CropLife Canada is waving the white flag on the biofuel front.
“The United States and Europe have largely won that battle,” said Denise Dewar, executive director of plant biotechnology for CropLife, a group that represents Canada’s agricultural chemical and biotechnology companies.
Canada is so far behind in the commercialization of ethanol and biodiesel plants that Dewar feels there is no catching up.
“Canada’s not the driver. We’ll be a player and that’s it.”
Companies that want to exploit the bioeconomy need to figure out what will be the next hot product and to carve out a niche in an area where they can be one of the drivers.
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“I don’t know if it will be a big thing. I think it could be a bunch of little things,” said Dewar.
She foresees the bioeconomy unfolding in much the same way as the petroleum industry did, where what started out as fuel for automobiles has become a platform for plastics, paints, resins and cosmetics.
Canadian firms are already working on innovative projects such as car seats made from soybeans. She feels the future lies in that type of venture.
“We’re still figuring out what the exact markets are going to be. Similar to fuels, it is going to require us to engage a whole new set of industry partners,” said Dewar.
Ron Kehrig, vice-president of biofuel and bio-products for Ag-West Bio Inc., agreed there are plenty of new and exciting opportunities to explore in the bioeconomy, but he isn’t ready to acknowledge that Canada will be nothing more than a bit player in the original biofuel segment.
“I don’t think it’s impossible for us to catch up,” he said.
Some of the world’s leading agricultural researchers and innovators are based in Canada and they are devising the next wave of ethanol and biodiesel technologies that will make Canadian production facilities ultra-competitive.
“Commercial development in other jurisdictions is ahead, but technology-wise I don’t think we’re nearly as far behind as some people would think.”
Biofuel profitability will hinge mainly on what is done with the byproducts of the process and there is a lot of leading-edge work happening on that front in Canada.
“When things shake out we’re going to have some of the best technologies out there,” he said.
Dewar said Canada needs to play to its strengths and one of those is its advanced identity preservation system.
“I think we’re well ahead of where other countries are in that regard.”
As the agricultural commodity sector evolves from food and feed into industrial products, there will be a need to keep track of specific varieties offering unique starch and fibre profiles.
Canada’s abundance of on-farm storage and proven track record of identity programs is one way to attract foreign investment into the bioeconomy.
“I think that’s an advantage that we’re currently not marketing out there globally that we should be,” said Dewar.
Kehrig said another type of identity preservation will also play an important role in luring capital – intellectual property rights. Companies sinking big money into new technologies have to be protected from copycats.
They need to be assured their margins will be protected and maintained for some time or else the bioeconomy will turn into just another low-margin commodity market, he said.
