Success Stories
Alterna Energy Inc.
City: Prince George
British Columbia Regional Science & Technology Network Council: Innovation Research Centre
Alterna Energy Inc. is a clean energy company in Prince George that is developing and testing a promising technology that is new to Canada: the Enviro Carbonizer.
Developed in South Africa, enviro carbonization converts wood fibre into carbon, heat and electricity. Most energy conversion systems process wood fibre or other biomass material through combustion or gasification, producing heat and waste ash. However, enviro carbonization produces heats, electricity and high-quality carbon. Far from being waste, carbon can be used in medicine, water filtration or metal smelting – thus generating added economic activity.
Alterna Energy has acquired the Canadian rights to this process. The company customizes Enviro Carbonizer units to produce more heat and less electricity, or vice versa, depending on what the customer needs. A single unit can produce three to six megawatts of heat energy and two megawatts of electricity – enough to power 1,300 homes – while releasing only small amounts of carbon dioxide. With the help of the Innovation Resource Centre, Alterna hopes to tap into the green energy sector, as well as capitalize on the excess of wood fibre in central B.C. due to the mountain pine beetle epidemic. Alterna is also working with provincial and local governments and First Nations, and has brought in a team of consultants and advisers to make their dream a reality.
Widespread distribution of Enviro Carbonizer units would generate economic activity for communities, regions and the province as a whole. The supply of carbon would increase, and more communities would be able to take part in handling, processing and transporting carbon products. Jobs would also be created to handle and treat wood fibre for carbonization, to oversee safe and efficient plant operations, and to perform support functions – not to mention those created at Alterna itself.
Job creation would not be confined to urban centres – Enviro Carbonizer units are simple to operate, easy to maintain, and relatively small, making them ideal for remote locations that now rely on diesel generators, such as Haida Gwaii, Telegraph Creek, or Anahim Lake. Providing these places with low-cost thermal and electrical energy would also makes them more attractive to tourism and mining.
The provincial, national and international implications of this technology are undeniable, especially in light of growing economic opportunities in sparsely populated areas such as the Arctic. And as the province, the country and the international community look to clean technologies in the struggle against climate change, Alterna’s timing could not be better.
For more information, please visit http:www.alternaenergy.ca.
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