Canada’s premiers are among the world’s first users of a fuel made from wheat straw.
During last week’s Council of the Federation meeting in Regina, an annual gathering of the leaders of Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories, delegates were shuttled to hotels, meetings and dinners in 40 Dodge Caravan flexible fuel vehicles filled with cellulosic ethanol provided by Iogen Corp.
“We wanted to demonstrate to Canada’s premiers that there is this fuel and we’re on the cusp of commercialization. It can be used in today’s cars and trucks,” said Iogen executive vice-president Jeff Passmore.
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Iogen operates a cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in Ottawa that produces 40,000 litres of the fuel per month. The company is conducting a feasibility study on building a 70 million litre commercial scale plant in Prince Albert, Sask.
It would require 300,000 tonnes of cereal straw a year.
Fuel produced at the facility would be used to help meet provincial and federal biofuel mandates.
“This is an opportunity for us to say to (the premiers) your policy direction is well-founded, you’re going in the right way. And, by the way, you’re driving around in a car that’s running on second generation renewable fuels during this conference,” said Passmore.
The company shipped 2,000 litres of cellulosic ethanol from its Ottawa plant in 170 litre drums.
Staff filled the mini-van fuel tanks in Regina directly from the drums using an electric pump hooked up to a car battery.
Passmore figures each minivan was running on anything from a 45 to 65 percent cellulose ethanol blend during the conference.
Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall, who was the host of this year’s gathering, said using the wheat straw based fuel was a good way to green up the conference.
“We are pleased to be featuring this Canadian-made renewable fuel,” he said.
Passmore said Iogen and its business partner Royal Dutch Shell continue to work on the feasibility study and preliminary engineering plans for building the 70 million litre plant on the old Domtar pulp mill site in Prince Albert.
