High-tech finesse expands capability to do more with less
Albertans are embracing a circular economy, a business framework that reduces waste, pollution and energy use while reducing reliance on new resources. Some of the technology required to push the needle toward the circular economic model already exists — but Alberta businesses are pushing the limits of zero waste operations using high-tech control systems.
For example, West Coast Reduction Ltd. (WCRL) operates three zero-waste rendering plants in Alberta — in Calgary, Edmonton and Lethbridge — which primarily serve the beef and pork industry. Once edible protein has been prepared for market, the company applies heat to transform the inedible 40 to 50 per cent of the livestock into usable products: fats and oils to be used as feedstock for biofuels, protein meal for animal and pet food, and raw material for fertilizer.
“It’s essentially an industrial-scale, high-tech kitchen,” says Jared Girman, director of government relations and strategic initiatives with WCRL. “By optimizing the system, we can sell 100 per cent of what we process and reuse all of the water we extract in our processing.”
WCRL is currently looking to produce its own fuel onsite from a range of sources, including manure, used cooking oil, restaurant grease and meat trimmings.
“That would make our operations energy neutral,” says Girman.
Innovators in Alberta’s agricultural sector are working toward similar goals. The mission statement of the Perry Family Farm, located just east of Lethbridge, is to “produce perfect potatoes.” But its long-term goal is to demonstrate leadership in sustainable wealth creation by integrating agriculture and energy production.
Its GrowTEC operation features an anaerobic digester, commissioned in 2014, which harnesses bacteria to break down organic waste to produce biogas. That gas fuels a combined heat and power unit that has generated more than 4,000 megawatt hours of electricity each year since 2016.
“In farm country, we can utilize organic feedstock ranging from potato cull to manure, not only from our own farm, but from the surrounding area,” says company president Chris Perry, who operates the farm with his brother.
In the process, the farm reduces the production of greenhouse gases, achieves energy independence, generates heat to purify potato wash water and creates fertilizer to nourish the soil.
The Perry farm is looking for partners to help optimize the tech behind the system to create a replicable and exportable model for agriculture.
However, as carbon credits increase in value, the GrowTEC business model is attracting additional attention.
“Adding up the number of calls we’ve made in the past eight years to potential customers for carbon credits, we’ve seen that many calls returned in just the last six months or so,” Perry says. “Our operations are just a small part of the renewable energy equation, but we believe we’re developing a made-in-Alberta success story.”
This story was created by Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial content division.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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