Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) has awarded a project led by SunOpta BioProcess Inc. up to $5.5M in funding for the construction of a facility to demonstrate its integrated process that aims to produce both food grade xylitol ? a healthy sugar substitute ? and fuel grade cellulosic ethanol.

“Next-generation biofuel technologies are generating even greater environmental benefits and are also providing new economic opportunities through innovative co-products,” said the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources. “The Government of Canada is pleased to support companies like SunOpta that are helping advance clean energy technology and provide a healthier environment for Canadians.”

“The generation of valuable co-products advances the economic opportunity created by the production of biofuels,” said SDTC President and CEO Vicky Sharpe. “Technologies like SunOpta’s that have both environmental and economic benefits help Canada achieve its biofuels objectives and build a bio-based economic sector, adding value to the agriculture and forestry industries.”

Using wood chips as feedstock, SunOpta’s technology is projected to decrease process water consumption by up to 75% compared to producing corn ethanol while retaining all of the life-cycle carbon benefits inherent to cellulosic ethanol. The proposed project involves the construction of a demonstration plant with a capacity to produce up to 620 tonnes of xylitol and two million litres of cellulosic ethanol per year.

“Successful commercialization of biofuel production technology relies upon capturing value from all of the major components in biomass feedstock. The SDTC funding will allow SunOpta BioProcess Inc. to demonstrate its integrated process technology to produce biofuels from cellulose, bioenergy from lignin, and xylitol, a natural alternative sweetener and value-added product produced from xylan,” commented SunOpta BioProcess Inc. President Murray Burke. “We are excited about the prospects of the integrated biorefinery technology, and believe that this strategy will lead to rapid commercialization of economically and environmentally sustainable biofuel operations, with concomitant benefits for Canadian economic vitality, environmental sustainability and energy security.”

The SDTC funding for SunOpta’s project will be leveraged with funding from members of its consortium, including Xylitol Canada and Emerald Forest Sugars Inc.

About SDTC

Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is an arm’s-length foundation created by the Government of Canada which has received $1.05 billion as part of the Government’s commitment to create a healthy environment and a high quality of life for all Canadians. SDTC operates two funds aimed at the development and demonstration of innovative technological solutions. The $550 million SD Tech Fund™ supports projects that address climate change, air quality, clean water, and clean soil. The $500 million NextGen Biofuels Fund™ supports the establishment of first-of-kind large demonstration-scale facilities for the production of next-generation renewable fuels. SDTC operates as a not-for-profit corporation and has been working with the public and private sector including industry, academia, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the financial community and all levels of government to achieve this mandate. For more information, please visit www.sdtc.ca.

About SunOpta BioProcess Inc.

SunOpta BioProcess Inc. (SBI) is a leader in the design, construction and optimization of biomass conversion process technologies, equipment and facilities. With over 30 years experience in delivering biomass solutions worldwide, SBI combines its applications expertise with innovative, patented, and proprietary technologies to design and build equipment and processes to produce cellulosic ethanol, cellulosic butanol, xylitol, and other value-added products derived from lignocellulosic biomass. The company is currently supplying equipment and process technology to pilot and commercial demonstration cellulosic ethanol projects worldwide. SBI is an 86% owned subsidiary of SunOpta Inc. (NASDAQ: STKL; TSX: SOY).

Converting corn to ethanol in Iowa not only leads to clearing more of the Amazonian rainforest, researchers report in a pair of new studies in Science, but also would do little to slow global warming—and often make it worse.

“Prior analyses made an accounting error,” says one study’s lead author, Tim Searchinger, an agricultural expert at Princeton University. “There is a huge imbalance between the carbon lost by plowing up a hectare [2.47 acres] of forest or grassland from the benefit you get from biofuels.”

Growing plants store carbon in their roots, shoots and leaves. As a result, the world’s plants and the soil in which they grow contain nearly three times as much carbon as the entire atmosphere. “I know when I look at a tree that half the dry weight of it is carbon,” says ecologist David Tilman of the University of Minnesota, coauthor of the other study which examined the “carbon debt” embedded in any biofuel. “That’s going to end up as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere when you cut it down.”[...]

Full article – Via : ©sciam.com

“Increasing the availability and use of low-carbon fuels will bring immediate and long-term environmental benefits by lowering greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging sustainable agricultural practices that provide greater efficiencies and lower costs.

“As outlined in a recent BIO report, ‘Achieving Sustainable Production of Agricultural Biomass for Biorefinery Feedstock,’ farmers will be able to produce, harvest and deliver sufficient feedstock to the growing biorefinery industry in an economically and environmentally sustainable way through increased use of no-till agriculture. The report identifies available techniques for sustainable harvesting of agricultural residues – such as corn stover and cereal straws – for use as feedstocks for advance biofuel biorefineries. The report is available at http://bio.org/ind/biofuel/SustainableBiomassReport.pdf.

“With agricultural biotechnology, farmers can continue to increase yields of crops to meet the demands for both food and fuel. Over the past 10 years, agricultural biotechnology has helped U.S. farmers increase yields by 30 percent, a rate of yield increase that will be sufficient to meet the goals of the new renewable fuel standard. In addition, farmers can reduce operating costs, prevent soil erosion, maintain soil fertility, and harvest crop residues as raw materials for advanced biofuels through adoption of no-till agriculture. In many cases no-tell practices can even result in carbon sequestration.

“The Renewable Fuel Standard in the recently enacted Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 calls for 36 billion gallons of biofuel to be used by U.S. motorists by 2022. Of that, 21 billion gallons has to come from advanced biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. All new biofuel production is required to meet aggressive greenhouse gas reduction targets.

“Industrial biotechnology has greatly enhanced the efficiency of current biofuel production and made it possible to produce advanced biofuels from a broader range of cellulosic feedstocks, including crop residues. As America and countries across the world convert to bio-based fuels, industry leaders and policymakers must ensure that native habitats are protected and that only sustainable agricultural practices are utilized.”

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