Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) products

Bioenergy is a renewable energy resource derived from living organisms and/or their byproducts. It currently accounts for approximately 6% of Canada’s total energy supply. Bioenergy is an extensive sustainable energy resource that can supply energy to Canada while emitting low CO2 and reducing waste. Scientists and engineers at CanmetENERGY are at the forefront of innovative technology developments that will enhance the sustainability of bioenergy for Canada’s future. Our research focuses on the conversion of biomass to energy and fuels that can be used to meet energy needs in industry, transportation, agriculture and residential heating. Through collaborations with industry and in-house research, we are exploring biogas (gasification and anaerobic digestion), biofuels (2nd generation biofuels and pyrolysis), biomass resources (biomass to gas, catalytic conversion and biomass densification), combined heat and power and air emissions reduction.

Our vertical combuster is the largest, most advanced facility of its kind in world. Studies improved ways of capturing CO2 to reduce greenhouse gases and decrease emissions of acid rain precursors, i.e. SOx, NOx and flyash from coal combustion. Flue gas recycling offers a means of capturing CO2 without having to dilute the product gases with nitrogen and avoids the need for gas separation after combustion. CanmetENERGY’s 1 million BTU/hr vertical combustor operates at temperatures of up to 1800oC. The facility is highly flexible. Designed to burn coal, natural gas or oil and can be modified for other fuels.

70% of the energy used in the residential and commercial/institutional buildings sector is used for heating. Canada also has a very large potential for solar energy use and it has excellent solar resources. Since 2007, there are an estimated 544,000 m2 of solar collectors operating in Canada. They are primarily unglazed plastic collectors for pool heating (71%) and unglazed perforated solar air collectors for commercial building air heating (26%), delivering about 627,000 GJ of energy and displacing 38,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. building Canada leads the world in solar air collector development and commercialization. CanmetENERGY is moving the development of solar thermal technologies forward primarily in the areas of:

Electricity from wind energy is one of the fastest growing methods of electrical generation in the world. Kinetic energy from moving air is converted into electricity by wind turbines that are mounted in locations where there are favourable weather patterns. Wind turbines may be employed individually, but are often installed in groups to form “wind farms” or “wind power plants.” Electricity generated by wind farms may be used locally, or placed on the electric grid to power homes and businesses farther away. Energy derived from wind may also be converted to hydrogen and used as a form of fuel for transportation or stored for subsequent power generation. Using wind energy reduces the environmental impact of generating electricity because it requires no fuel and does not produce pollution or greenhouse gases.