Toronto, Canada — The MaRS Cleantech Fund is pleased to announce the completion of a venture deal with Woodland Biofuels, positioned to become North America’s lowest-cost producer of ethanol.

“The MaRS Cleantech fund seeks technologies with the potential to revolutionize the energy sector,” says Tom Rand, co-managing director of the Fund. “Woodland Biofuels is on track to become the first company to profitably make renewable fuels from non-food sources without requiring any form of subsidy. That’s the kind of game-changer we target.”

Woodland Biofuels produces cellulosic ethanol from wood chips and other types of biomass, converting forestry and agricultural waste into fuel using a proprietary gasification and three-step catalytic conversion process. The company recently opened a demonstration plant in Sarnia, Ontario.

“Woodland’s demonstration plant will show that our technology can produce renewable fuels from cellulose, reliably and at low cost,” says Greg Nuttall, CEO of Woodland Biofuels. “We look forward to working with MaRS to bring this important technology into full commercial production.”

Rand notes that liquid fuels – gasoline, diesel and jet fuel – are the most difficult components of the fossil fuel infrastructure to replace with renewables.

“First-generation fuels from food are a non-starter – they can’t scale up,” says Rand. “There were a few early, high-profile failures in cellulosic fuels, which made investors flee the sector. But if you do your homework, it’s clear not all second-generation technologies are equal. With Woodland, we believe we’ve found a technology that can deliver on the promise of renewable fuel.”

Murray McCaig, the Fund’s co-managing partner, says it targets the technology component of a sustainable economy – investing in companies that solve big problems in order to reap big rewards.

“According to Ottawa-based Analytica Advisors, the global cleantech market is expected to reach $3 trillion by 2020,” McCaig says. “If Canada got just two per cent of the cleantech market by 2020, which happens to be our share of carbon emissions, we’d build a $60 billion industry. That’s the market we’re going after.”

Share This

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

About the author

TP Newswire
To suggest a news story or press release please send an email to newsroom@toonaripost.com.

Related Posts

Top Earth Day Champions in Reducing Carbon Emissions

Milwaukee, U.S.A. - In celebration of Earth Day, Johnson Controls, the global leader in delivering solutions that increase energy efficiency in buildings, released its Top Earth Day Champions list to highlight organizations...

Oceans are Acidifying Faster than Ever

According to a study conducted by an international team of researchers, the rate at which the oceans are currently becoming more acidic has increased due to carbon emissions from humans. Oceanic acidification is nothing...

2012’s Four Sustainability Trends

The worldwide movement toward sustainability has made significant progress over the past half-dozen years as companies and cities have pursued strategies that balance future and current societal needs. Now, sustainable development...