Case Story Canada

Biogas production – an integral part of an evolving integrated biorefinery complex in Québec

October 2024

The Province of Québec was the first Canadian province to adopt sustainable development legislation, thereby signaling its clear conviction to embody sustainable development in all government decisions. Since the Act came into force in 2006, numerous policies, strategies and programs have been put in place to guide future development accordingly. More recently, the 2030 Green Economy Plan and the 2030 Québec Green Hydrogen and Bioenergy Strategy included the following ambitious targets for 2030: 15% ethanol content in gasoline, 10% biodiesel in diesel fuel, 10% renewable natural gas in the gas network, 50% increase in bioenergy production, 80% energy supply of off-grid systems from renewable sources, 40% reduction in the consumption of oil products, and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

In 2007, Greenfield Québec Inc. (a circular economy company; see https://greenfield.com/about-us/) built the first plant to produce fuel grade ethanol from locally produced grain corn in Varennes, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. The facility produces 190,000,000 litres of ethanol, 400 tons biogenic CO2 sold for liquefaction and the production of dry ice, 170 tons of dried distillers’ grains sold as animal protein and 5,500 litres of corn oil from 440,000 tons of grain corn each year. All parts of the grain corn are valued and converted into marketable products, meaning there is no material waste. Hydro-generated electricity, natural gas and biogas are used to operate the facility today, and plans are in place to completely eliminate the use of fossil fuels by 2027.

In 2010, serious discussions began in Québec on progressive banning of the disposal of organic waste in landfills, and new solutions for waste management were required. Anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste was identified as a good alternative, and the siting of such a facility next to an industrial user of natural gas in order to replace this energy source with the generated biogas was proposed as an effective solution. Greenfield Global, through its company Biogaz EG, a company dedicated to biogas development, decided to invest in an organic matter treatment Center using anaerobic digestion adjacent to its fuel grade ethanol plant in Varennes and created, in partnership with local municipalities, Société d’économie mixte de l’est de la couronne sud (SÉMECS). The direct use of biogas produced at SÉMECS Center has made it possible to reduce the carbon intensity of the fuel-grade ethanol produced at the Varennes plant.