Enerkem Inc., a Canadian waste-to-biofuels and chemicals producer, last week signed an agreement with Qingdao City Construction Investment Group Co. Ltd., to develop a project partnership to jointly build a municipal solid waste-to-biofuels facility in Qingdao, China. In this new project partnership, Enerkem will license its exclusive technology to convert local urban waste from China into biofuels and chemicals.
“We are proud to combine forces with our esteemed partner in Qingdao to address local waste challenges and transform garbage into clean transportation fuels,” said Vincent Chornet, president and Ceo of Enerkem. “Our modular waste-to-biofuels facilities can be replicated in any community as a competitive and sustainable alternative to incineration or landfilling.”
This latest deal follows two previous project partnerships confirmed by Enerkem during the Quebec government’s trade mission in China at the beginning of October.
Enerkem has validated its proprietary technology over a period of 10 years using solid waste from numerous municipalities and other types of feedstock. The company’s process and business model are designed to profitably produce cellulosic ethanol and other products from a large municipal solid waste supply.
Enerkem, headquartered in Montreal, operates 2 plants in Quebec, Canada: an industrial demonstration facility in Westbury, and a pilot plant in Sherbrooke. Its first waste-to-biofuels full-scale commercial is located in Edmonton (Alberta). The company is developing several similar facilities in the U.S. and Canada, such as in Varennes (Quebec) and Pontotoc (Mississippi). These plants will convert municipal solid waste into methanol and cellulosic ethanol.
Enerkem is a private company founded in 2000 by its current senior management. It is majority-owned by institutional, clean-technology and industrial investors, including Rho Ventures, Waste Management, Braemar Energy Ventures, Investissement Québec, Valero, Cycle Capital, The Westly Group, Fonds de solidarité FTQ and Fondaction CSN.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 