Innovation Anthology #510:

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Imagine car parts made from pulp.

This new entry into the growing bio refining industry is a reality thanks to a deal with auto parts giant Magna Corporation.

Dr. Stan Blade of Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions explains.

DR. STAN BLADE: We’re doing this in collaboration with an Ontario group, along side Alberta Innovates Technology Futures, and a number of pulp plants in the Province of Alberta, and Magna Auto Parts, one of the tier one suppliers to the auto industry globally.
What does Magna want out of this? They want something that is light and strong and renewable, because some of the key manufacturers around the world are looking for this to put as parts into their automobiles. And we want to be able to use in this case, wood fibre in way that’s much different from the wood products or the pulp or the paper that we produce here. So it’s really a test of an entirely new potential market. It’s a test of entirely new technologies. But it’s driven by the fact that we have those resources here in the province of Alberta.

Dr. Stan Blade says the Bio Solutions agency is also researching enhanced food safety and biological methods to sequester carbon.

Thanks today to Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions

I’M CHERYL CROUCHER

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Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions

The Alberta Innovates consolidation launched on November 1, 2016.

As part of the Alberta Innovates system, AI Bio Solutions invests in research and innovation to grow prosperity in Alberta’s agriculture, food and forestry sectors. The publicly funded board-governed corporation works with partners to identify, coordinate and fund research projects. AI Bio Solutions helps solve industry challenges with solutions that deliver economic, environmental and social benefits.

Program Date: 2012-11-06