New bio diesel ethanol plant

[craig]

News from the Vancouver Sun

A $400-million integrated biodiesel and ethanol refinery the first complex of its kind in North America will be built in central Alberta.

Led by Dominion Energy Services, LLC a Florida-based group with pioneering ties to Calgary's natural gas marketing sector investors that include $45-billion US private equity fund The Carlyle Group LLC and affiliate Riverstone Renewable Energy Infrastructure Fund I, LP said Monday they have finalized plans for the facility.

"There's nothing like this, that we know of, in North America," said Dominion Energy president and CEO Curtis Chandler, who helped to build the Edson-area Alberta Hub natural gas storage facility. "We're coming home."

The Alberta bio-refinery will include a canola crushing plant, a biodiesel refinery and an ethanol refinery, each capable of producing up to 100 million U.S. gallons, or 374 million litres, per year of product. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2007 at one of three short-listed sites.

"It's the only facility that has the three-pronged approach to it," Chandler added, noting feedstock for the canola crushing plant and ethanol facility will come from local growers. The biodiesel refinery will utilize canola oil from its sister plant or, alternatively, imported palm or soya oil, Chandler said.

"The production from the Alberta facility will help meet national and provincial renewable fuel targets," he said.

Along with the production of biodiesel and ethanol, the complex will capture its carbon dioxide emissions, which will be sold for oilfield production enhancement.

The project will mark the first large-scale biofuels plant in Alberta and when completed will be the largest bio-refinery in North America. In Red Deer, Alta., Permolex Ltd. operates a 12-million-litre-per-year ethanol plant while Calgary-based Husky Energy Inc. has built a $110-million, 130-million-litre-per-year ethanol plant in Lloydminster, Sask.

Alberta Agriculture Minister Doug Horner noted the "world-class" Dominion plant follows the provincial government's recent, $239-million over five years initiative to boost biofuels production. The province will provide a 14-cent per litre production credit to the facility.

The plant will create approximately 400 construction jobs and employ 90 people full time, with 200 indirect jobs, once it is completed in early to mid 2008.

The majority stake will be held by New York-based Carlyle and Riverstone, a group known for the former Reagan, Clinton and Bush U.S. presidential administration staffers on its payroll. Carlyle and Riverstone, a $6.5-billion US private equity fund, is also no stranger to Alberta, having purchased in March the natural gas storage assets of Calgary-based EnCana Corp. in a $1.5-billion US deal that included the 125 billion-cubic-foot AECO Hub.

"We see a receptive environment to locate a major bio-fuel investment in Alberta," said Riverstone managing director Stephen Schaefer from New York. "We also anticipate continued opportunities to work together with Dominion Energy. We believe renewable energy will play an increasing role in delivering the energy needs of North America," Schaefer added.

[craig]

Now that you have seen the news. Does anybody know who the three who are on the shortlist(location). I note that the numbers they are talking makes this plant 3 times the size of Lloyd.

[cottonpicken]

All's i have to say is WOW!Anybody still think the price of grain is going down?

[melvill]

Oh, CP, I can feel my bottle of scotch slippin' away. The malt will be made into ethanol for my 66 Meteor!!

[agstar77]

The rush to bio fuels is similar to what is happening in the U.S.A. While we may see a rise in grain prices , there will be problems in the food sector as a consequence to the Biofuel boom. The results will be seen as these new facilities come on line. They will not all be good . Using edible plants for fuel is not a preferred option but given the price pressure farmers are under there can be no other outcome. Can anyone suggest what percentage of production that will go to Biofuels?

[northfarmer]

the only problems I see are for those players that have been buying from the captive supply market....new alternative use demand from the industrial sector for crop production will give farmers new markets....more demand driven price increases and better returns for producers including paying less freight to get our products to closer domestic markets....

you see problems..i see opportunites....

while down at the agshow I also heard of other proposed bio diesel projects...they will never all get built, but no one can deny there is once again optimism and excitement back in the markets...

consumers in the long run will pay more for food...they do not seem to have a problem dealing with the other inflationary comsumables they desire.....it will be ag's turn at the commodity bull run

[Incognito]

Agstar:

"Can anyone suggest what percentage of production that will go to Biofuels?"

