There’s something about this company I just really like. Montreal-based Enerkem Inc. announced today that it will build, own and operate a waste-to-ethanol plant in Pontotoc, Mississippi, marking its first deal in the United States. The facility, called Enerkem Mississippi Biofuels, will involve an investment of $250 million. That will cover the cost of building the company’s cellulosic ethanol plant, which uses proprietary gasification, catalysis and gas conditioning processes. It will also cover the cost of an upstream solid waste recycling and pre-treatment facility.

The plan is for Enerkem to accept about 189,000 tons of unsorted waste per year from the nearby Three Rivers Solid Waste Management Authority of Mississippi. The two organizations are in the process of negotiating final financial and binding agreements. Enerkem figures that about 60 per cent of the incoming waste can be gasified at its ethanol plant to produce about 20 million gallons (about 75 million litres) of cellulosic biofuel annually. That would include crop and forest residues, urban “organic” waste, construction and demolition debris, including treated wood. The non-biomass portions that can’t be converted will be sorted and sent off for recycling.

This is a perfect example of green job creation. (more…)

First Solar took over more than 200 megawatts worth of OptiSolar projects in Ontario. Recurrent Energy just purchased a solar project pipeline from Chicago-based UPC Solar that is based mostly in Ontario. SunEdison, EDF Energies Nouvelles, and Axio Power are also in the game. Meawhile, Martin Roscheisen of Nanosolar says his company is seriously considering Ontario as the location of a regional module assembly facility. Ontario’s newly proposed solar feed-in tariffs, which range from 44.3 cents per kilowatt-hour for large ground-mount systems to 80.2 cents for residential rooftop, “could tip the balance in favour of investment in Ontario,” said Roscheisen.

For more details read Toronto Star article here.

Okay, to be clear from the start the “fund” mentioned in the headline isn’t just for cleantech ventures but also companies in the life sciences and digital media. That said, the “Emerging Technologies Fund” announced today by John Wilkinson, Ontario’s minister of research and innovation, could prove effective if administered properly.

The Ontario government has created the $250-million, five-year fund to help ventures based in the province navigate through the dreaded “Valley of Death” that far too often sucks the life out of companies poised for great things but incapable financially of delivering. It’s essentially a co-investment fund, based on a model out of Scotland, whereby the government will match, dollar for dollar, any funding of Ontario-based companies that comes from qualified venture capitalists and angel investors. Nifty. (more…)

This is another call for donations for those who missed my earlier post.

I’m running an 8k run on April 4 for prostate cancer. It’s a good cause to get behind, and Toronto cancer researchers are among the best in the world. If you would like to sponsor my run, please click here and you’ll be directed to my Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation Web page where you can donate online. I’m hoping to raise $1,000 and am about a third of the way there. Closer to halfway there, actually, as I’ll be donating the advertising revenue this blog is expected to earn at the end of March (works out to about $200).

Thanks to those who have donated so far. Your generosity is much appreciated.

Catch The Wind Ltd. has sold its first Vindicator laser wind sensor to AXYS Technologies, which wants to incorporate the sensor into an offshore buoy to measure wind speed and direction on the open water. AXYS has also entered an agreement with Catch The Wind that will see it integrate the sensor into fixed and floating offshore platforms, both fresh and salt water applications. AXYS, which through its license would be worldwide distributor of the product, plans to call it the Wind Sentinel — “the marine industry’s first buoy mounted with a laser wind sensor.”

In a nutshull, the company’s Vindicator sensor is a lightweight, rugged device that’s designed to be installed atop a turbine nacelle, or in the case of AXYS atop an offshore buoy. The sensor is capable of accurately measuring wind speed and direction up to 1,000 metres in front of a wind turbine, making it possible to reposition the turbine and adjust blade pitch before the wind hits. This is important because it can reduce stress on the turbines, lower maintenance costs and lengthen the life of the turbines. Being able to position the turbines in advance of the wind also improves generation efficiency.

Catch The Wind also recently announced it will be part of a field test program in Nebraska. The Nebraska Public Power District will test the sensor at a wind energy facility that has 36 large wind turbines in operation.  Click here for a previous post on Catch The Wind and a link to an article written in Technology Review.