VANCOUVER – A recent talk at a University of British Columbia event by Highbury CEO Len Bykowski apparently made quite an impact.

The Advanced Biofuels Workshop – jointly sponsored by a group of organizations including Natural Resources Canada, the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, and the BC Bioenergy Network – was a two-day event including seminars, panel discussions and social networking events for industry, academic and government insiders. As part of a panel discussion, Len was given 15 minutes to outline Highbury’s commercialization strategy of achieving the design for the initial 125,000-tonne commercial facility in 2021 and subsequent roll-out to revenue.

“Today Len gave a presentation in sessions with heavy hitters from Carbon Engineering, Forge Hydrocarbons, LanzaTech Inc., Parkland, Benefuel, Ensyn, Greenfields Global, Logen Corp, POET, and Suncor,” said Highbury co-founder and Chief Technical Officer Paul Watkinson. “While sharing glasses of wine at a networking session afterwards, a university professor associate of mine who has led the UK in sustainable technology, and is one of the sharpest critics in renewable energy, said to me: ‘Your guy gave the best presentation today – organized, to the point and with a solid path forward.’ I’m sure the message was not lost on the BC government and others present.”

Responds Len: “It was a privelege and honour – and a lot of fun – to be included in a session of the best in biofuels. I see exciting times ahead for us all.”

VANCOUVER – Dr. Paul Watkinson (Co-Founder and CTO) and Len Bykowski (CEO) were Special Guests at a meeting of the West Coast Bioenergy Guild on May 15 at a Vancouver restaurant. During the informal session, Len discussed the next steps in Highbury’s commercial roll-out plan, while Paul explained the scope and technical advantages of the Highbury system. Attendees included business people, engineers and energy industry insiders.

VANCOUVER – Liberal Member of Parliament and newly appointed Federal Treasury Board President Joyce Murray appeared at University of British Columbia on April 18 to announce over $4 million in federal funding for two projects – including $2.38 million to demonstrate and commercialize technologies for the production of natural gas from forest residues.

After the conference, Murray was escorted by UBC Professor Xiaotao (Tony) Bi to Highbury’s nearby 0.4 tonne/day scale biomass-to-syngas pilot plant. After a tour by Professor Bi, Highbury CEO Len Bykowski told Murray about Highbury’s commercial rollout to help BC meet its production target of 600 million litres of low-carbon-intensity biofuel per year by 2030, and explained the conversion of biomass for the displacement of natural gas in pulp mills and elsewhere.

“The grant is in part a recognition of the great research into renewable energy sources that UBC has been undertaking, including support of Highbury’s pilot plant,” said Len. 

“It’s also a reminder of the increasing commitment by governments at both provincial and national levels to establish and enforce standards for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to find new ways of creating low-carbon-intensity renewable fuels. So it’s another positive step forward for us.”

Gordon Floe, Principal of NLK Consulting, brings 30+ years experience

Highbury Energy Inc. is very pleased to announce the engagement of Gordon Floe, Principal of NLK Consulting, as a consultant and strategic contributor to our technology commercial roll-out strategy and project implementation plan.

Gordon brings broad industry exposure, with more than 30 years of experience in the pulp and paper, chemical and capital equipment sectors. He will be instrumental in building the necessary commercial-scale biomass supply chains aimed at displacing natural gas in pulp mill lime kilns, while playing an important role in our biomass-to-low-carbon-intensity fuel project. Gordon will further be active in strategic studies involving competitive cost and economic analysis, as well as in due diligence and asset-viability assessments for the projects. 

Access to long-term, competitive biomass supply is a pivotal factor for the success of Highbury Energy. We are excited to have Gordon now working with us on this front.

We’re excited to report that the world’s leading daily publication for biofuels, Florida-based Biofuels Digest, has written and published a profile about Highbury. The article outlines Highbury’s structure and goals, and appears on its website.

To read the full Biofuels Digest article, click here.

BC Government decarbonization report

energizes Highbury’s commercial roll-out

Highbury is greatly encouraged by a new BC Government report that foresees a sharply rising demand for biofuels and suggests a bright future for companies that can satisfy it. 

The 66-page report, entitled Clean BC: our nature, our power, our future, outlines the current government’s environmental goals and the legislation it has designed to achieve them. The province’s Renewable and Low Carbon Fuel Standard, for example, calls for a 20 percent reduction in the carbon intensity of fuels by 2030 – double the minimum of 10 percent mandated for 2020.

The report says 10% of gasoline and 40% of diesel from biofuels by 2030 – 650 million litres per year – could be part of the solution. Highbury management believes that its release strongly affirms and vindicates the validity of our commercial roll-out, whose next step is a full-scale Demonstration Plant built in concert with our design and manufacturing partners.

The report notes that as a producer of vast amounts of organic waste from forestry, agriculture municipalities and other sources, BC is well positioned for biofuel production. 

The report also mentions potential employment benefits arising from the production process. “Refining our own renewable fuels, with BC materials and BC workers, will lead to job growth and reduce the need to import fossil fuels and feedstock from other jurisdictions,” it says.

With our ultra-efficient conversion process, we expect to be playing a leading role in meeting BC’s biofuel needs.