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.”

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The first Plantagon Greenhouse breaks ground. A new type of greenhouse for vertical farming, an international Centre of Excellence for Urban Agriculture, a demo-plant for Swedish clean-tech and a climate-smart way to use excess heating and CO2 from industries. The potential is tremendous and ambitions high for the new greenhouse being built in Linkoping, Sweden, near the regional energy company, Tekniska Verken. Not least, it will be a new landmark for the people in Linkoping to enjoy.

Representatives from Linkoping city, Plantagon and Tekniska Verken gathered for a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony. Once the drafting stage is complete, construction of the greenhouse will take an estimated 12-16 months.

“I am immensely proud that Linkoping is the chosen site for the first vertical greenhouse. We will be the first city in the world to test the new technology and the systems involved to develop sustainable agricultural solutions for future cities,” says Paul Lindvall, Mayor of Linkoping.

“We are full of praise for Plantagon’s exciting project launching in Linkoping. Our ambition is to support the project with smart ideas for sustainable energy systems,” says Anders Jonsson, CEO of Tekniska Verken.

“This is a historic day for Plantagon. This ceremony marks the realization of the vision of creating functional sustainable solutions for the growing cities of today and tomorrow, where we can grow food in the cities in a resource-smart way, making use of the special conditions of the city,” says Hans Hassle, CEO of Plantagon.

The Plantagon greenhouse, developed together with Sweco, is designed for vertical agriculture of vegetables in urban areas. In cooperation with several partners, Plantagon plans to develop integrated solutions for energy, excess heat, waste, CO2 and water.

“With this greenhouse we’re developing and fine-tuning the technical systems required for vertical farming in urban areas, together with several well-known Swedish partner companies. We want to gather expertise in the field, and our long-term objective is to create an international Center of Excellence for Urban Agriculture here in Linkoping,” says Hans Hassle.

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