Founded | 2000 |
---|---|
Headquarters | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Key people | Dominique Boies (CEO and CFO) |
Production output | Biofuels and circular chemicals |
Website | enerkem |
Enerkem is a clean technology company based in Montreal. Founded in 2000, Enerkem uses its patented technology to convert residual biomass and non-recyclable municipal solid waste (MSW) into biofuels and renewable chemicals.
In Quebec, Canada, Enerkem has an innovation centre in Westbury. The company's first commercial-scale demonstration plant was inaugurated in Edmonton in 2014. Other commercial plants are under development in Canada and Europe, such as in Tarragona (Spain), Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Varennes (Quebec), with the latter under construction in September 2021.
Enerkem is a private company. Its shareholders are National Bank of Canada, BlackRock, Braemar Energy Ventures, Cycle Capital, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Fondaction CSN, Investissement Québec, Rho Ventures, Sinobioway, Suncor, The Westly Group and Waste Management. [1]
Since 2000, Enerkem has grown remarkably and become a world-class company with projects in Canada and abroad. With its unique and cutting-edge technology, Enerkem is well positioned in the field of biofuels and greenhouse gas reduction. The management team consists of ten managers and is chaired by Dominique Boies, CEO and CFO since 2019. The Board of Directors comprises nine experienced directors and is chaired by Joshua Ruch, President of Rho Capital Partners. [2]
Enerkem's technology was developed by Dr. Esteban Chornet (Lehigh University and Professor Emeritus at the University of Sherbrooke). Professor Chornet has been in Quebec since 1970 and has had a distinguished career as a professor at the University of Sherbrooke while continuing his work on biomass. He has also conducted highly successful research projects in catalysis and thermochemistry with Canadian and American partners.
Over the years, Esteban Chornet's research has allowed him to explore the potential of biomass as an alternative energy source. This led to the revolutionary technology that allows Enerkem to produce biofuels and renewable chemicals from biomass and non-recyclable waste. [3]
In 2000, in order to take full advantage of this technology, Esteban Chornet founded Enerkem with his son Vincent Chornet. The new company focused on refining its technology and seeking financing. [3]
In 2004, Enerkem completed the construction of a pilot plant in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, to further develop its technology and adapt it to market requirements. [4] [5]
In 2009, the company commissioned an industrial demonstration plant in Westbury, in the Eastern Townships, Quebec. This plant will work on the production of ethanol and methanol from forestry waste and biomass. It will also have a mandate to develop new products and act as a training centre. [6] [7]
In 2014, Enerkem inaugurated its first full-scale facility in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, for the conversion of household waste into biofuels and renewable chemicals. In 2016, it became the first ISCC-certified plant in the world to convert waste materials into biomethanol. [8] [9] [10]
In 2018, Enerkem joined a partnership consisting of AkzoNobel, Van Gansewinkel, Air Liquide, AVR and Enerkem to build a waste treatment plant in Rotterdam in collaboration with the Port of Rotterdam, the City of Rotterdam, the Province of South Holland and Innovation Quarter. [11]
On July 12, 2019, Dominique Boies was appointed chief executive officer and Chief Financial Officer to replace Vincent Chornet, who died prematurely a few weeks earlier. Mr. Boies had served as the company's CFO since 2017. [12]
On December 8, 2020, Enerkem announced the construction of an $875 million biofuel plant in Varennes, Quebec. [13]
In April 2021, Spain's Repsol announced that it had partnered with Enerkem and Agbar (Suez) to build a waste-to-renewable chemicals plant in Tarragona, Spain. [14]
In June 2021, to meet growing demand from airlines, Shell, Enerkem, and the Port of Rotterdam announced a shift in focus for the Rotterdam (Netherlands) projected plant to the production of sustainable aviation fuel. [15]
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricultural, domestic or industrial biowaste. The climate change mitigation potential of biofuel varies considerably, from emission levels comparable to fossil fuels in some scenarios to negative emissions in others. Biofuels are mostly used for transportation, but can also be used for heating and electricity. Biofuels are regarded as a renewable energy source.
Ethanol fuel is fuel containing ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol as found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline.
Alternative fuel, also known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, are fuels derived from sources other than fossil fuels. These fuels serve, at least partially, as a substitute for traditional energy sources like gasoline and diesel in transportation and can help to contribute to decarbonization and reductions in pollution.
Cellulosic ethanol is ethanol produced from cellulose rather than from the plant's seeds or fruit. It can be produced from grasses, wood, algae, or other plants. It is generally discussed for use as a biofuel. The carbon dioxide that plants absorb as they grow offsets some of the carbon dioxide emitted when ethanol made from them is burned, so cellulosic ethanol fuel has the potential to have a lower carbon footprint than fossil fuels.
