Jun 21 2007
GreenField Ethanol, Canada's leading ethanol producer, today officially opened its Varennes plant - the first ethanol plant in the province of Quebec.
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Chuck Strahl toured the plant today with GreenField Ethanol's Chairman Kenneth Field and President and CEO Robert Gallant.
"Today marks a milestone for GreenField Ethanol," said Gallant. "We are proud that Quebec's first ethanol plant carries the GreenField name and that we are the pioneers of renewable fuel in Quebec."
GreenField's Varennes plant will produce 120 million litres of ethanol each year from 12 million bushels of Quebec-grown corn. GreenField also has plants operating in Chatham and Tiverton, Ontario, and two more are under construction in Johnstown and Hensall, Ontario that are scheduled to be operating in 2008.
GreenField Ethanol will be one of the top producers in North America with five operating plants, producing more than 700 million litres of ethanol per year by 2008.
"Today's inauguration is a true success story for the renewable fuels industry, for farmers and for the environment," said Minister Strahl. The plant's corn will be purchased through Pro-Ethanol - a group of about 500 Quebec corn farmers who have personally invested in the Varennes plant. "The introduction of the Varennes plant's 120 million litres to the gasoline pool will reduce greenhouse gasses by 180,000 tonnes per year - the equivalent of taking 30,000 cars off the road," said Gallant.
Recently, the federal government committed $2 billion to renewable fuels in Canada. The Quebec government has also announced a target of 5 percent renewable fuels content in all gasoline sold in the province by 2012. Petro-Canada has already purchased all of the ethanol that will be produced at the Varennes plant for the next 10 years.
"Petro-Canada is proud to be the exclusive purchaser of all ethanol production from GreenField Ethanol's new Quebec facility in Varennes. This partnership enables us to provide consumers with gasoline that is blended with up to 10 percent ethanol which is produced right here in Quebec," announced Mel Broten, Petro-Canada's General Manager of Integration and Planning, who was on hand today for the inauguration.