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.”
