I keep asking everybody who talks about this “where is the bio coming from?� nobody has an answer. I see no fields of corn, wheat…..anything around Sudbury. I would think that you would want to build a plant near a good source of bio?.....or am I missing something here?
$4-M biodiesel plant a near certainty: MP
By Denis St. Pierre/The Sudbury Star
Local News - Saturday, December 11, 2004 @ 11:00
Federal approval for a $4-million biodiesel fuel plant in Sudbury appears all but assured, Nickel Belt MP Ray Bonin says.
The only remaining issue is how long it will take for a final decision to be made, Bonin says.
“I’ll be awfully disappointed if it’s not approved before Christmas,� Bonin said Friday.
After more than six months of lobbying, Bonin said he has virtually unanimous support in the Liberal cabinet for Sudbury’s proposed biodiesel plant.
“It’s in the prime minister’s office. The decisions has to come from there,� he said.
However, legal red tape could hold up the decision until the new year, Bonin said.
“I’m almost sure we’ll have it approved by the spring ... But I’m pushing for getting it approved before Christmas."
New federal regulations have to be developed with regard to biodiesel fuel, Bonin said.
To fast-track that process, he said, he has been lobbying for “a ministerial decision to apply the (existing) ethanol regulations to biodiesel.�
The proposed Sudbury plant would be funded equally by the federal government and a private company, Topia Energy Inc.
Biodiesel is a vegetable-oil-based fuel that can be blended with petroleum diesel or used entirely on its own as a more environmentally friendly fuel for vehicles with diesel engines.
Most commercial applications use a mix of 20 per cent biodiesel and 80 per cent petroleum diesel. The mixture can be used in regular diesel engines without modification.
Earlier this year, the City of Greater Sudbury reported encouraging results from preliminary testing of a biodiesel/petroleum diesel mixture in a few transit buses and other municipal vehicles.
Topia Energy has told the city it has earmarked a site for the proposed plant, near the municipal landfill off Highway 17. If the plant is built, it will be the first such facility in Canada.
Although the plant would employ only a handful of people directly, there could be up to 200 spinoff jobs in the area’s agricultural sector, Bonin noted.
The biodiesel plant would require production from thousands of acres of canola grain. The plant also could process fish and animal fat.
“This will benefit five ridings — Temiskaming, Parry Sound-Muskoka, Algoma, Nickel Belt and Sudbury,� Bonin said.
Securing the biodiesel plant could lead to further “green energy� projects in Greater Sudbury, Mayor Dave Courtemanche said.
“This is an opportunity to move forward with a green energy initiative that I think would do a whole bunch of things,� Courtemanche said.
“First of all, it would be good for the environment. It would be good for the local economy ... It would help with our image as a community. It sends a very positive message to the rest of the world that we’re building on the environmental leadership reputation that we’ve earned over the last 25 years around regreening and we’re now moving into other areas.�
