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Inside the boardroom of Alterna Energy’s office in Prince George, B.C., a row of what appear to be coal briquettes rest on a ledge. Company president and co-founder Leonard Legault picks one of them up, rests the plum-sized object in his hand and explains, “This is a carbonized apple.” The once lush fruit has essentially been reduced to its carbon base and is now a desiccated black lump.
But that lump has energy potential. Alterna Energy doesn’t want to carbonize apples, of course, but instead convert wood waste, such as trees killed by the mountain pine beetle, into what Legault calls “biocarbon,” which can then be used for clean heat and power generation. The idea is similar to using wood pellets for energy production, but Alterna’s carbonization process strips organic material down to its pure combustible elements, which results in an energy density 70% higher than wood pellets. The company calls them “next generation” energy pellets, and claims the process requires almost no external energy inputs and that its pellets can be used in existing coal plants without too many modifications. The process can be carbon-neutral since the CO2 released during combustion will ultimately be reabsorbed by the plant life that grows to replace the original organic material.
That’s created interest in Ontario where the provincial government has pledged to phase out coal-fired plants by 2014. (Ontario Power Generation is already experimenting with wood pellets at the Nanticoke coal plant in the southern part of the province.) Legault says Alterna is currently in talks with OPG, as well as officials from the city of Hamilton in B.C., to use the company’s technology. Alterna already has a small commercial plant in South Africa that provides heat for a nut processing facility using the waste shells, as well as a pilot plant in McBride, B.C.
Legault has grand ambitions for Alterna. Ask him to describe the potential of biocarbon, and he’ll say, “This is huge.” But progress has been made more difficult by the recession. Finding capital is not as easy it once was, of course, and Alterna’s technology is unproven in the eyes of potential investors. “Because we have nothing in North America, we’re considered new. We’re put into a slot where we’re perceived as high risk,” Legault says. He’s looking to form a joint venture rather than receive an outright cash injection, but potential partners have largely been forestry firms that are now more focused on surviving the recession rather than developing new technology.
Alterna received good news earlier this month, however, when Sustainable Development Technologies Canada provided it with $1.2 million in its latest funding round. The money will be used for a commercial facility with the capability of producing 25,000 tonnes of biocarbon, enough to provide seven megawatts of energy.
But the applications go beyond energy. Biocarbon can also be used to promote crop growth. When buried in top soil, the substance enhances nutrient absorption and thus reduces the need for fertilizer. Better yet, placing a portion of biocarbon in the ground rather than burning it all for energy results in a decrease in the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere, meaning the process can actually be carbon negative.
Biocarbon is known as biochar for agricultural applications, and other companies and scientists are researching the concept to see if it can work on a large scale. Cornell University professor Johannes Lehmann, for instance, wrote in the science journal Nature in 2007 that emissions reductions can be 12% to 84% greater when biochar is buried instead of using it to offset fossil fuels. Biochar is getting more attention lately, particularly after the first ever meeting of the Canadian Biochar Initiative last December.
As for Legault, he says Alterna has purposely kept a low profile until its technology is ready to go. “We’d rather be the ones to under promise and over deliver,” he says. That may be difficult when the company’s website uses words like “astronomical” to describe its potential, but some funding for a commercial plant in the bank and the search for partners still on the go, Legualt could soon have his chance.
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