Enerkem is a clean technology company based in Montreal. Founded in 2000, Enerkem uses its patented technology to convert residual biomass and non-recyclable

municipal solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the American English, United States and rubbish in British English, Britain, is a List of waste types, waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. ...

(MSW) into biofuels and renewable

chemicals A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

. In Quebec, Canada, Enerkem has an innovation centre in Westbury. The company's first commercial-scale demonstration plant was inaugurated in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

in 2014. Other commercial plants are under development in Canada and Europe, such as in

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

(Spain),

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

(Netherlands) and Varennes (Quebec), with the latter under construction in September 2021. Enerkem is a private company. Its shareholders are

National Bank of Canada The National Bank of Canada () is the sixth largest commercial bank in Canada. It is headquartered in Montreal, and has branches in most Canadian provinces and 2.4 million personal clients. National Bank is the largest bank in Quebec, and the se ...

BlackRock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

, Braemar Energy Ventures, Cycle Capital, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Fondaction CSN,

Investissement Québec Investissement Québec () is a company established in 1998 under an act passed by the National Assembly of Quebec to favour investment in Quebec by Quebec-based and international companies. Its registered office is located in Quebec City. In Decem ...

, Rho Ventures, Sinobioway,

Suncor Suncor Energy Inc. () is a Canadian integrated energy company based in Calgary, Alberta. It specializes in production of synthetic crude from oil sands. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Suncor Energy was ranked as the 48th-largest public compan ...

, The Westly Group and

Waste Management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitor ...

. Enerkem is positioned in the field of biofuels and

greenhouse gas reduction Climate change mitigation (or decarbonisation) is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. Climate change mitigation actions include energy conservation, conserving energy and Fossil fuel phase-out, repl ...

. The management team consists of ten managers and is chaired by Dominique Boies, CEO and CFO since 2019. The Board of Directors comprises nine experienced directors and is chaired by Joshua Ruch, President of Rho Capital Partners.

History

Enerkem's technology was developed by Dr. Esteban Chornet (

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

and Professor Emeritus at the University of Sherbrooke). Professor Chornet has been in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

since 1970 and has had a distinguished career as a professor at the University of Sherbrooke while continuing his work on

biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...

. He has also conducted highly successful research projects in

catalysis Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...

and

thermochemistry Thermochemistry is the study of the heat energy which is associated with chemical reactions and/or phase changes such as melting and boiling. A reaction may release or absorb energy, and a phase change may do the same. Thermochemistry focuses on ...

with Canadian and American partners. Over the years, Esteban Chornet's research has allowed him to explore the potential of biomass as an alternative energy source. This led to the revolutionary technology that allows Enerkem to produce

biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from Biomass (energy), biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricu ...

s and renewable chemicals from biomass and non-recyclable waste. In 2000, in order to take full advantage of this technology, Esteban Chornet founded Enerkem with his son Vincent Chornet. The new company focused on refining its technology and seeking financing. In 2004, Enerkem completed the construction of a pilot plant in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

, Quebec, Canada, to further develop its technology and adapt it to market requirements. In 2009, the company commissioned an industrial demonstration plant in Westbury, in the

Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby, Quebec, Granby in ...

, Quebec. This plant will work on the production of

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

and

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with the chemical formula (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often ab ...

from forestry waste and biomass. It will also have a mandate to develop new products and act as a training centre. In 2014, Enerkem inaugurated its first full-scale facility in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada, for the conversion of household waste into biofuels and renewable chemicals. In 2016, it became the first ISCC-certified plant in the world to convert waste materials into biomethanol. In 2018, Enerkem joined a partnership consisting of

AkzoNobel Akzo Nobel N.V., stylised as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational corporation, multinational company which creates paints and performance coatings for both industry and consumers worldwide. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities ...

, Van Gansewinkel,

Air Liquide Air Liquide S.A. ( , ; literally " liquid air") is a French multinational company which supplies industrial gases and services to various industries including medical, chemical and electronic manufacturers. Founded in 1902, after Linde it is ...

, AVR and Enerkem to build a waste treatment plant in

in collaboration with the

Port of Rotterdam The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the List of bus ...

