The Government of Canada Invests $3M in Oilseed Research

Market Wire, August, 2008

The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Secretary of State (Agriculture) and MP for Megantic-L'Erable, today announced that the Government of Canada is contributing $3 million in funding to the Industrial Oil Seed Network (IOSN) under the Agricultural Bioproducts Innovation Program (ABIP).

"The Government of Canada is committed to developing Canada's bioeconomy while delivering results for our farmers and protecting our environment," said Minister Paradis. "This important research and development network will help increase the oilseed value for Canadian farmers and advance our biofuels industry."

The IOSN will enable a group of experts to work together and exchange ideas and expertise in oilseed biology. Out of the total of $3M in funding Linnaeus Plant Sciences Inc., in Vancouver, British Columbia, will receive $2.556M to administer the network and fund non-government research activities. IOSN will also involve researchers in the United States who will share their significant expertise in soybean oil so that it can be applied to Canadian oilseed crops.

The network will develop a new type of oilseed that will be used solely for the production of petroleum substitutes, in a variety of applications, such as fuel additives for use in heavy equipment and marine towing operations; bio-based hydraulic fluids; and bio-based oils in the construction industry, civic bus transportation, and lobster fishing.

"Oilseed crops have the potential to provide bio-based alternatives to a variety of petroleum products," said Jack Grushcow, the President of Linnaeus Plant Sciences Inc. and the project lead for the ABIP Industrial Oil Seed Network. "The Industrial Oil Seed Network will transition non-food Canadian oilseeds crops from a low value commodity to a high value industrial feed stock that can substitute for petroleum in a variety of applications. We very much appreciate the support of the Federal government in helping us reach these goals."

From this funding, a Thetford Mines-located company OLEOTEK will receive a total of $235,000 as one of the participants in the network.

"Thetford Mines area has shown a great vision when it banked on developing the oleochemical channel, and I am very pleased that our government is once more supporting this move towards diversification," said Minister Paradis. "OLEOTEK is a leader in the region and its expertise is now accepted across the country. This success extends all over the area."

"OLEOTEK is very pleased to have obtained this $235,000 contract with Linnaeus Plant Sciences of Vancouver - a contract made possible by the contribution of the Canadian government," said Francois Dornier, President of the Centres for the Transfer of Technology. "The contract will give OLEOTEK an opportunity to work with a multidisciplinary team throughout the country to achieve a sustainable development objective."

A key part of the IOSN's activities is helping capture value for the farm community. In addition to increasing the value of oilseed, several other economic development opportunities for the rural economy will be explored. These include blending, packaging and distribution business opportunities that will come from the increased usage of bio-based products.

BACKGROUNDER

INDUSTRIAL OIL SEED NETWORK (IOSN)

The Industrial Oil Seed Network (IOSN) is administered by the Vancouver-based Linnaeus Plant Sciences Inc. that engineers specialized plants to provide oils that can be used to replace petroleum-based industrial oils. This new network will bring together a group of experts to exchange complementary areas of expertise. The network will apply the long established science of tribology (the study of lubrication and how materials wear), with our best Canadian researchers in oilseed biology. This group will develop new oilseeds with the express goal of substituting them for petroleum in a variety of applications:

- OLEOTEK, one of the Centres for the Transfer of Technologies located in Thetford Mines, Quebec, will focus on the chemical synthesis of a variety of triacylglycerol (TAG) moieties containing hydroxy fatty acids (HFA) to develop oilseed-based oils suitable for use in industrial fluid applications.

- An innovative group of First Nations entrepreneurs from the Sechelt Band will be incorporating a variety of oilseed based petroleum substitutes into their practices. These include fuel additives for use in heavy equipment and marine towing operations. Testing of bio-based hydraulic fluids will also be included to lessen the impact of toxic industrial fluids currently in use in the sensitive Georgia Strait region.

- Toronto Community Housing (TCH), North America's fifth largest landlord, is undertaking an ambitious Green Plan. Part of this process will be to investigate how bio-based fluids can lessen the impact of community housing in the urban environment. TCH will evaluate a vegetable based bio-degradable elevator fluid for use in their buildings. They will also undertake a fluid audit to examine other areas where petroleum product usage can be replaced by vegetable-based products.