Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources officially launches with funding announcement
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources (ICFAR) had its official launch on Thursday, July 3, 2008, led by an important funding announcement from John Wilkinson, Provincial Minister of Research and Innovation.
$5 million was announced in funding for the new ICFAR facility, under the provincial government’s Ontario Innovation Agenda. Headed by Dr. Franco Berruti and Dr. Cedric Briens, ICFAR was recently created to conduct fundamental and applied research and development activities in the fields of renewable energy, valorization of wastes for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals, environmental protection and sustainability.
In his speech, Minister Wilkinson explained to the crowd how investing in innovation and research is vital to the health of Ontario’s economy.
“We believe that government can act as a catalyst in business,” he said. “Acting as a catalyst, we can build a stronger economy,” he continued, adding that they also believe in a policy of autonomy and political non-interference into the research of their investments.
Minister Wilkinson also touched on the province’s commitment to moving projects such as ICFAR forward as fast as reasonably possible.
“Ontario recognizes that when it comes to innovation, getting there first is important,” he said.
He also spoke at length on the importance of this type of environmental research, in terms of solving global issues like sustainability, and also attracting the global marketplace that would come with those solutions.
“It’s a global challenge that, with the right support, Ontario has the talent to tackle,” he explained.
ICFAR Director General Dr. Franco Berruti expressed his excitement over the official funding announcement.
“What this announcement will do is allow us to realize our dream of building this facility,” he said. He further explained how the new building will provide the space and equipment to move research from the bench-top, to the larger-scale testing stage in pilot plants such as at ICFAR, and then out in to industry as usable technology.
There was a large contingent of provincial politicians on-hand for the announcement, as well as many faculty, staff and students from Western Engineering, Western and representatives from industry and the community. Western’s Vice-President of Research and International Relations, Dr. Ted Hewitt, was also present to offer his perspective on this exciting development, and to host the event.
Dr. Berruti and Dr. Briens also had the mobile pyrolysis unit on-site from their company Agri-therm, to demonstrate how they are working to be able to transform agricultural byproducts, often thought of by the general public as waste, into usable bio-fuels and chemicals.
“We have to be careful when we use the word ‘waste’,” said Dr. Berruti. “In the farming community nothing is waste. It is a resource.”
For more information about ICFAR, please visit:
www.eng.uwo.ca/icfar or contact:
Chantal Gloor
Director of Administration and Operations, ICFAR
519-661-2111 ext. 81263
cgloor@eng.uwo.ca
Also from this web page:
Contact
.: Allison Stevenson
Spencer Engineering Building, Room 2074
T: 519-850-2917
F: 519-661-3808
contactwe@eng.uwo.ca
