Suncor Energy reaches 1 billion litre ethanol milestone

In Canada, renewable energy company Suncor Energy's St. Clair ethanol plant reached a production milestone in May 2011, when it produced 1 billion litres of the biofuel.

Operations at the St. Clair first started in June 2006 and it had an annual production capacity of 200 million litres. The facility then underwent an expansion project, which was completed in February 2011 and saw the plant's output ramped up to 400 million litres.

'reaching this milestone in just five years of operation is due to the efforts of our employees, who have operated the facility consistently, reliably and, most importantly, safely,' says Jim Provias, vice president of renewable energy at Suncor. 'Since April 2008 workers have put in over 350,000 hours at the plant without a recordable safety infraction.'
Ethanol produced at the St. Clair plant is blended into Suncor's Petro-Canada branded petrol.

In addition to its St. Clair ethanol plant, Suncor also owns five operating wind power projects in Canada, with a sixth to be operational by the end of the year. These seven projects combined are expected to displace the equivalent of almost 1 million tonnes of CO2 a year.