August 31, 2010

Enerkem begins construction on municipal waste-to-biofuels facility

Enerkem Inc., a waste-to-biofuels company, has begun construction on what the company says is the world’s first municipal waste-to-biofuels facility.

The biofuels plant, to be located in Edmonton, is the world’s first industrial-scale biofuels project to use municipal solid waste as feedstock, Enerkem said.

It will have an annual production capacity of 36 million litres.

The $80-million (CAD) facility will produce enough biofuels to fuel over 400,000 cars per year, running on a five per cent ethanol blend.

The plant will be built, owned and operated by Enerkem Alberta Biofuels LP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Enerkem.

The City of Edmonton and Enerkem Alberta Biofuels have signed a 25-year agreement to convert 100,000 tonnes of the city’s municipal solid waste into biofuels annually.

By replacing a portion of the petroleum fuels currently used and by avoiding the methane emissions created during waste decomposition in landfills, the biofuels facility could reduce Alberta’s carbon dioxide footprint by six million tonnes over the next 25 years, Enerkem said.

The plant is scheduled to start operating towards the end of 2011.

-RCD Digital Media

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