From The Observer www.slep.wpengine.com
The head of Sarnia’s Bioindustrial Innovation Centre (BIC) says its collaboration with a University of Western Ontario research institute is “a natural fit.”
Executive director Murray McLaughlin was commenting on an agreement the centre signed this month with the university’s Ilderton-based Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources (ICFAR).
It calls for the sharing of technology opportunities and collaboration on helping ideas for biofuels and bio-based chemicals get to market.
The institute has a strong research capability and works closely with industries, including oil companies, McLaughlin said.
While the institute can produce small amounts of bio-based products it researches, “they really need to also have the capability to move to more scale-up capabilities to product larger quantities,” McLaughlin said.
“So, the opportunity is for us to work with them to expand their capabilities by doing some of that work at the research park in Sarnia.”
The Bioindustrial Innovation Centre began operating in August, funded by government and the private sector. It provides labs and pilot plants for industrial-size testing and research of bio-based projects, with the aim of helping them reach commercial scale production.
One of the first tenants of its facilities at Sarnia’s UWO Research Park is a $12-million cellulosic ethanol pilot plant Toronto-based Woodland Biofuels Inc. is expected to begin work in the coming months.
The centre’s grand opening was held in the fall and it’s now at work marketing and promoting its facilities, McLaughlin said.
“That’s one of the reasons it was good timing to set something up with ICFAR.”
Institute co-founder Franco Berrulit said in a press release the groups can “help southwestern Ontario establish itself as a leader in the development of sustainable biorefining and biofuels industries.”
McLaughlin added, “It’s a natural fit for ICFAR and BIC to be working together.”
When the Bioindustrial Innovation Centre was officially launched in October, it was touted as North America’s leading biotechnology incubator for fuels and products created from sustainable feedstocks, such as switch grass, soybeans, algae, corn and waste wood.
Observer article #2949126
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