Greenfield Global

24 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 The company has grown to become one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of fuel ethanol, industrial alcohol, and alcohol-related products in North America. Jean Roberge, EVP & Managing Director of the company’s renewable energy division shares, “Greenfield has truly been a leading pioneer of the renewable fuels industry in Canada. We are the largest producer of fuel- grade ethanol in Canada and have begun to diversify our energy portfolio with the production of renewable natural gas.” Across the street from its Varennes ethanol biorefinery, Greenfield Global is working to assist the province of Quebec in its effort to divert organic waste from landfills. Greenfield developed an anaerobic digestion (AD) project with three regional municipalities, representing about 270,000 residents, to divert 40,000 tons of organic waste per year to produce biogas and biofertilizer. This is a first-in-kind project in North America. Through its wholly owned subsidiary EG Biogaz, Greenfield is the developer and operator of the anaerobic digester. As Roberge explains, “We collect organic materials from homes, restaurants, renderers, and food processing plants, and take them to our AD plant. The biogas is then used by Greenfield’s ethanol plant across the road to displace four million cubic meters of natural gas per year. The fertilizer is used by farmers replacing 10,000 tons of chemical fertilizers.” In its first phase, the AD plant treated 40,000 tons of source-sorted organics per year, and a recent expansion has brought the capacity up to 120,000 tons annually. “This project started a year ago and we are now in the process of running at full capacity. With the expansion, we are purifying the additional biogas into pipeline-quality renewable natural gas (RNG) for injection into the local energy grid.” With the experience and learnings Greenfield Global has gained from this venture, Roberge believes the company is capable of taking on any anaerobic digestion project, bringing it every step of the way, from initial concept to full operation: “Our knowledge and experience is unique. This is a model that we can replicate across the country and beyond.” Unable to share specifics, he also acknowledges that Greenfield Global is working on three other projects with a similar business model. Roberge maintains Greenfields’ direct involvement and expertise throughout the entirety of a project is their strength. “We prefer to collaborate closely with our clients to properly scope out a project and ensure we all have a full and mutual understanding not only of all the technicalities it entails, but of the logistics and operational considerations of running an organic waste collection system. So, we start from scratch and then successfully bring Jean-Roberge E.V.P & Managing Director GREENF I ELD GLOBAL