, the City of Rotterdam, the Province of South Holland and Innovation Quarter. On July 12, 2019, Dominique Boies was appointed chief executive officer and Chief Financial Officer to replace Vincent Chornet, who died prematurely a few weeks earlier. Mr. Boies had served as the company's CFO since 2017. On December 8, 2020, Enerkem announced the construction of an $875 million biofuel plant in Varennes, Quebec. In April 2021, Spain's

Repsol Repsol S.A.
El Nuevo Herald, 2012-05-31Originally an init ...

announced that it had partnered with Enerkem and Agbar (

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

) to build a waste-to-renewable chemicals plant in

, Spain. In June 2021, to meet growing demand from

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

, Enerkem, and the

announced a shift in focus for the Rotterdam (Netherlands) projected plant to the production of sustainable

aviation fuel Aviation fuels are either petroleum-based or blends of petroleum and synthetic fuels, used to power aircraft. They have more stringent requirements than fuels used for ground applications, such as heating and road transport, and they contain add ...

Current and projected plants using Enerkem technology

Demonstration plant

* Westbury, Quebec: Operating since 2008, the Westbury plant is used for demonstration purposes, new product development and as a training centre for technicians and plant operators. In 2018, it successfully produced a high-performance

that could improve the

octane Octane is a hydrocarbon and also an alkane with the chemical formula C8H18, and the condensed structural formula CH3(CH2)6CH3. Octane has many structural isomers that differ by the location of branching in the carbon chain. One of these isomers ...

rating of fuels sold on the market and reduce their

carbon footprint A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country Greenhouse gas emissions, adds to the atmospher ...

. In the same year, the research and development team produced a clean and renewable bio-dimethyl ether ( bio-DME), derived from biomethanol, which could effectively contribute to the fight against

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

by replacing diesel fuel used in the transportation sector.

Plant under construction

* Varennes, Quebec: Construction of the Varennes Carbon Recycling (VCR) plant is ongoing. The project is being carried out with a group of strategic partners including Enerkem as well as

, Proman and

. The

biorefinery A biorefinery is a refinery that converts biomass to energy and other beneficial byproducts (such as chemicals). The International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 42 defined biorefining as "the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of bi ...

will benefit from a significant input of green hydrogen. The plant is expected to be operational in 2025. Annually, it will be able to produce 125,000 tonnes of biofuels from 200,000 tonnes of biomass and non-recyclable residual materials from the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors.

Planned plants

* El Morrell, Tarragona, Spain: In April 2021, the Spanish company

Repsol Repsol S.A.
El Nuevo Herald, 2012-05-31Originally an init ...

announced that it had partnered with Enerkem and Agbar (

) to build a waste-to-renewable-chemicals plant in El Morrell, Spain. The plant is planned to become operational in 2025 and will produce some 220,000 metric tons of methanol from approximately 400,000 metric tons of non-recyclable municipal solid waste. Final investment decision is pending. *Rotterdam, The Netherlands: In 2018, Enerkem joined a partnership of several large European companies to build a waste treatment plant in Rotterdam. In June 2021, to meet growing demand from

, Enerkem, and the

announced a shift in the focus of the Rotterdam plant to the production of sustainable aviation fuel.

Decommissioned plant

*Edmonton Alberta Biofuels: This commercial size demonstration facility was operation 2016-2024 and was the first collaboration on such a scale between a major city and a producer of biofuels from waste. It was designed with a capacity of 350 metric tonnes of waste material per day to produce some 38 million litres of ethanol per year. In 2017, a methanol-to-ethanol conversion unit was installed at the plant, which enabled the production of biomethanol. Enerkem thus became the first company to produce

cellulosic ethanol Cellulosic ethanol is ethanol (ethyl alcohol) produced from cellulose (the stringy fiber of a plant) rather than from the plant's seeds or fruit. It can be produced from grasses, wood, algae, or other plants. It is generally discussed for use as a ...

from non-recyclable and non-compostable

. The facility was retired in February 2024 after having achieved 15.000 hours of operation and produced 5.000 Nm³ ethanol/methanol.

References

{{Authority control Energy companies of Canada Biofuel producers Synthetic fuel facilities Companies based in Montreal Energy companies established in 2000 Renewable resource companies established in 2000 2000 establishments in Quebec Canadian companies established in 2000