Bath, Ontario, Canada
June 11, 2008
Today,
Lafarge North America Inc.,
the country's largest cement manufacturer and
Performance Plants
Inc. (PPI), a Kingston-based biotechnology company,
announced a multi-year agreement to grow and develop clean
energy biomass grasses and woods for use as fuel at the Lafarge
Cement Plant in Bath.
For Lafarge, the joint project is part of the company's ongoing
public commitment to reduce its carbon footprint including the
use of renewable and local fuel alternatives.
"The future of the environment, our business and the communities
we serve depends on reducing the need for fossil fuels to run
our operations," said Robert Cumming, environmental and public
affairs manager at the
Lafarge Bath Cement Plant. "We're proud to team up with
Performance Plants who has extensive knowledge in biomass
technology."
The companies are also partnering with the Sustainable
Bioeconomy Centre at Queen's University and the University of
Guelph, Kemptville Campus to further evaluate the program with a
special focus on assessing the full potential of non-food plant
species as fuel.
For Performance Plants, the four-year agreement is an
opportunity to create enhanced non-food crops that are able to
be grown on less productive farmland. By combining crop types
and PPI's unique trait technologies, fuel users will be able to
create a customized biomass fuel to meet their specific needs.
"Our challenges with biomass and biofuel energy are maximization
of crop yields, crop consistency and cost efficiency," explains
Peter Matthewman, president of Performance Plants. "This is
where our technology will be instrumental to develop next
generation seeds that are customized for specific industrial
users looking for alternative clean energy sources. Biomass
derived biofuels provide a sustainable and economically viable
solution for reducing global carbon emissions."
John Gerretsen, MPP for Kingston and The Islands, praised the
initiative. "I commend Lafarge and Performance Plants as well
and Queen's University and the Kemptville Campus of Guelph
University for this innovative research project into sustainable
energy sources," he said. "This is exactly the kind of
initiative that will contribute to achieving our greenhouse gas
reduction objectives."
By enhancing a crop's own traits, PPI has a suite of patented
weatherproof technologies that deliver more abundant, consistent
and cost-effective harvests for farmers and feedstock suppliers.
PPI is developing non-food biomass feedstocks that will be grown
on land and under conditions less suitable for food or feed
production. These optimized feedstocks will provide renewable
alternatives for industries producing liquid transportation
fuels and biochemicals as well as those seeking solid fuels to
replace coal.
Non-food grass crops were planted in late May and early June on
25 acres of land adjacent to the Lafarge cement plant and owned
by the company. These included the perennial species Miscanthus
and switchgrass in addition to non-food, high biomass varieties
of sorghum and maize. Local farmer Michael MacKinnon, who leases
the land from Lafarge, will supervise the growing and harvesting
of the plants. Poplar, Willow and Industrial Hemp will be
planted on suitable land later in the season.
After MacKinnon harvests the bales, they will be processed into
fuel pellets. These pellets will then be used by the Lafarge
plant to fire its cement kiln. The company expects to conduct
the first trial use in the fall of 2009.
Lafarge is the world leader in building materials, with
top-ranking positions in all of its businesses: Cement,
Aggregates & Concrete and Gypsum. With 90,000 employees in 76
countries, Lafarge posted sales of 17.6 billion Euros and net
income of 1.9 billion Euros in 2007. Lafarge North America Inc.,
a Lafarge Group company, is the largest diversified supplier of
construction materials in the United States and Canada. Its
materials are used for residential, commercial, institutional
and public works construction.
Lafarge is the only company in the construction materials
sector to be listed in the 2008 '100 Global Most Sustainable
Corporations in the World'. Lafarge has been committed to
sustainable development for many years, pursuing a strategy that
combines industrial know-how with performance, value creation,
respect for employees and local cultures, environmental
protection and the conservation of natural resources and energy.
To make advances in building materials, Lafarge places the
customer at the heart of its concerns. It offers the
construction industry and the general public innovative
solutions bringing greater safety, comfort and quality to their
everyday surroundings.
Performance Plants Inc. (PPI) is a global leader in agricultural
and biofuel technology development. The company's patented
technologies weatherproof food and non-food biofuel crops
through periods of drought and heat stress resulting in a more
abundant, consistent and cost-effective harvests for farmers and
feedstock suppliers. The company has licensed its breakthrough
Yield Protection Technology(R) to some of the world's leading
seed companies such as Syngenta, Stine, Ricetec and Scotts
Miracle Gro. Headquartered in Kingston, Ontario, the
privately-held company has research and development facilities
in Kingston, Saskatoon, and Waterloo, New York. |
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