Alberta carbon tax supports biofuel plant

Alberta is drawing on revenues from its carbon tax to help SBI BioEnergy finalize construction of a $20-million biorefinery that produces renewable fuel that is virtually indistinguishable from diesel. SBI has spent the last three years scaling up a processing technology to convert non-food canola oil and waste fats into renewable diesel, gasoline and jet fuel that can replace or blend with conventional fuels. SBI's proprietary catalyst technology uses no hydrogen, water or chemicals, generates no waste or emissions and costs less than other alternative fuel technologies. The new Edmonton facility will begin producing up to 10 million litres of fuel annually by the end of 2016, with plans to build a full-scale commercial plant producing up to 240 million litres/year by 2018. Alberta currently imports 300 million litres each year of renewable diesel. Funding of $10 million was provided through the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corp, a joint initiative between the Government of Alberta and Sustainable Development Technology Canada….