Advent Bioenergy’s wondrous plant in the far, far north: X-Mass, roasting chestnuts, project Rudolph and more

December 22, 2016 |

KutneyBy Gerald Kutney
Special to The Digest

Breaking News: a Canadian venture has just moved up into the #1 spot of the “Top 50 Hottest Companies in the Advanced Bioeconomy,” according to the annual survey by Biofuels Digest – Advent Bioenergy (season2bjolly.ca), founded by the reclusive entrepreneur, S. Claus. Lee Enterprises Consulting is proud to have been working with Advent Bioenergy for several years, providing executive management mentoring and coaching, leading the preparation of their business and financial plans, and providing an audit of their commercial status. When we began developing the business plan, Mr. Claus only had a small unit of the process in his workshop; today, an industrial-scale unit is under construction, designed by our strategic partner Zeton. The Claus-pyrolysis demonstration facility is being built at the company’s Energy Laboratory Facility (ELF) in Eureka, Nunavut.

The Claus pyrolysis technology is a patent-pending, two-step process: the first stage is a rotary kiln which involves torrefaction of roasting chestnuts on an open fire; the second stage is a slow-fast pyrolysis hybrid, producing a high-grade biochar that has been submitted to the certification program of the International Biochar Initiative (IBI). This product has been tested by the noted biochar expert Dr. Hugh McLaughlin, a consultant with Lee Enterprises, who found, after checking it twice, that it was exceptionally good for goodness’ sake.

With his business expanding, Claus is now working on his next generation of biofuels at the company’s newest facility, the Northern Ontario Eco-Laboratory (NOEL). The details of the top secret project, under the code-name “Rudolph,” are kept under lock and key, but there are stories that it involves an aviation biofuel and reindeer (Comet Biorefining and Donner Bioenergy GbmH have been rumored to be part of the project, but calls to the companies were not returned before press time). Controversy, though, swirls around the new Claus technology; environmental non-government agencies (ENGOs) have accused the northern entrepreneur of animal rights abuse and even genetic engineering. And the save-the-reindeer movement is gathering momentum. There have been accusations that the financial support for these groups has come from major coal corporations, E. Skruge Energy (bahhumbug.ca) and Krampus Coal (coalinstocking.com), but the companies deny the charges. Claus had no comment about these rumors but when referring to his pet project, he did state, with a twinkle in his eye, “it’ll go down in history.”

Advent Bioenergy continues to partner with another Canadian firm, Kris Brothers Forest Products (krismass.ca), for the supply of biomass for the new technology. Jack Frost, a spokesperson for Kris Brothers, has stated that the firm only utilizes sustainable biomass, including a blend of boughs of holly, poinsettia, and discarded trees from last holiday season. The pre-treated biomass is sold under the trade name Kris-mass,® but their employees still call it by the term used in the early days of its top-secret development, “X-mass.” The latest development that Kris Brothers Forest Products is working on is a bleached biomass; and Claus is dreaming of this “White Kris-mass.”

Advent Bioenergy is pleased to be among the “leaders of the advanced bioeconomy,” presenting at the Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference (ABLC) on March 2, 2017, in Washington, DC. Claus, famous for his outlandish red suits, plans to give a presentation on the carbon-negative applications of biochar, and stated that it should be an “interesting” conference, especially with the upcoming inauguration of an unconventional President. When asked about the possible influence of the new administration on the bioeconomy, Claus replied that he was concerned that Mr. Grinch, a climate change denier, had been selected to head the EPA. But in his typical jolly manner, Claus refused to say whether the President-elect will be bad or good for biofuels and added, with another twinkle in his eye, that he was glad his research facilities were located in Canada!

Gerald Kutney is a member of Lee Enterprises Consulting. Lee Enterprises Consulting is the world’s premier bioeconomy consulting group, who have consultants and experts worldwide, including in the technologies discussed in this report.  The opinions expressed in the report are those the author, and do not, necessarily, express the views of Lee Enterprises Consulting.

 

 

Category: Thought Leadership

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