Canada: Federal government funds project evaluating barley's potential as biofuel feedstock

A project to evaluate barley's potential in Canada's rapidly evolving biofuels industry has received funding of $262,000 from the Biofuels Opportunities for Producers Initiative (BOPI), Canadian News Wire reported May 25. The funding has been made available through the Agriculture and Food Council that administers Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Program. The three-phase Barley and Bioproducts Opportunities Project (BBOP) is jointly funded and managed by the Western Barley Growers Association and the

Alberta Barley Commission. BBOP is supported by industry partners Syngenta ($45,000), Ceapro ($10,000), Wilbur-Ellis Canada ($2,000) and Parkland Agri Services ($1,000). In all, BBOP will invest $380,000 in examining barley's feasibility in a number of emerging applications; specifically, researchers will study the opportunities and challenges growers would face to establish regional, barley-based ethanol production facilities. The project will also look at removing valuable fractions from barley prior to ethanol production and using a byproduct of barley ethanol production - distilled grains - in commercial applications, including cattle feed.

"Barley is already one of Western Canada's most important crops due to its role in Canada's beef industry, domestic and international malting and brewing, and agronomic rotational management," said Doug McBain, past president of the WBGA. "Our goal is to determine if Western Canada's barley producers can capitalize on the crop in new, profitable and sustainable ways."

"This project will give our members and their customers a good base of regional technical and business information to assess their options for investing in barley," said Terry Young, chair of the Alberta Barley Commission.

The project's first task will be to determine the relative competitiveness of barley versus other major crops, by analysing ethanol yield and the amounts of starch and sugar that can and can't be extracted. The project will report in its initial findings in September 2007 and its final findings in March 2008.

The Western Barley Growers Association and the Alberta Barley Commission are not-for-profit, member-driven organizations that represent the interests and viability of barley growers in Western Canada and Alberta, respectively.

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