Low Carbon Bio + Synthetic Fuels

Trash is cash: Decentralized conversion of biomass residues into higher-value bioproducts and biofuels

THE PROBLEM

Most crop and forest residues (biomass) are loose, wet, and bulky, making them difficult and expensive to collect and transport to a centralized place as a feedstock for conversion. As such, many rural communities are often shut out from the benefits of the bioeconomy, and their only recourse is to burn their residues in open air.

Worldwide, billions of tonnes of non-merchantable residues are burned. This not only creates significant air pollution, but can also exacerbate catastrophic wildfires. We are developing small-scale, low-cost, and portable systems that can be latched onto the back of tractors and pick-up trucks to deploy to rural, hard-to-access regions to locally upgrade and densify the residues into higher-value bioproducts such as chemicals, biofuels, and biochar-based fertilizer blends.

THE SOLUTION

Takachar is working closely with rural communities in British Columbia and elsewhere on the implementation of field-scale prototypes, as a demonstration to turn locally available crop and forest residues into higher-value products such as biofuel feedstocks and biochar-based fertilizers. In turn, this will help offtakers of carbon-based fuels and commodities access an affordable, carbon mitigating form of feedstock. Additionally, this solution will help mitigate wildfire risks and slash pile burning emissions.

This project will result in a portable, field-scale prototype of our technology for demonstration with potential customers creating self-sufficient waste-to-vale bio economies in remote communities. The system requires no external energy to start or operate. If scaled globally, our solution has the potential to mitigate gigatonne-per-year CO2-equivalent.

PROJECT STATUS
Active
PROJECT CATEGORY
Low Carbon Bio + Synthetic Fuels
FUNDING RECIPIENT
Takachar
CICE FUNDING AMOUNT
$380,000
PROJECT VALUE
$760,000
  • “This award is instrumental in helping us assess the commercial viability of the biofuel and bioenergy market, which in turn is expected to overwhelmingly benefit rural, underserved communities.”
    Kevin Kung, Co-Founder and CTO of Takachar VISIT TAKACHAR