A biorefinery is a refinery that converts biomass to energy and other beneficial byproducts. The International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 42 defined biorefining as "the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of bio-based products and bioenergy ". As refineries, biorefineries can provide multiple chemicals by fractioning an initial raw material (biomass) into multiple intermediates that can be further converted into value-added products. Each refining phase is also referred to as a "cascading phase". The use of biomass as feedstock can provide a benefit by reducing the impacts on the environment, as lower pollutants emissions and reduction in the emissions of hazard products. In addition, biorefineries are intended to achieve the following goals:
Bioenergy is energy made from biomass, which consists of recently living organisms, mainly plants. Types of biomass commonly used for bioenergy include wood, food crops such as corn, energy crops and waste from forests, yards, or farms. The IPCC defines bioenergy as a renewable form of energy. Bioenergy can either mitigate or increase greenhouse gas emissions. There is also agreement that local environmental impacts can be problematic.
The methanol economy is a suggested future economy in which methanol and dimethyl ether replace fossil fuels as a means of energy storage, ground transportation fuel, and raw material for synthetic hydrocarbons and their products. It offers an alternative to the proposed hydrogen economy or ethanol economy, though these concepts are not exclusive.
Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Most WtE processes generate electricity and/or heat directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels.
The bioconversion of biomass to mixed alcohol fuels can be accomplished using the MixAlco process. Through bioconversion of biomass to a mixed alcohol fuel, more energy from the biomass will end up as liquid fuels than in converting biomass to ethanol by yeast fermentation.
Lignocellulose refers to plant dry matter (biomass), so called lignocellulosic biomass. It is the most abundantly available raw material on the Earth for the production of biofuels. It is composed of two kinds of carbohydrate polymers, cellulose and hemicellulose, and an aromatic-rich polymer called lignin. Any biomass rich in cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin are commonly referred to as lignocellulosic biomass. Each component has a distinct chemical behavior. Being a composite of three very different components makes the processing of lignocellulose challenging. The evolved resistance to degradation or even separation is referred to as recalcitrance. Overcoming this recalcitrance to produce useful, high value products requires a combination of heat, chemicals, enzymes, and microorganisms. These carbohydrate-containing polymers contain different sugar monomers and they are covalently bound to lignin.
The United States produces mainly biodiesel and ethanol fuel, which uses corn as the main feedstock. The US is the world's largest producer of ethanol, having produced nearly 16 billion gallons in 2017 alone. The United States, together with Brazil accounted for 85 percent of all ethanol production, with total world production of 27.05 billion gallons. Biodiesel is commercially available in most oilseed-producing states. As of 2005, it was somewhat more expensive than fossil diesel, though it is still commonly produced in relatively small quantities.
Renewable Fuels are fuels produced from renewable resources. Examples include: biofuels, Hydrogen fuel, and fully synthetic fuel produced from ambient carbon dioxide and water. This is in contrast to non-renewable fuels such as natural gas, LPG (propane), petroleum and other fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Renewable fuels can include fuels that are synthesized from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. Renewable fuels have gained in popularity due to their sustainability, low contributions to the carbon cycle, and in some cases lower amounts of greenhouse gases. The geo-political ramifications of these fuels are also of interest, particularly to industrialized economies which desire independence from Middle Eastern oil.
Biofuel is fuel that is produced from organic matter (biomass), including plant materials and animal waste. It is considered a renewable source of energy that can assist in reducing carbon emissions. The two main types of biofuel currently being produced in Australia are biodiesel and bioethanol, used as replacements for diesel and petrol (gasoline) respectively. As of 2017 Australia is a relatively small producer of biofuels, accounting for 0.2% of world bioethanol production and 0.1% of world biodiesel production.
Treethanol is an ethanol fuel made from trees.
Biofuels are renewable fuels that are produced by living organisms (biomass). Biofuels can be solid, gaseous or liquid, which comes in two forms: ethanol and biodiesel and often replace fossil fuels. Many countries now use biofuels as energy sources, including Sweden. Sweden has one of the highest usages of biofuel in all of Europe, at 32%, primarily due to the widespread commitment to E85, bioheating and bioelectricity.
Second-generation biofuels, also known as advanced biofuels, are fuels that can be manufactured from various types of non-food biomass. Biomass in this context means plant materials and animal waste used especially as a source of fuel.
An aviation biofuel or bio-jet fuel or bio-aviation fuel (BAF) is a biofuel used to power aircraft and is said to be a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The International Air Transport Association (IATA) considers it a key element to reducing the carbon footprint within the environmental impact of aviation. Aviation biofuel could help decarbonize medium- and long-haul air travel generating most emissions, and could extend the life of older aircraft types by lowering their carbon footprint.
As of 2019, renewable energy technologies provide about 17.3% of Canada's total primary energy supply. For electricity renewables provide 67%, with 15% from nuclear and 18% from hydrocarbons.
Cellulosic sugars are derived from non-food biomass (e.g. wood, agricultural residues, municipal solid waste). The biomass is primarily composed of carbohydrate polymers cellulose, hemicellulose, and an aromatic polymer (lignin). The hemicellulose is a polymer of mainly five-carbon sugars C5H10O5 (xylose). and the cellulose is a polymer of six-carbon sugar C6H12O6 (glucose). Cellulose fibers are considered to be a plant’s structural building blocks and are tightly bound to lignin, but the biomass can be deconstructed using Acid hydrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis, organosolv dissolution, autohydrolysis or supercritical hydrolysis. A more recent mechanical method offers hope that at last, a more economic and waste free method has been found although it is still to scale and is not yet commercial.