Dynamotive plans to build 6 bio-oil plants in Argentina
According to Argentinian media, Dynamotive Latinoamerica S.A., a subsidiary of Canadian biofuels company Dynamotive, plans to build 6 pyrolysis plants in the forested regions of the Northeastern Argentinian province of Corrientes.
Dynamotive is an innovative biofuel technology firm involved in developing modular fast-pyrolysis plants that can convert forestry and agricultural biomass residues into so-called bio-oil (earlier post). Pyrolysis is a thermochemical bioconversion path that decomposes biomass by heating it to 500 °C in the absence of air (image, click to enlarge). Several research organisations are working towards optimizing the process (earlier post and here). The pyrolysis oil or bio-oil resulting from the technique can be further refined into clean liquid biofuels. By-products released during fast-pyrolysis are basic components for green chemistry.
The most interesting aspect of Dynamotive's concept is the modularity and scaleability of its plants. Transporting bulky biomass like forestry residues to large centralised processing facilities is uneconomic. Converting the feedstock locally into an oil with a relatively high energy density, is a possible solution to this logistical problem. In short, Dynamotive brings the factory to the forest, instead of the forest to the factory. The concept is interesting especially for the developing world, where it could be used to convert vast biomass waste-streams from forestry and agriculture into carbon-neutral and renewable liquid fuels.
Last year, the company established a subsidiary in Argentina in cooperation with strategic partner Tecna S.A., a local (oil & gas) engineering firm. Tecna built Dynamotive's second and largest (200 tons per day) full-scale plant in Guelph, Ontario. This facility has a capacity to produce 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent per year.
The plans to build 6 such facilities in Argentina imply an investment of US$27 million, and will benefit forestry communities in Virasoro and Santo Tomé. In a first phase, the plants will use sawdust from local mills as bio-oil feedstocks. The sawdust in the region has been accumulating for years and large amounts of it are currently burned in the open air, causing, besides CO2 emissions, air and water pollution. The accumulated sawdust yields cetanol, a strong toxic element that pollutes local water bodies:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: forestry :: sawdust :: pyrolysis :: biomass :: bio-oil :: Argentina ::
Provincial authorities say the investment will provide a considerable amount of direct and indirect jobs, and revitalise other industrial sectors, most notably logistics and transport. Local energy security - a problem for this remote province - will be boosted and an environmental problem will be solved.
Different stakeholders, including provincial governor Arturo Colombi, the Minister for Public Works and Services Marcelo Falcione and the intendant of Virasoro, Rodolfo Fernández, accompanied by municipal authorities, met with with Raúl Parisi, vice-president of Dynamotive Latinoamericana SA to discuss the plans. Most of these officials were in favor of the project.
Fernández and Colombi stressed the bio-oil plants would benefit not only the local communities but "the entire province." Colombi said vice-president Al Gore expressed support for the project as it was presented to him during an American biofuels conference held in Buenos Aires. Fernández added that the project would not involve any funding from the Province nor from the State.
Minister for Public Works and Services Marcelo Falcione said a strong analysis of real costs had still to be made, because fuel pricing in Argentina is relatively complex. The final costs of the biofuels made by Dynamotive will have to be compared to the real costs of fossil fuels, because the latter are heavily subsidised in the country. If the biofuel is not cost-competitive with non-subsidized fuels, the project will cost money to the nation. For this reason, it is fundamental "to assess whether the economic and financial equation of such a contract [between the province which will buy the fuel] works out and benefits the provincial government."
More information:
La República de Corrientes: Anuncian que podrían instalar seis plantas de bio oil en la provincia - April 28, 2007.
Momarandu: Capitales canadienses instalarían seis plantas de biodiesel en la provincia - April 28, 2007.
Dynamotive is an innovative biofuel technology firm involved in developing modular fast-pyrolysis plants that can convert forestry and agricultural biomass residues into so-called bio-oil (earlier post). Pyrolysis is a thermochemical bioconversion path that decomposes biomass by heating it to 500 °C in the absence of air (image, click to enlarge). Several research organisations are working towards optimizing the process (earlier post and here). The pyrolysis oil or bio-oil resulting from the technique can be further refined into clean liquid biofuels. By-products released during fast-pyrolysis are basic components for green chemistry.
The most interesting aspect of Dynamotive's concept is the modularity and scaleability of its plants. Transporting bulky biomass like forestry residues to large centralised processing facilities is uneconomic. Converting the feedstock locally into an oil with a relatively high energy density, is a possible solution to this logistical problem. In short, Dynamotive brings the factory to the forest, instead of the forest to the factory. The concept is interesting especially for the developing world, where it could be used to convert vast biomass waste-streams from forestry and agriculture into carbon-neutral and renewable liquid fuels.
Last year, the company established a subsidiary in Argentina in cooperation with strategic partner Tecna S.A., a local (oil & gas) engineering firm. Tecna built Dynamotive's second and largest (200 tons per day) full-scale plant in Guelph, Ontario. This facility has a capacity to produce 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent per year.
The plans to build 6 such facilities in Argentina imply an investment of US$27 million, and will benefit forestry communities in Virasoro and Santo Tomé. In a first phase, the plants will use sawdust from local mills as bio-oil feedstocks. The sawdust in the region has been accumulating for years and large amounts of it are currently burned in the open air, causing, besides CO2 emissions, air and water pollution. The accumulated sawdust yields cetanol, a strong toxic element that pollutes local water bodies:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: forestry :: sawdust :: pyrolysis :: biomass :: bio-oil :: Argentina ::
Provincial authorities say the investment will provide a considerable amount of direct and indirect jobs, and revitalise other industrial sectors, most notably logistics and transport. Local energy security - a problem for this remote province - will be boosted and an environmental problem will be solved.
Different stakeholders, including provincial governor Arturo Colombi, the Minister for Public Works and Services Marcelo Falcione and the intendant of Virasoro, Rodolfo Fernández, accompanied by municipal authorities, met with with Raúl Parisi, vice-president of Dynamotive Latinoamericana SA to discuss the plans. Most of these officials were in favor of the project.
Fernández and Colombi stressed the bio-oil plants would benefit not only the local communities but "the entire province." Colombi said vice-president Al Gore expressed support for the project as it was presented to him during an American biofuels conference held in Buenos Aires. Fernández added that the project would not involve any funding from the Province nor from the State.
Minister for Public Works and Services Marcelo Falcione said a strong analysis of real costs had still to be made, because fuel pricing in Argentina is relatively complex. The final costs of the biofuels made by Dynamotive will have to be compared to the real costs of fossil fuels, because the latter are heavily subsidised in the country. If the biofuel is not cost-competitive with non-subsidized fuels, the project will cost money to the nation. For this reason, it is fundamental "to assess whether the economic and financial equation of such a contract [between the province which will buy the fuel] works out and benefits the provincial government."
More information:
La República de Corrientes: Anuncian que podrían instalar seis plantas de bio oil en la provincia - April 28, 2007.
Momarandu: Capitales canadienses instalarían seis plantas de biodiesel en la provincia - April 28, 2007.
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