AMEC To Design First Commercial Scale Biodiesel Plant

AMEC logo AMEC has been awarded a $1.9m contract to design a groundbreaking $24m alternative fuel production plant for Biox Corporation in Hamilton, Ontario. It will be the first commercial scale biodiesel production facility to be built in Canada.

AMEC will provide engineering services and procurement assistance on the project which is being led by AMEC's Oakville office, with geotechnical services support from AMEC's Hamilton and St. Catharines Earth & Environmental offices.

Work will begin on detail engineering immediately. The facility, which is subject to environmental approvals, will be designed to produce 60 million litres of biodiesel a year - increasing North American biodiesel production capacity by 50 per cent. Construction is expected to begin late autumn.

The facility will be designed using state-of-the-art technology to convert vegetable oils, agricultural seed oils, waste animal fats, greases and recycled cooking oils into biodiesel. Biodiesel, which is renewable, non-toxic, biodegradable and sulphur free, can be used purely as an alternative fuel or blended with regular petroleum diesel at any level in any unmodified diesel engine. It emits 80 per cent fewer hydrocarbons, 60 per cent less carbon dioxide and 50 per cent less particulate matter than petroleum diesel, improving stop-and-go fuel economy and increasing engine life without sacrificing performance.

With the completion of its facility in Hamilton, Biox plans to build additional plants elsewhere in Canada and eventually expand internationally.

Oakville-based Biox owns a revolutionary new technology, developed by Dr. David Boocock at the University of Toronto, to convert any feedstock including agricultural seed oils, waste animal fats and recovered vegetable oils into biodiesel in a continuous process performed at near-ambient temperatures and atmospheric pressures.