Inniskillin Wines and StormFisher Biogas to turn grape pomace into electricity for homes

Canada's Inniskillin Wines and StormFisher Biogas announced a partnership today to create renewable electricity from the winery's grape by-products. This is another illustration of the diversity of bioenergy feedstocks and of how this type of renewable energy can blend in with existing food processing sectors, be they olive oil producers, breweries, citrus fruit processors, or cheese makers.

Inniskillin's grape pomace, which is comprised of grape skin and seeds, will be used to generate biogas used to produce clean, renewable electricity. About 1,000 to 2,000 tonnes of by-products that were previously destined to a landfill will be given a new use as a fuel. As such, the methane gas that is produced by the decomposition of grape pomace will now be captured and used to generate power for homes in the Niagara region.

This partnership is seen as a win for residential power consumers, a win for Inniskillin, a win for StormFisher and a win for the environment. The partnership demonstrates how sustainable business practices can benefit the environment and communities while improving the bottom line by giving new use to what was once a waste product.

Vincor Canada, Inniskillin's parent company is committed to sustainable business practices and was eager to play a role in renewable energy productio. Vincor Canada and StormFisher are exploring potential expansion of this arrangement to Vincor's other winemaking facilities on the Niagara Peninsula.

StormFisher produces renewable energy from food and beverage processing by-products when it is digested in industrial tanks and either used to generate electricity or processed as natural gas. Much of Europe's food and beverage processing by-products are already used to generate biogas, and the process is rapidly gaining favour in North America:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: biogas :: anaerobic digestion :: methane :: wine :: waste :: Canada ::

StormFisher Biogas is an Ontario-based biogas developer and operator developing biogas installations across North America. Its biogas plants will produce electricity, natural gas (biomethane) and heat while reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions, including highly polluting methane emissions. Biogas production facilities, called anaerobic digesters, accelerate the decomposition of organic matter to create a combination of methane and carbon dioxide. Digesters can produce energy using a wide range of feedstock materials, from used cooking oils to cow manure.

StormFisher's operations will reduce farm and food processor disposal costs, divert valuable organic materials from landfills, and help to combat climate change by reducing emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Inniskillin Wines, established in 1975 by co-founders Donald Ziraldo and Karl Kaiser, is Canada's premier estate winery producing truly distinctive and elegant wines from premium grape varieties grown in Canada that rank among the world's finest. Inniskillin has vineyards in the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario and the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. Inniskillin has gained international recognition for its award winning Icewines, which, as the number one selling wine in duty free stores, can be found in over 40 countries around the world. Inniskillin's parent company, Vincor Canada, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Constellation Brands, Inc.

Picture: wine-making results in a large waste stream of grape pomace, which contains skins and seeds. Credit: Winemaker Magazine.