Look what happened in Luc and Norm's garage

What started out as experiments in a local garage by Norm Jaehrling and Luc Duschene has become an award-winning worldwide enterprise.

Sault-based Forest Bioproducts Inc. makes machines that can turn pretty much any waste oil - including used cooking oil, animal fats and vegetable oil - into clean-burning biodiesel.

Their Greenstar Biodiesel Systems recently came to the notice of the federal government.

And today, the Honorable Jim Prentice, Canada's minister of industry and Pat Mortimer, vice president of technology and industry support for the National Research Council, dropped by to give Luc and Norm an award.

Prentice is seen here with Deschene at the microphone today.

The company's mobile, automated, efficient units promise to democratize fuels by making it possible for just about anyone anyone to make clean biodiesel out of most any oil.

Prentice said the process can waste oil into biodiesel anywhere a truck with a trailer on it can drive - and they don't need to use food crops.

Their machines are being sold in South America and Africa and the company is looking to expand further, offering developing nations a way to create clean fuel independently of major oil producers.

The full text of the National Research Council Canada and Forest Bioproducts media releases follow:

************************* The Government of Canada salutes Forest BioProducts for its innovations in biodiesel technologies

February 15, 2008, Sault Ste. Marie, ON – The Honourable Jim Prentice, minister of industry and minister responsible for National Research Council Canada (NRC), today presented a Canadian Innovation Leader Certificate to Forest BioProducts Inc., at the company’s facility in Sault Ste. Marie.

Forest BioProducts is a leader in biodiesel production technologies that allow small-scale producers to produce their own fuel from a variety of feedstocks.

“Guided by our science and technology strategy, the Government of Canada is helping Canadian researchers and entrepreneurs deliver innovative solutions to challenges, improve our economic competitiveness, and help Canadians acquire the skills they need to participate in the economy,” said Minister Prentice.

“It gives me great pleasure to join NRC in recognizing Forest BioProducts for their contribution to Canada’s scientific and economic growth,” Prentice said.

The science and technology strategy will help businesses innovate by increasing the affects of Government of Canada investments in research.

It will help better align Canada’s post-secondary research capacity with the needs of business.

And it will ensure that the right conditions are in place to support innovation in science and technology.

The strategy is a multi-year plan that will create a business environment that encourages innovation by the private sector and will guide the intelligent, strategic investment of public funds.

The Canadian Innovation Leader initiative celebrates the successes of innovative Canadian firms identified by the NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP), which assists Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises in their technology and research and development projects.

NRC has been supporting Forest BioProducts since its early days.

“Forest BioProducts has ably demonstrated that researching, developing and bringing to market new technologies provides Canada with a competitive advantage,” said Pat Mortimer, vice-president, technology and industry support, NRC.

“NRC is proud to have taken part in supporting this innovative Canadian company,” Mortimer said.

Forest BioProducts Inc. is leading the way in introducing new alternative energy and value-added technology with small-scale biodiesel manufacturing as one of its top technologies, enabling individuals to meet their own energy needs in an environmentally-sustainable way.

“The bioeconomy is being driven by the fact that the price of fossil fuels has increased dramatically and the cost is likely to continue on an upward trend,” explained company president and CEO, Dr. Luc Duchesne.

“There is a growing need for renewable energy, plastics and other products that are generated using renewable resources," Duchesne said.

"Essentially, we are finding ways to do more with what we already have," he said.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for Northern Ontario, and in fact, for all of Canada and has global market implications."

"We are very grateful that NRC-IRAP continues to support Forest BioProducts with its development of a fully-automated, mobile, biodiesel manufacturing plant.”

By addressing the environmental and economic needs for alternative fuel, Forest BioProducts is providing Canadian SMEs with the increased independence of producing their own fuel.

The company’s Greenstar Biodiesel SystemTM is a biodiesel reactor that converts a variety of oils (sunflower, soybean, flax, as well as waste oil from restaurants) to biodiesel through a batch process.

Recognized globally for research and innovation, the National Research Council (NRC) is a leader in the development of an innovative, knowledge-based economy for Canada through science and technology.

For more information, please consult our website.

************************ Forest BioProducts Inc. was honoured today to receive a Canadian Innovation Leadership Certificate for its pioneering work in the field of small scale biodiesel production technologies; the award was presented by the Honorable Jim Prentice, Canada’s minister of industry and Pat Mortimer, vice-president of technology and industry support for the (Canadian) National Research Council.

Forest BioProducts Inc. is a Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based firm formed in 2004 to research and develop technology and economic opportunities in the bioeconomy.

Forest BioProducts has been engaged in a unique, multi-year research and development project focused on creating the world’s safest small scale commercial biodiesel production technology known as the Greenstar Biodiesel Systems™.

The project has been guided by the firm’s vision, of the democratization of energy™, and was focused on creating a safe and reliable device that would support the development of decentralized networks of biofuel production in Canada and worldwide.

The Greenstar project capitalizes on an emerging global opportunity for biofuel production at the small scale and has benefitted from financial contributions from the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund’s Emerging Technologies Program.

Forest BioProducts Inc., along with several other local investors, has recently created two new ventures to support the manufacturing and global sales and marketing of the Greenstar technology.

Manufacturing of the Greenstar system will be done in Sault Ste. Marie through SITTM Technologies (SITTM.ca); sales and marketing of the system will be managed through Green Corporation (Green-corp.ca) with offices in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Vancouver, British Columbia and Manila, Philippines.

The company will be ready to commence shipments of the Greenstar system commencing in April, 2008 and is now actively marketing the system in North America and the Asia Pacific region.

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