Canadian advanced biofuels technology start-up FORGE Hydrocarbons Corporation (FORGE) has announced that it has received US$4 million in funding from global aerospace and defense technology major Lockheed Martin Corporation under the Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy. The new funding will enable Edmonton, Alberta based company to further development of its patented Lipid-to-Hydrocarbon (LTH) technology and towards the construction of a first-of-kind commercial-scale plant.
According to FORGE, its proprietary Lipid-to-Hydrocarbon (LTH) production technology produces drop-in, renewable fuels from lipids such as waste fats, oils and greases (FOG) that are “indistinguishable” from petroleum-based fuels and that are directly compatible with the current petroleum-based fuel infrastructure. Furthermore, its technology reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by over 70 percent compared to petroleum-based fuels.
FORGE is extraordinarily pleased to have this investment from Lockheed Martin under the ITB Framework. Lockheed Martin’s investment not only adds to the validation received to date for the LTH technology but also provides a necessary monetary boost to FORGE’s commercialization pathway, said Tim Haig, CEO of FORGE Technologies.
University of Alberta spin-out
The LTH process emerged from decades of high-temperature chemistry research and was invented by Dr David Bressler a Professor in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta (AB).
Early research and the construction of the first pilot facility in Edmonton was supported through grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Province of Alberta, MITACS and Alberta Innovates as well as large investments by the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency and Western Economic Diversification Canada.
ITB Policy investment
Lockheed Martin’s US$4 million investment is in direct support of its Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy obligations associated with Canada’s purchase of 17 CC-130J Super Hercules aircraft, which were delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2010. Canada’s ITB Policy requires companies that are awarded defence procurement and service contracts to undertake business activity in Canada equal to the value of the contract.
Fund commercial-scale plant in Ontario
The new funding will enable the Edmonton, Alberta based FORGE Hydrocarbons to further development of its patented Lipid-to-Hydrocarbon (LTH) technology and towards the construction of a first-of-kind commercial-scale plant with a production capacity of approximately 19 million liters per annum.
Owing to Lockheed Martin’s investment, FORGE Hydrocarbons has begun final engineering design and site preparation for the first LTH plant to be built in Sombra Ontario (ON) and the company expects to break ground on this plant in 2018.
FORGE Hydrocarbons holds the master license for the LTH technology which is licensed on a non-exclusive basis to the Forge-Sombra Corporation to develop the Sombra LTH Facility which is also being supported by a CA$4.2 million contribution by Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC).
This project funding will also contribute to the continuation of research and development, at the University of Alberta and the pilot facility in Edmonton, Alberta, to increase the efficiency of the technology and to broaden the scope of the application to a wider range of feedstocks that can be transformed into a broader range of renewable fuels.
We are very pleased to see our Investment Framework grant going to such a highly innovative SME like FORGE. We are impressed with FORGE and its contributions to providing this advanced, renewable fuel technology to the global community. The success of this investment is an example of how large international aerospace companies such as Lockheed Martin can collaborate with smaller businesses in Canada to create opportunities for lasting growth in the Canadian economy said Charles Bouchard, Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin Canada.
