The Bio Vision
Bio-Products Canada Inc., an industry-led, not-for-profit coalition funded by
the private and public sectors, estimates that by the year 2020 bio-products
from sustainable production and use of Canada’s renewable biomass resources will
reduce national dependence on fossil fuels and account for 30% of Canada’s GDP.
New environmentally sensitive technologies will need to be developed to meet
this growing demand.
Increasing demand for industrial chemicals and materials worldwide will be
supplemented through the conversion of biomass. Bio Vision’s VLC™ technology
addresses this crucial need.
With this biorefinery, Bio Vision will produce and pioneer a tangible range
of innovative products and creative solutions that promote environmental
consciousness. We will meet the needs of today's generation without jeopardizing
future generations from meeting their needs.
As shown here, chemical and material demand from renewable resources will
increase fivefold by 2020, and a further fivefold by 2050.
The global market for biochemicals and bioplastics generated from renewable
biomass resources was $60 billion in
2003 and is expected to triple by 2010. There is no credible alternative to biomass for supplementing fossil fuels as
the key driver in producing industrial chemicals. We are headed for a severe shortage in raw materials unless we can develop
alternative technologies that can utilize renewable biomass resources.
Economic security will be enhanced as Bio Vision promotes and develops the
"carbohydrate economy." Through Bio Vision’s efforts, Canada will become a world leader in renewable
resource manipulation. Bio Vision's new VLC™ technology promotes sustainable and ecologically sound
development while remaining profitable.
Raw Material
We use woody plant material as our base resource material. This is an
important advance since competitive technologies under development tend to focus
on starch-based biomass, such as corn. However, these technologies are not
sustainable and are debatably contributing to the current food crisis in
the world. Our technology is not dependent upon food crops or on diverting
valuable farmland. Bio Vision is focusing on
developing underutilized, sustainable hardwood resources.
In the future, Bio Vision seeks to promote the farming of energy crops such as
elephant grass, switch grass and industrial hemp, as well as hybrid poplar for
short rotation forestry.
The key benefits of our vision include the use of renewable and sustainable
biomass feedstocks, diversity of biomass input, new opportunities for
agriculture and forestry, revitalized farming communities, opportunities for
research projects, and the development of intellectual property.
A New Industrial Model
Conventional processes for product development from natural resources, such
as pulp and paper mills and petroleum refineries, are inherently linear, very
polluting and highly wasteful. The vertically integrated system that we are
building
applies a cyclical model for continuous product development, sustainable
resources, job creation, innovation and consistent profits. Low emissions
technologies represent a shift from the traditional system based on natural
resource exploitation and waste production to integrated cluster industries in
which all resources are used. In principle, a low emissions industrial cluster
imitates nature (the output from one process becomes the input for another
process), eliminates waste and pollution and is more productive than
conventional models. Instead of trucking biomass to a centralized plant, with
our modular technology we build a plant right where the biomass already is, thus
reducing transportation costs and emissions.
Through the efforts of creative biotechnology companies like Bio Vision, Canada
will become a world leader in renewable resource manipulation and sustainable
development. This biorefinery has the potential to benefit Canada by reducing
the release of hazardous emissions (greenhouse gases and criteria air
contaminants) and eliminating the use of toxic or non-recyclable materials.
Other benefits include the efficient and effective use of natural resources and
the reduction in the quantity of non-renewable resources used by industry. These
benefits will serve the current and future needs of Canadians.
Click here for a graphic model of our vision.
Job Creation
The immediate economic impact will entail the creation of numerous primary
jobs. Medium range economic impact will involve the development of a third tier
of industries—new opportunities based on the chemical feedstocks produced
through the core technology. The success of these activities will lead to a
long-term, sustained, growth-oriented economy for each region. This economic
model will be replicated to produce revitalized, self-sustaining communities
without jeopardizing the needs of future generations, while emphasizing social
well being and healthy environments.
Innovative Markets
Biorefinery product output will be used to develop composites
for wind turbine blades. Blades for wind turbines are usually composites in
which fibers are embedded in a matrix. The fiber component is normally
fiberglass or carbon fiber; however, since carbon fiber is made from petroleum
products, with its manufacturing process not having a good carbon footprint, a
renewable alternative is welcome.
Although there are several efforts in the USA, Europe, and Japan
to develop carbon fiber from lignin resin, the emphasis of such efforts is on
producing lighter yet structurally stronger cars that consume less fuel.
However, markets for providing “bio-interiors” for the automobile industry have
expanded rapidly over the past few years providing excellent opportunities for
bringing bio-composites into these markets.
Lignin can be used as a partial replacement for phenol in the
manufacture of phenolic resins which serve as binders in many composites,
including wood panels, brake pads, paper laminates, and foundry sands. Modified
lignins can be used as partial replacement for finished resins in oriented
strand board (OSB) panels, brake pads, and foundry sands. Our partner,
GreenValue, has recently developed improved lignin versions that are
industrially used in Asia in brakes and foundry and that have been successfully
tested for OSB in the USA. Lignin has also been researched as a barrier product
in packaging to prevent diffusion of moisture or oxygen which is very relevant
for the food packaging industry.
Future Opportunities
Through strategic alliances, Bio Vision will conduct technology
research and pre-competitive development activities aimed at identifying,
designing and prototyping new and improved products and processes.
There are several realistic opportunities in the composite area that could lead
to a healthy mix of industrial, demonstrative, and R&D activities, all very
suitable for the development of an industrial/technological park. In addition,
there are more R&D activities that could feed into the applied areas mentioned
above, such as the application of nanotechnology and biotechnology to the
modification of biomass fractions for use in composites and other applications. |
