My Clean Break column this week, beyond pointing out some of the frustrating growing pains related to small-scale renewable energy systems, looks at one Mississauga, Ont.-based company called 6N Silicon Inc. that’s trying to improve the way solar-grade silicon is made and help address an industry supply problem. The company claims its method of purifying silicon is much cheaper than conventional approaches, largely because it uses less energy. 6N also claims it can set up production plants much faster and produce silicon at purity levels that deliver good-enough efficiency to solar-cell makers, which are struggling to find silicon supply. The company has received $6 million in venture capital funding so far, on top of $4 million from Sustainable Development Technology Canada to develop a pilot production line for its process.

One of the fascinating things about the quest for superior biofuel production is the study of how some organisms, primarily strains of bacteria and fungi, break down biomass in nature. Scientists are in a rush to identify and then genetically engineer a super-organism capable of breaking down cellulose and lignin with the greatest of efficiency and under the lowest-cost conditions. Using such organisms requires far less energy input that other processes that require intense heat.

One of the latest research pursuits is happening at the University of Warwick in the U.K., where scientists there are trying to genetically decode a mushroom called Agaricus bisporus, which as “secondary decomposers” have proven much more effective at breaking down material that other fungi and bacteria have a difficult time tackling.

Hmmm… looks like termite guts have some competition.

The mushrooms, one of the most widely cultivated species in the world, offer another benefit. “Several Agaricus species are able to hyper-accumulate toxic metals in soils at a higher level than many other fungi. Understanding how the mushroom does this improves prospects of using such fungi for the bioremediation of contaminated soils,” according to the university.

One of the fascinating things about the quest for superior biofuel production is the study of how some organisms, primarily strains of bacteria and fungi, break down biomass in nature. Scientists are in a rush to identify and then genetically engineer a super-organism capable of breaking down cellulose and lignin with the greatest of efficiency and under the lowest-cost conditions. Using such organisms requires far less energy input that other processes that require intense heat.

One of the latest research pursuits is happening at the University of Warwick in the U.K., where scientists there are trying to genetically decode a mushroom called Agaricus bisporus, which as “secondary decomposers” have proven much more effective at breaking down material that other fungi and bacteria have a difficult time tackling.

Hmmm… looks like termite guts have some competition.

The mushrooms, one of the most widely cultivated species in the world, offer another benefit. “Several Agaricus species are able to hyper-accumulate toxic metals in soils at a higher level than many other fungi. Understanding how the mushroom does this improves prospects of using such fungi for the bioremediation of contaminated soils,” according to the university.

All I can say is that consumers, businesses and industry in Ontario are fortunate the weather hasn’t been too hot and sticky, because this province could find itself in a power crunch this summer if an extended heatwave hits. Not only are two nuclear reactors at the Pickering Generating Station out for most of the summer (and that’s after $2 billion in refurbs over the past few years), but one larger reactor at Bruce Power is currently out for a few days — that is, we’ve got about 1,900 megawatts of baseload power offline at the moment, during a season of high demand. And this comes a week after a unit at Pickering B and a unit at Darlington were down for repairs.

So much for stable nuclear.

Fine, this stuff happens. But it goes to show that nuclear isn’t as dependable as the industry claims, and that when problems do occur it leads to a massive chunk of generation being taken off the grid in one shot, leaving us far more vulnerable than a system designed around distributed generation.

BTW: A very insightful article here from the New York Times about the surging cost of building large power plants, whether they be nuclear, coal or natural gas. The culprit is a combination of higher metal and energy costs, but also a worsening shortage of labour that is driving up wages. The lesson in this article is that when a government tells you a project is going to cost $2 billion, it’s more likely to end up costing more than $3 billion. In the context of a nuclear renaissance, it means inflated costs for everything from component manufacturing to transportation to concrete pouring to the hiring of engineers — similar in many respects to what we’re seeing happening in the oil sands, where refineries and facilities there are also competing against the nuclear industry for materials and skills, and where costs have skyrocketed.

Investors will soon get a chance to throw their money behind another biofuel play in Canada. BIOX Corp., the Oakville, Ont.-based company that designs, builds and operates biodiesel production facilities based on its own proprietary process, announced today that it has filed with regulators for an initial public offering. RBC Capital Markets is leading an underwriting syndicate that includes BMO Capital Markets, Scotia Capital Inc., GMP Securities LP, Cormark Securities Inc., Genuity Capital Markets and Dundee Securities Corp.

The company currently owns and operates a continuous flow biodiesel production facility in Hamilton, Ontario, with a nameplate capacity of 67 million litres per year, achieved through two production lines operating in parallel.

“Using our existing modular design, it is our intention to build, own and operate additional biodiesel production facilities in jurisdictions where markets support the production and use of biodiesel. At this time, our target jurisdictions include Canada, the United States and the EU. We are currently in negotiations to establish four additional 67 million litre per year nameplate capacity plants that would provide us with up to an additional 268 million litres of capacity per year,” according to the company’s prospectus.

The company has not yet priced the offering, but you can get more details from the prospectus filed on SEDAR.

BIOX will join SunOpta and Lignol, and eventually Greenfield Ethanol, as publicly traded biofuel plays in Canada.

UPDATE: I’ve got an article in the Star on this. It points out that BIOX plans to build four more 67-million-litre a year plants with the IPO funds, and that it’s aiming to raise $150 million, which would give the company a valuation of over $300 million.