CBIN R&D Activities

The Bio-Based Energy Systems Portfolio’s goal is to continually ensure the availability of knowledge, technologies, and enabling policies required to support the development of a sustainable Canadian bioeconomy. Through strategic investment of the PERD and ecoETI funds, the R&D activities are expected to contribute in the long-term to the sustainability of Canadian industry, making it more efficient, cost-competitive and environmentally sound, and to promote the sustainability of society at large by providing cleaner energy services and products alternatives.

CBIN’s S&T Portfolio Committee coordinates and manages two NRCan bioenergy R&D initiatives:

• The Program of Energy Research and Development (PERD) - Bio-Based Energy Systems and Technologies (BEST) Program; and
• The ecoENERGY Technology Initiative (ecoETI) – Bio-Based Energy Systems.

Both programs share a common program structure and undertake research in four areas along the innovation chain from feedstocks to end-products. The four research areas are: 1) Sustainable Feedstocks; 2) Biomass Conversion; 3) Bioplexes and Biorefineries; and 4) Governance, Sustainability and Performance Measurement Tools.

Area 1 – Sustainable Feedstocks aims to improve the availability of Canada’s two largest sources of biomass supply from forestry and agriculture operations as well as organic opportunity residues. R&D in this area looks at feedstock production and logistics as it relates to energy and will generate information that is vital for the planning, costing and siting of bioenergy, bioproducts or biorefineries operations. As biomass is located in certain regions of the country and there are economic limitations to the transport of biomass, it makes sense to explore bioenergy, biofuels and bioproducts production from a regional versus sector-specific perspective. It is therefore essential to know what type of biomass is located where, what the regional energy needs for stationary and transportation applications are and what forms of energy and products the biomass can be converted into.

Area 2 – Biomass Conversion supports R&D that advances the development of thermochemical, biochemical and physical-chemical systems and technologies that can be used to convert different biomass feedstocks into bioenergy, biofuels and industrial bioproducts. The intention is to move new and/or improved viable technologies further along the innovation curve. As these technology applications must ultimately be sustainable and competitive, attention will be paid to increasing conversion efficiencies and minimizing material and energy requirements in order to realize cost-effective technological solutions.

Area 3 – Bioplexes and Biorefineries will identify and develop promising biorefinery systems that integrate the production and conversion of biomass into bioenergy, biofuels, and industrial bioproducts. It focuses on the entire value chain from a given feedstock to the final products and looks at processes and systems that could produce bioenergy, biofuels, and industrial bioproducts following a cascading principle where high value products are the primary focus. This R&D will also explore how one or more biorefineries might function in a bioplex configuration, similar to the petrochemical complex, and where bioplex opportunities might exist in Canada.

Area 4 – Governance, Sustainability and Performance Measurement Tools supports the science for and the development of baseline environmental data, tools and assessment frameworks necessary to evaluate the sustainability, performance, utility and efficacy of bioenergy, biofuels, and bioproducts compared to conventional ones.