Report: Strong Potential for Biofuel Industry in Atlantic Canada

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The Atlantic Council for Bioenergy Co-operative, in partnership with BioAtlantech New Brunswick, has released a report demonstrating a strong business case for the development of a biofuels industry in the Atlantic region of Canada. The report, titled “Fueling the Future: Atlantic Canada’s Bioenergy Opportunities Project,” specifies that biofuel production in the region could generate $1.5 billion in gross domestic product (GPD), $273 in tax revenues and nearly 10,000 jobs after only 5 years of operation.
According to the report, the Atlantic region of Canada would have to produce more than 250 million liter of ethanol and 75 million liters of biodiesel to meet its renewable fuel mandates. However, the report states that production potential is significantly greater as regional feedstocks, such as sugar beets, could be used to produce fuel to meet the U.S. renewable fuel standard (RFS) volume requirements.
The report states that Gardner Pinfold Consults Inc. was contracted to develop a tool—the Atlantic Biofuels Feasibility Model—that producers and lending agencies could use to analyze prospective ethanol and biodiesel projects. The model is designed to help assess the financial viability of projects based on six factors, including feedstock type, plant scale, pre-construction and construction costs, financing, operational costs and revenues. Up to six plants can be evaluated simultaneously. READ MORE and MORE (Atlantic Council for Bioenergy Co-operative press release) and MORE (Report Summary) Request report