Canada’s first lignin plant is operational and producing lignin for Canadian researchers according to an announcement made during the 2011 BIO World Congress. The plant is owned and operated by FPInnovations who is working in partnership with the Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE), Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN) and AbitibiBowater. Lignin is a residual substance derived from the pulping process and in the biofuels process is broken down and converted into sugars, and ultimately biofuel.
The program partners are in the process of developing a black liquor and lignin evaluation centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario. At the core is the lignin demonstration plant that ties directly into the black liquor stream of AbitibiBowater’s Thunder Bay kraft pulp mill. When fully operational, this one of its kind demonstration plant will produce up to 100 kg of lignin per day, which will be shipped to a network of R&D labs across Canada that are developing novel uses for wood products. Also located in this facility is a lignin characterization lab.
Lakehead University and its Biorefining Research Initiative will be closely linked to the ongoing research and will be training students and postdoctoral fellows at the facility.
“It is with cutting‐edge technologies and strong partnerships such as this one that FPInnovations is contributing to building the future of forestry in Canada,” said Pierre Lapointe, President and Chief Executive Officer for FPInnovations. “The strong ties to Lakehead University are key to keeping technology and knowledge in the North. This only strengthens Lakehead’s Biorefining Research Initiative and other related science programs by creating linkages with labs across Canada.”
The is a huge potential market for lignin‐based products. It can be used as a green alternative to many petroleum‐derived substances, such as fuels, resins, rubber additives, thermoplastic blends, nutra‐ and pharmaceuticals, and more.
Doug Murray, General Manager of AbitibiBowater’s Thunder Bay Operations, added, “The lignin evaluation plant provides us an opportunity to move wood‐based products beyond traditional markets. We are pleased to have this innovative lab at our mill site and look forward to continued progress. We feel very fortunate to be part of this initiative.”
View pictures from the 2011 BIO World Congress in my flickr photo album.
Florida’s annual Farm to Fuel Summit has been postponed.
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam sent out an announcement today saying that a bill passed during the recently concluded Florida legislative session prompted the decision.
At the International Biomass Conference and Expo last week, Dr. Janice Ryan-Bohac attracted a lot of attention carrying around a sweet potato the size of a newborn baby. 
According to the report, America’s ethanol producers supplied nearly 35 million metric tons (mmt) of livestock feed in the 2009/2010 marketing year, which is greater than the total amount of grain consumed by all of the beef cattle in the nation’s feedlots. For the current 2010/2011 marketing year, feed production from the ethanol industry is projected at 39 mmt. 
The technology has the capacity to covert 150 tons of biomass per day to a syngas that can then be used a a fuel for industrial power and heating applications and Dr. Bert Bennett, ICM Principal Scientist and Process Engineer, says they have been working on it for over three years. “We actually put it in development in 2007. We built the unit and put it into action in 2009 and have been operating for over two years,” he said. “We’re really pleased with how the unit’s performed and now we’ve officially begun to commercialize it.”
ICM tested more than 13 feedstocks and processed 7,000 tons of biomass over the past two years. “We put close to 4,000 tons of wood chips, that’s sort of the standard, a very easy fuel to do,” Bennett said. Other “hits” included refuse-derived fuels (RDF), tire chips, and corn stover. Some of the more challenging fuels they tested included manure, such as poultry litter. 
