Quebec’s Enerlab launches $2.5M project to make insulation using biomass
by Cleantech Canada Staff
The company will covert black liquor, a pulp and paper byproduct, into a new material that can take the place of petroleum-based products
SAINT-MATHIEU-DE-BELOEIL, Que.—Enerlab 2000 Inc., an insulation manufacturer based outside Montreal, has kicked off a $2.5 million project to use a common pulp and paper industry byproduct to a make insulating and structural panels for the building products industry.
Enerlab plans to install a production line capable of manufacturing 20 million board-feet of the new rigid and structural panels. The expansion project has a total value of $2.5 million, according to the federal government, which contributed $1.3 million to the project through Natural Resources Canada.
The production line will take advantage of a new technology that converts lignin from black liquor—a waste product created when processing wood into wood pulp—into a material known as iso-lignin. The process allows Enerlab to replace petroleum-based materials used in its conventional thermal insulation.
Along with making use of a common waste product, the company will reduce its environmental footprint and cut its raw material costs by about 20 per cent.
