BIOPRODUCTS
TODAY
Until the 1920s, most Canadian industries depended on
renewable biological resources, such as trees, crops and other forms of
biomass, to manufacture products. These
early bioproducts industries were largely displaced as new industrial technologies
made energy, plastics and other materials from fossil fuels more efficient and
economical to produce. As the population and the economy grew during the past
century,
Industrial growth fed by fossil fuels followed. So, too, did major advances in technology,
medicine, food production and, for many, quality of life.
Canada’s
early dependence on renewable, biological resources, such as trees and crops,
was far from environmentally benign.
Large tracts of forests were lost.
Biodiversity suffered. Burning
biomass scattered ash, smoke and other pollutants across the landscape.
Bioproducts in Canada
More than 80 per cent of the bioproducts companies in Canada are
small and medium-sized enterprises. The
number of enterprises continues to grow (but the number reported may not be
completely representative since some bioproducts are also manufactured by firms
not recognized as biotechnology companies in the Statistics Canada
survey).
Some Canadian bioproducts manufacturers are subsidiaries of large
corporations. One example is Dow
Bioproducts of Elie, Manitoba,
a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Canada that makes construction
materials out of straw and resin. Other
large corporations, such as DuPont, BASF, CASCO and Cargill Dow, are investing
in bioproducts.
According to Statistics Canada, in 2001 Canadian industry
invested $60-80 million in the research and development of bioproducts – a
significant sum, but considerable less than investments in the United States, Japan
and Germany.
Canadian forest Products
The Canadian
forest products industry is an important industry that has always used biomass. Canada exports more forest products
than any other nation in the world.
According to figures compiled by the Canadian Forest
Service, in 2002 the Canadian forest industry exported almost $4.3 billion
worth of products and was the nation’s largest industrial employer. The industry is also considered the most geographically
dispersed industrial employer in the country, supporting more than 300 rural
communities.
This Primer
does not consider traditional forest products (e.g., timber, pulp and paper);
instead, it focuses on bioproducts that have the potential to complement or
replace products currently made from petrochemicals and fossil fuels. This does not mean that Canada’s
forestry industry has no role to play in the development of a bioproducts
industry. On the contrary, trees are
essential as a source of biomass for both traditional and novel
bioproducts. Several forestry companies already
use branches, bark and other wood waste from their operations to generate
electricity for their own operations. For
example, Pacifica Papers of British Columbia – a producer of 1,300
tonnes of newsprint and other products per day – uses bark from its
stone-ground wood mill and other wood residues to run a 40-megawatt generator
that powers its facilities.
Bioproducts in other
nations
United States: Sales of bioproducts more than doubles
between 1983 and 1995, from $5.4 billion to $11 billion. In 2002, the US Department of Energy
published its Vision for Bioenergy & Biobased Products in the United States,
which recommended that government and industry work to increase the share of
biomass power to five per cent, transportation fuels to 20 per cent, and
biobased products to 25 per cent of their respective markets by 2030.
Japan: Is encouraging growth in bioproducts research
and industrial development.
Germany: Is a leader in developing a suite of programs,
product standards and regulatory frameworks designed to promote the use of
renewable fuels, chemicals and materials, as well as the development of
environmentally friendly industrial processes.
Brazil: Brazil requires vehicles to use
gasoline with at least 20 to 24 per cent ethanol, which is locally produced
from sugar cane. This regulation to
reduce dependency on foreign oil has resulted in as much as 40 per cent of Brazil’s
vehicles being powered by 100 per cent ethanol.
The government is also encouraging the country- now the world’s largest
ethanol producer – to seek export opportunities.
Scandinavian countries:
Are actively encouraging the
planting of fast growing poplars and willows to make paper products and
composite construction materials.
