It can be molten and remoulded into the desired shape. - It can be recycled and processed into new bio-PE products using conventional technologies without requiring additional investments. - Building block or monomer: biobased ethylene .
Read more