BC Biocarbon i53 Fall 23

EXECUTIVE INSIGHT LEADING THE PROFESSIONAL CHARGE

FALL 2023

ISSUE 53

Carbon

Products for a Low-Carbon

Future

AS THE PRESSURE TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE INCREASES, THE POTENTIAL OF OUR SOLUTION IS SIGNIFICANT

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Carbon

Products for a Low-Carbon

Future

BC Biocarbon produces biogenic carbon products for various uses, including land and water remediation, carbon sequestration, and the direct substitution of fossil fuels. “As the pressure to mitigate climate change increases, the potential of our solution is significant,” says the company CEO Peter Popplewell.

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C Biocarbon is an innovative residuals-to-resource Canadian company headquartered in McBride, British Columbia, that specializes in pyrolysis, a process through which residual substances are thermo-chemically converted to produce carbon-rich solids, liquids, and gasses.

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Delivering Customised Solutions Unmatched in innovation & Quality

D ABMAR SCREENS USA INC.

100 Bull Street, Suite 229 Savannah, Georgia 31401 United States of America

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Josef Martin C: +1 912 272 6064 E: jm@dabmar.co.za

www.dabmarscreens.com

FALL 2023 I EXECUTIVE INSIGHT MAGAZINE

The company was founded in 2011 by Phil Marsh, the company President and Chief Technology Officer, a former Royal Canadian Air Force pilot and the inventor of BC Biocarbon’s core intellectual property. He was passionate about pyrolysis,

the process of heating an organic material, such as biomass, in the absence of oxygen, resulting in biological charcoal (biochar), a charcoal-like material that is safe to be re-used in a variety of climate-positive ways.

This includes land and

water treatment, and helping soils to retain nutrients and water.

Biochar is an effective method of sequestering carbon and storing it for centuries, driving meaningful CO2 reductions critical in the fight against climate change.

Two business models

In 2018, the company developed its first continuous-flow production unit designed to operate at a processing rate of one metric tonne of biomass per hour and with a conversion ratio of four tonnes of biomass to one tonne of biochar.

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Our initial focus was on producing biocoal out of residuals

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Through its patented process, the company combines a substance called “glassy tar” with biochar and then presses it into a high-quality bio-coal that is waterproof and can be easily transported by train, a major advantage.

The process is completely auto thermal - the bulk of the energy for the process comes from the biomass, which is backed by Puro. earth certification.

Peter Popplewell explains that the company has further refined the IP. “Our initial focus was on producing bio-coal out of residuals — any hydrocarbon that can be obtained from municipal solid waste, garbage wood, crop and lumber residuals, etc, but we also process, decant, and distil the condensate (the gases released through pyrolysis) into creosote oils or chemical compounds such as wood vinegar, which can be used as a biostimulant, dedusting agent and de-icer.”

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He reflects that as carbon markets have evolved, biochar has actually become more valuable and more in demand for agricultural use than bio-coal. “If a company uses biochar in an application that goes into the ground, it is eligible for carbon credits. At this point, the company really took on a new direction and focused on making biochar for horticulture and agricultural uses and carbon credits under the certification of Puro.earth.”

The biorefinery Peter Popplewell, who joined BC Biocarbon in 2022, has a true passion for the business. With a PhD in electrical engineering and a long career in the electronics industry, he was attracted to BC Biocarbon by its climate change impact, and fascinated by the potential of biochar and its dual purpose as both a removal and as a highly useful output product benefiting multiple downstream industries. “I want to tell my grandchildren that I tried to apply my skills where it could help to address climate change,” he says.

Needless to say, the potential is huge. The company has recently set up a joint venture with Dunkley Lumber, one of Canada’s largest private lumber companies, under which a 8

new bio refinery will be constructed in northern Saskatchewan. The biorefinery will utilize BC Biocarbon’s proprietary processes to convert residual biomass from forest operations into four initial products: biochar, bio-oil, wood vinegar and pyrolysis gas. These materials can be further refined into value-added products such as soil additives, filtration media, electrodes and speciality chemicals.

The clean wood-residue biochar is always produced at high temperature, ranging from 600 to 800 °C. This ensures very low bio-oil residues and makes the organic biochar highly stable, and excellent for long-term carbon removal. Screens supplied

by South African company Debmar are used for screening the input materials, while USbased BE&E provides screens for the biochar, sorting it into different particle sizes to suit different needs. The 2-6 mm particle sizes are for gardening and horticulture applications, and those smaller than 6 mm are recommended for water filtration applications.

Because biochar is used as a soil amendment rather than combusted like bio-coal, this process also allows the generation of carbon credits. “The target capacity of the bio refinery is ten tonnes an hour, taking wood resid-

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uals right on the site of one of the lumber mills, further saving carbon footprint by eliminating transportation. Our plan is to expand our processing rate from two and a half tonnes to ten tonnes of biomass per hour by 2025.”

The potential “We have pre-sold the first five years’ worth of carbon credits to come from the first of four lines that are being installed in the Saskatchewan facility,” says Peter, pointing out that the company has now been approached by other

players, and not only lumber companies.

“We can really carbonise just about any hydrocarbon such as municipal solid waste, landfill diverted, construction debris and similar. The process can be applied to any type of material as long as the moisture content is around 15% but even that is under our control. We have designed a special drying unit for the Saskatchewan facility to reduce the moisture of the wood residues.”

Peter Popplewell states that in line with increasing demand

the company is set to double its employee headcount next year to be able to take on several projects in parallel. “Our strategy for the time being is to grow within partnerships like the one we set up with Dunkley Lumber.”

“While we are building the Saskatchewan installation right now, which is focused on biochar and carbon credits, we are in discussions with different players, such as municipalities, about the ability to leverage our technology to make bio-coal out of

municipal solid waste, which can be used in the cement and steel industries, which both have significant carbon footprints, and need bio-coal to decarbonize quickly.”

He affirms that while biochar used for agricultural purposes is currently more lucrative, the company will also stay focused on its original mission to produce bio-coal, as pressure to decarbonise heavy industries increases. In any event, BC Biocarbon’s potential is clearly promising and its future development will be fascinating.

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www.bcbiocarbon.com

Ambersarmy.org.uk

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