Canadian company converts wood into 'bio oil'

CTV.ca News Staff

It sounds almost too good to be true: The notion that somehow industrial wood waste could be converted into a source of reliable, environmentally friendly energy with the ability to power an entire town.

But it's a new reality in West Lorne, Ontario, where a century-old flooring company has joined with an energy leader in an environmentally friendly partnership.

Erie Flooring and Wood Products has been producing truckloads of wood scraps and sawdust, 70 tons a day, for decades, with little choice but to burn or transport the waste. Neither option has been good for the environment.

Now, thanks to Canadian technology and a partnership with Vancouver's DynaMotive, the waste is ground into fine sawdust, vaporized, and converted to "bio oil." The company uses the oil to power a new turbine generator that produces 2,500 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power 1,400 homes.

"Instead of transporting this wood waste or burning them and making pollution, we produce clean energy," explained Gholam Yavari, of DynaMotive. "And it's clean, environmentally friendly and pollution-free and greenhouse-gas neutral."

DynaMotive has built a $20 million plant in West Lorne. It's the first of its kind in the world, but will be the first of many if DynaMotive's plan takes effect. The company is hoping to expand as the technology catches on.

"We're looking to build a number of plants across Canada and supply industry, supply houses, supply district heating systems," explained Andrew Kingston, company president.

For now, DynaMotive will supply energy to run Erie Flooring, and generate electricity to be sold back into the grid that powers West Lorne.

Erie Flooring doesn't have a spotless record when it comes to the environment, but this new partnership provides an opportunity to make up for some of the mistakes of the past, explained the company's Alan Vandenbrick.

"It wasn't done on purpose, it was done through ignorance," said Vandenbrick, of pollution created in the past. "We didn't know. But this gives us the chance to put a mark on the right side of the paper toward the environment."

With a report from CTV's Peter Murphy

Wood is more valuable than oil... oil will run out at a later date when we won't need it anymore.
Wood should never be used.
Sure it's wood waste, but how much waste can there be?

Sure it's wood waste, but how much waste can there be?
70 tons/day at Erie Flooring and Wood Products, according to the article.

But is that even enough to cover like a medium sized city?

But is that even enough to cover like a medium sized city?

That's just one company. There are a lot of companies out there that specialize in wood products. ;)

What I gathered is that 70 tons/day is enough to power 1 400 homes (2500 kilowatts). I would have to say that is pretty substantial and much better than burning it without any benefit.

I bet there is 700 or even 7000 tons of wood waste created in Canada each day. Lumber is a huge part of our economy in almost every province!