Waste-to-biofuels facility opens

A facility in Edmonton, Alberta, is considered the first commercial biorefinery to exclusively use municipal solid waste to produce advanced biofuels and chemicals.

Enerkem has officially inaugurated its first full-scale municipal waste-to-biofuels and chemicals facility in Edmonton, Alberta.

The facility will have a production capacity of up to 38 million litres per year and is expected to generate net economic spending in the local area of nearly $65 million ($48 million) annually.

'Our breakthrough technology uses rubbish instead of fossil sources for the production of chemicals and liquid transportation fuels,' says Vincent Chornet, president and CEO of Enerkem.

Operated by Enerkem Alberta Biofuels, the plant is among the world's first commercial facilities to be built for the production of renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels.

This facility is the result of a collaboration between Enerkem, the city of Edmonton and AI-EES.