IF it is 25% like the U.S. is suggesting for corn production that will go to ethanol - is that not an indication that the Canadian systems including your beloved... should maybe ....CHANGE?

Even if no one has the foresight to change the inevitable, because of bickering, politics and fear...the 80/20 theory will hold true...and the 20% that do produce over 80% of production won't be held captive by the old guard.

The 20% will circumvent the system if it does not change. Not by border running, yadda yadda yadda.

They will be so *issed if nothing changes, they will use all of their energies to do whatever it takes to NOT utilize an export system they so despise...and part of that will be bio-fuels.

Your system will have to do for the 80% who produce less than 20% of the crops.

So whether the mood in the country is 50/50 - 73/27 or 60/40 - 20% of farmers are going to have 80 % of the production.

Now do the math on institutional costs...

I will live long enough to witness this. That you can take to the bank or the grave at 423 Main.

You can only stiffle entrepreneurial attitudes for so long...and the day of reckoning is near with or without change.

These guys won't bite the single desk hand that supposedly fed them - they will chew the ****ing hand off and spit it out in disgust - even if they are starving.

The left may own the property rights to your grain and the "cry wolf game" but they sure don't own the rights to entrepreneurial attitudes. By their actions of late, they don't even know what it is.

[agstar77]

I thought this was a discussion on Biofuels , not the CWB , I.C. I see nothing wrong with these Biofuel Plants, in the short run say 10 years. I don't think the world will stand for the use of food for biofuel over the long term. This will remain a specialty market and if you can't see that then you are not seeing the entire picture.

[Incognito]

The entire picture...that's ironic that someone so entrenched in one entity, realizes that there is an entire picture.

10 years from now:

There will be GMO switchgrass to feed ethanol plants with yields and btu value much higher than grain.

Worldwide biofuel legislation will be increased.

Brazil will be the world's #1 ethanol and biodiesel supplier.

but the # 1 thing that won't change in Canada:

the land base - they aint making any more of it - this isn't Brazil.

So it doesnt matter what they use to make fuel from agriculture - the fight will last much longer than 10 years.

Corn and wheat may be just a primer for future materials to be used in biofuels - but governments like this new form of subsidization. Government involvement skews a market.

And where do you think the next 10 years will take biofuels?

[cowman]

I hear vague rumors of something big happening just south of Red Deer? What I heard was a big crushing plant and bio deisel facility in conjunction with a bio gas plant? Don't know any details but Monsanto is involved.

[SASKFARMER3]

God Help Us All if Monsantos Involved.
RR Canola is the worst Weed in Saskatchewan. Yields the worst but their ADDS claim different.
One more TUA to pay to them for nothing in return.

[cottonpicken]

Ever heard this
1 tankful of ethanol in a suv=amount of grain needed to feed one person for a year

[Zaphod]

Did anybody notice that they also mentioned bringing in palm oil for making biodiesel? And last time I checked, BC still isn't warm enough to grow palm trees.

[northfarmer]

cannot see Monsanto being involved in a plant.....they talk about canola for biofuel use from a demand creation point of view for their seed genetics....they have developed corn hybrids that give producers premiums when they ship to ethanol plants in the US as the varieties have higher ethanol yield....

and skfarmer....like i have said before on other threads you must be long on Bayer stock and short on monsanto....the pcvt data, local research group data, and local farm trials in my area are all showing the new RR hybrids from DKL and PHI are as good or better than anything on the market.....bought mine this week...

[wd9]

Zaphod, think about logistics of a frozen truck of Palm oil going to a refinery in Fort Saskatchewan to be hydro treated. Ya, like that is going to happen - maybe in the summer somewhat.

It is called a pipeline from a crush plant across the street straight to a refinery who relies on consistent supply.

Question is, why haven't farmers built or invested in crush facilities instead of focusing on limited lifespan bio-diesel plants? You don't make renewable fuel from canola, it is made from oil, the real narrowing of control, that, and committed seed supply provided by the farmer owners.