#832: Forge Hydrocarbons: Clean Biofuel From Rendering Waste

, , ,

Dr. David Bressler

Download MP3 Link

 
Dr. David Bressler is a professor at the University of Alberta.  He works in the up and coming field of biorefining.

He’s mining agricultural waste streams, for example, to produce fuels and feedstocks to replace conventional hydrocarbons.

 DR DAVID BRESSLER:    Well a fat or an oil like you’d find, even butter itself, chemically is very close to a hydrocarbon fuel that we look at, except that it has an acid group on the end of the molecule.  So we just constructively looked at a way of using a high temperature and high pressure to more or less break off that acid group, leaving the hydrocarbon tail left behind.  

Turns out there are many sources for material for bioconversion.

DR DAVID BRESSLER:   We have a lot of relationships with the rendering industry.  We’ve looked at tall oil, which is basically tree oil coming out of the pulp and paper industry.  So we can go from those things to the brown and yellow greases , so spent restaurant grease.  Because we can handle those dirty feedstocks, we can go to much more impure forms.    We have tested against algal – that’s kind of the bio mass area right now that’s getting a lot of interest globally – being able to grow algae on sunlight or trapping CO2.  And we’re able to convert lipids no matter where they come from at this point.  

Dr. Bressler has patented his new technology and formed a company called Forge Hydrocarbons.

Thanks today to ALBERTA INNOVATES

FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER

Guest

,

, , , ,

Sponsor

Alberta Innovates

Alberta Innovates is a provincially funded Corporation with a mandate to deliver 21st century solutions for the most compelling challenges facing Albertans. We do this by building on our province’s research and technology development strengths in the core sectors of health, environment, energy, food and fibre and platforms such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and omics. We are working with our partners to diversify Alberta’s economy, improve our environmental performance and enhance our well-being through research and innovation. 

The Alberta Innovates system has roots stretching back almost 90 years

In March, 2016 the consolidation of Alberta Innovates was announced and on November 1, a single, integrated innovation powerhouse, Alberta Innovates, was formed. Two applied research subsidiaries – Innotech Alberta and C-Fer Technologies –  serve public and private sector interests.

The Alberta Innovates system was first created in January 2010, as part of an overall innovation framework developed within the Alberta Research and Innovation Act. At that time, four corporations were established:

  • Bio Solutions
  • Energy and Environment Solutions
  • Health Solutions
  • Technology Futures.

The Alberta Innovates system has a 90-year legacy. Our expertise is built on the successes of:

  • Alberta Institute for Agriculture
  • Forestry and the Environment
  • Alberta Agricultural Research Institute
  • Alberta Forestry Research Institute
  • Alberta Life Sciences Institute
  • Alberta Ingenuity
  • Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research
  • Alberta Research Council
  • iCORE
  • nanoAlberta
  • Alberta Water Research Institute (AWRI)
  • Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI)
  • Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority (AOSTRA).

 

Program Date: 2016-12-15