Edmonton to be Site of World's First Industrial Scale Municipal Waste-to-Ethanol Facility

Edmonton, Canada (ots/PRNewswire) - Edmonton will be home
to the world's first industrial scale facility to produce biofuels
from municipal solid waste. The City has signed a 25-year agreement
with GreenField Ethanol, Canada's largest ethanol producer and
Enerkem, a leading biofuels technology company.

The CDN$70 million biofuels facility will initially produce 36
million litres of biofuels per year and reduce Alberta's carbon
dioxide (CO2) footprint by more than 6 million tonnes over the next
25 years - the equivalent of removing 12,000 cars off the road every
year.

"This facility is another fine example for the world that
Alberta is a great place for companies to bring newly commercialized
technology to the marketplace," said Doug Horner, Minister of
Advanced Education and Technology. "All of the partners can be
pleased that they are part of a facility that is taking a lead role
in developing innovative technologies and making a real difference
for the environment."

The City of Edmonton and the Government of Alberta through the
Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI) are contributing CDN$20
million to the facility. The City of Edmonton will also contribute
CDN$50 million to a related processing facility and research
facility. AERI's total contribution to all the components is CDN$29
million.

"This unique partnership with private companies and the
provincial government builds on our global leadership in municipal
waste management," said Edmonton Mayor, Stephen Mandel. "It will
enable us to make a noted contribution to reducing greenhouse gases
and become the first major city in North America to achieve 90
percent residential waste diversion from landfill. We are also
excited to be proceeding with the calibre of this partnership and
look forward to seeing this facility on stream in the near future."

"This new facility will be a first for both the biofuels and
waste management industries. This is the world's first agreement
signed between a large urban centre and a biofuel producer to turn
municipal waste into ethanol," said Vincent Chornet, President and
Chief Executive Officer of Enerkem. "Edmonton is a pioneer in waste
management practices and it is setting new standards for other
municipalities. We are proud to be working with Edmonton, Greenfield
Ethanol and the Government of Alberta through the Alberta Energy
Research Institute as partners on this exciting project."

"This next generation biofuels facility will offer drivers a new
choice in transportation fuels," said Donald Pierce, President of
Greenfield Ethanol's Advanced Biofuels Group. "Greenfield is thrilled
to be leading in the development of next generation ethanol along
with partners Enerkem, the City of Edmonton and the Province of
Alberta-world leaders in providing innovative technologies that help
build a sustainable future."

This plant is the first to be announced by Greenfield Ethanol and
Enerkem since the recent announcement of their partnership to jointly
design, build and operate commercial next generation ethanol plants.

About Edmonton:

This is a city alive with energy and boundless opportunity - a
growing economic powerhouse where business thrives and more than a
million lives enjoy the freedom to explore, experiment, experience,
excel and expect the most out of every day. A place like no other,
Edmonton is filled with surprises great and small and a calendar
packed with artistic, sporting, theatrical and cultural celebration.

Edmonton is the proud home of the University of Alberta for 100
years. http://www.100years.ualberta.ca

For more information on Edmonton, visit: http://www.edmonton.ca.

Backgrounder

About Greenfield Ethanol

- GreenField Ethanol Inc. (http://www.greenfieldethanol.com) is
Canada's leading ethanol producer. The company produces 350 million
litres a year of fuel ethanol at its plants in Chatham and Tiverton,
Ontario and Varennes, Quebec. Its largest plant to date, a 200
million litre facility in Johnstown, Ontario, will be operational in
December 2008. Another plant is in development in Hensall, Ontario.
GreenField is actively involved in the development of biochemical
process technology to produce cellulosic ethanol at its state of the
art research facilities in Chatham, Ontario. The company is also
working with Enerkem Inc. to build thermochemical cellulosic ethanol
plants. GreenField's ethanol is available at more than 1,300 gas
stations across Canada.

About Enerkem

- Enerkem (http://www.enerkem.com) is a leader in the development
and production of next generation biofuels. It is headquartered in
Montreal, Quebec and has engineering offices in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
Enerkem's gasification, sequential gas conditioning and catalysis
technology converts sorted municipal solid waste, agricultural and
forest residues into cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels. The
company has operated a pilot plant since 2003 and is currently
building another commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol production plant
in Westbury, Canada. The company is backed financially by Braemar
Energy Ventures, Solidarity Fund QFL and Rho Ventures.

About the City of Edmonton

- The City of Edmonton (http://www.edmonton.ca) is at the
forefront of waste management practices having established the
leading Edmonton Waste Management Centre (EWMC) and associated Centre
of Excellence. The EWMC is North America's largest collection of
modern, sustainable waste processing and research facilities.
Facilities at the 233-hectare site include a Materials Recovery
Facility, the Edmonton Composting Facility, the GEEP Electric and
Electronic Waste Recycling Facility, the Clover Bar Landfill, a
leachate treatment plant, a landfill gas to electricity system, a
construction and demolition waste recycling operation, and a research
facility. At the development stage is the biofuels project and a
paper production facility.

About Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI)

- The mission of the Alberta Energy Research Institute
(http://www.aeri.ab.ca) is to increase the energy industry's capacity
to develop and adapt innovative technologies that maximizes the value
of Alberta's natural and renewable resources. AERI develops and
implements the energy innovation strategy for Alberta and, in
partnership with industry and other government agencies, invests in
collaborative applied research, technology development and pilot
demonstrations along the entire innovation chain. AERI's six
strategic programs areas are: Bitumen Upgrading, Clean Carbon/Coal,
Improved Recovery, Renewables, CO2 & Emissions and Water Use.

About Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI) cont.

AERI's investments are focused on technology platforms that
include:

- Carbon capture and storage
- Gasification
- Catalysis
- Hydrogen generation
- Separation technologies
- Advanced in-situ processes
- Advanced and nano materials

About Ethanol

- Ethanol is a renewable transportation fuel made from grains
such as corn and wheat, or from the cellulose fibres found in biomass
including agricultural, municipal and forestry waste. Ethanol is
affordable and offers unique environmental benefits. National
Resources Canada's GH Genius model shows that corn ethanol reduces
greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 40 to 60 per cent compared to
gasoline. Cellulosic ethanol has the potential to reduce GHGs by up
to 87 per cent according to the US Department of Energy's GREET
model. The federal government's commitment to requiring gasoline to
contain an average of five per cent ethanol by 2010 will bring GHG
reductions equivalent to removing one million cars from Canada's
highways each and every year.

For more information visit http://www.greenfuels.org.

For additional information, contact:
Connie Boyce
Waste Management
City of Edmonton
+1-780-496-5407
connie.boyce@edmonton.ca
Marie-Hélène Labrie
Enerkem Inc.
+1-514-875-0284 ext. 231
Melissa Armstrong
Greenfield Ethanol
+1-416-304-1700 ext.8431
m.armstrong@greenfieldethanol.com
Donna Babchishin
Alberta Advanced Education & Technology
+1-780-422-1562
donna.babchishin@gov.ab.ca

ots Originaltext: Enerkem Inc.
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
For additional information, contact: Connie Boyce, Waste Management,
City of Edmonton, +1-780-496-5407, connie.boyce@edmonton.ca;
Marie-Hélène Labrie, Enerkem Inc., +1-514-875-0284 ext. 231; Melissa
Armstrong, Greenfield Ethanol, +1-416-304-1700 ext.8431,
m.armstrong@greenfieldethanol.com; Donna Babchishin, Alberta Advanced
Education & Technology, +1-780-422-1562, donna.babchishin@gov.ab.ca