With 0.5 percent of the world's population, 7 percent of its
land, and 10 percent of its forests, Canada has an inherent advantage to
becoming the global leader in the biomass derivatives industry.
Canada can dedicate 10 to 15 million hectares of agricultural land
to produce 60 million metric tons of "energy" grass per year
without infringing on productive land for existing cash crops. This
sustainable annual harvest would have a greenhouse gas-neutral energy
content equivalent to 0.5 million barrels per day of crude oil
production, which represents a perpetual production level of two
Hibernia oilfields. Successful deployment of modular power cogeneration
systems is essential for the economical exploitation of this biomass
energy resource. Associated chemical engineering development goals
include the development of cost-effective fuel preparations,
substantially emission-free combustion processes, recycling of the ash
as fertilizers for the energy crops, and global logistics for all the
components in this energy cycle.
The list of important industrial chemical feedstock and consumer
products that can be manufactured from biomass has been extensive.
Substantial amounts of R&D on the subject have been reported. J. E.
Cunningham's review (ACCN June 2005, pp. 24-26) provided a
comprehensive assessment of the status of pre-commercial development of
the biomass derivatives industry in Canada. Numerous government programs
are available to support the growth of this industry. However, the
actual amount of successful commercialization of biomass-derived
materials in Canada has been relatively limited. It is most
disheartening after 20 years of governmental support during the R&D
phase, the location being considered for Iogen's first commercial
plant is outside Canada.
The Canadian government's direct support for R&D has been
extensive. The SR&ED program is considered to be one of the most
generous taxation regimes in the world. The Canada Foundation for
Innovation will have invested $4 billion from 1997 to 2007 to improve
the infrastructure in Canadian R&D institutions. Canada appears to
be attracting world leaders to its institutions in various R&D
fields. A reverse brain drain may be taking shape. Regrettably,
Canada's R&D performance in the private sector continues to lag
behind most OECD countries. Canada's successful commercialization
of innovative technologies is also disappointing. Many of these emerging
technology companies have been quickly bought out by larger global
venture companies. A sustainable biotechnology and biomass derivatives
industry in Canada has yet to be established.
Is Canada missing critical elements required to achieve a higher
level of performance in this emergent industry sector? The time has come
for Canada to establish a competitive technology commercialization
regime that would substantially improve Canada's private sector
R&D performance and make Canada a country of choice for the
commercialization of technologies originating from anywhere in the
world. A patchwork of more Band-aid[R] solutions will not be
satisfactory. Canada must urgently adopt a comprehensive policy and
regulatory changes that would turn national R&D accomplishments in
biomass derivatives into a sustainable wealth generator for Canada.
David T. Fung, MCIC is the chair and CEO of the ACDEG Group of
companies and president of the CSChE.
COPYRIGHT 2007 Chemical Institute of
Canada Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright 2007, Gale Group. All rights
reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.