Dr. Jack Saddler and the Forest Products Biotechnology/Bioenergy group are among the world’s leading institutions working on turning forest residues into liquid fuels and chemicals, in what is called the “Biorefining concept”.
Helping us move from a Hydrocarbon (Coal, oil, natural gas) economy to a more sustainable, Carbohydrate (fuels and chemicals from biomass) based future!
Global warming, peak oil production, Middle East conflict, and the increased affluence of China and India are all factors that are driving research into renewable, sustainable bio fuels and chemicals. Professor Jack Saddler and the Forest Products Biotechnology/Bioenergy group are among the world’s leading institutions in the quest to turn forest residues into liquid fuels and chemicals. In the next 5 to 10 years, Professor Saddler expects that new technologies will allow many chemicals and fuels that are currently products of oil refining to be produced more sustainably and, more economically, from biomass sources such as forestry residues or forestry energy crops such as fast rotation poplar. This evolving concept has been termed the Biorefining strategy with companies such as Weyerhaeuser and Chevron forming joint ventures (Catchlight) where the complementary expertise of each partner helps in deriving the highest structural, chemical and energy value, in a sustainable fashion, from the world’s forests.
In addition to being former Dean of the Faculty of Forestry, Dr. Saddler holds the Professorship in Forest Products Biotechnology/Bioenergy, a former NSERC Industrial Chair. Under his leadership, the Faculty has received about $2.5 million to establish a Process Development Unit (PDU) to assess the potential of wood-based biofuels and chemicals. Jack’s research interests range from the technical issues surrounding bioconversion of wood to fuels and chemicals, through to the political and economic ramifications that these technologies will have for our world. In addition, Jack is Leader of the International Energy Agency’s Bioenergy Task 39 ‘Liquid Biofuels’, and the Faculty routinely hosts international meetings here at the Forest Sciences Centre with high level participants from around the world.
The ongoing Mountain pine beetle outbreak also serves to provide a focus for Jack’s research. There is an accumulating surplus of standing deadwood in our forests, which increases the danger of catastrophic fires and reduces the merchantable volume of the working forest. Development of biofuel and biochemical applications may provide us with cost-effective products that help pay for harvesting and replanting activities, greatly enhancing the regeneration of our forests for future use.
The size of the biofuel and bioenergy opportunity in Canada is huge, and biorefinery technologies can and will bring about major changes to the sustainable energy future for our nation. The potential is there for us to fuel our future in a sustainable, renewable way. What is needed now is continued collaboration to create technical platforms for effective and sustainable use of bioenergy, and a strong political will for putting these platforms to work.
For more information contact Jack Saddler (jack.saddler@ubc.ca) and visit his websites at www.bioenergy.ubc.ca and www.Task39.org
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