A company contemplating construction of a Saskatchewan cellulose ethanol plant says it is not deterred by recent public comments made by its business partner.
The new chief executive officer of Shell was recently quoted in the Financial Times as saying advanced biofuel won’t be in widespread use until about 2020.
That is a departure from what Iogen Corp. has been telling people about the 70 million litre wheat straw ethanol plant it wants to build with Shell at the former Domtar pulp mill site in Prince Albert, Sask.
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Iogen has said it would like to begin building the plant by the end of 2009 or early 2010 if an ongoing feasibility study gives the venture a green light.
However, according to the Financial Times article, Peter Voser, who took over as the head of Shell in July, is “managing expectations” by warning it will be more than a decade before cellulose ethanol is widely used.
Shell has also been pruning the biggest portfolio of second generation biofuel research and development projects in the oil business.
The company recently sold its stake in Choren, a German company developing a way to create diesel from wood chips.
Iogen vice-president Jeff Passmore is not deterred by Voser’s comments. He read the Financial Times story carefully and noted that Voser said there wouldn’t be “widespread” commercialization of advanced biofuel until 2020, but that doesn’t mean some projects won’t get off the ground before then.
He doesn’t sense any waning interest from Iogen’s business partner.
“Yes, they sold their shares in Choren, but they’re committed to Iogen and moving forward with our Saskatchewan project,” Passmore said during a break at the recent Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit in Vancouver.
“There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the project.”
However, he acknowledged that the pace of the Prince Albert venture hasn’t been what Iogen had hoped.
“It might be experiencing some delays because of the current economy,” Passmore said.
