The first Canadian biorefinery to produce 100% renewable drop-in fuels from logging residues is being established. Located in La Tuque, the biorefinery will produce approximately 210 million litres of fuel. This project, involving BioÉnergie La Tuque (BELT: General Manager, Patrice Mangin) and Neste, the oil company, is the lead investor and future operator, with an investment of approximately $1.2 billion CAD. Neste is the world leader in renewable fuel production and the third most sustainable company in the world across all industries. The project will create nearly 500 permanent jobs, excluding the construction planned for 2023. Within the network, we are working to optimize fuel production by adding green hydrogen obtained by water hydrolysis (alkaline or other technologies) or even by adding a mixture of green hydrogen and hydrogen obtained by oil cracking as long as the carbon reduction of the fuels is at least 60%.

Production of 99.9% pure hydrogen from biomass. This represents a smart use of Quebec’s hydroelectric power, as the energy required to produce hydrogen is significantly lower than for water hydrolysis. The energy is supplied by biomass. We aim to optimize hydrogen production by analyzing the best hydrolysis technologies. The hydrogen will be used in transportation, primarily heavy transport, including maritime and rail, as well as public transportation (hydrogen buses). We are also exploring hydrogen fuel cell (SOFC) technologies and the direct injection of hydrogen into internal combustion engines. Here too, we are working with a company (H2V) whose objective is to build a 50,000-tonne-per-year biohydrogen production plant in Bécancour, starting in the fall of 2020.

Development of an efficient and flexible trigeneration energy system for off-grid systems based on fuel cells for electricity and heat production. This involves the integration of existing technologies. The target market is remote, off-grid regions.