TAPPI Biorefinery Course May 16-20, 2011 in Norcross, GA

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There is no doubt that the forest sector is in economic stalemate, and that one of the leading solutions for revenue diversification is the forest biorefinery. Whereas corporate executives, mill management, leading equipment suppliers and consultants are aware of what the biorefinery potentially offers, there is an important need for identifying viable implementation strategies for such a transformative change.

TAPPI is offering its first week-long course on the biorefinery, May 16-20, 2011 in Norcross, GA, involving leading biorefinery experts from across North America – shedding light on the key issues facing companies considering biorefinery implementation. With a course format designed to facilitate exchange between faculty and participants, it is sure to provide important value for your company.

Six key factors that companies considering a biorefinery implementation must consider (and that will be addressed in this course) include:

1. Which biorefinery products (wood pellets, biofuels, or biochemicals...) will provide sustainably good margins over the long term?
2. Which emerging biorefinery processes are the most promising for making these products?
3. What is their efficiency and operating costs today and what will they be in 5 years from now after the process technologies have matured?
4. How do we best make-use of our existing mill infrastructure when implementing the biorefinery?
5. Can we implement the biorefinery, and at the same time lower the unit costs of our wood, pulp and paper products?
6. What might be the role of government policy relative to key issues such as stumpage fees, biorefinery capital cost reduction, and other incentives such as greenhouse gas reduction policy?

How You Can Benefit From Attending This Course

This course will seek to provide the knowledge and tools for forest industry leaders, technology providers and consultants to develop biorefinery strategies and better understand emerging biorefinery technologies and their design/implementation in a business strategy. The course syllabus will be delivered by more than 20 experts from across North America, treating both strategy-setting and design issues related to transformation to the biorefinery.

Course Instructor

This course will be led by Paul Stuart, Consultant and Professor, Ecole Polytechnique. Paul Stuart has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from McGill University, after which he worked in process design consulting as Company Associate and Manager of Process Engineering at Beak Consultants Limited, as Partner and Manager of Environmental Services at Simons Environmental Group, and as Director of Process and Environmental Engineering at H.A. Simons Limited in Montreal (later AMEC). Since 2000, Paul has been a Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at École Polytechnique of the University of Montréal, where he is Chairholder of an NSERC Environmental Design Engineering Chair entitled Process Integration in the Pulp & Paper Industry (www.pulp-paper.ca). Paul is Co-Founder and Principal Consultant of EnVertis Inc, who seeks to be a leader providing strategic and multidisciplinary consulting services consistent with new business paradigms such as the biorefinery that provide sustainable enterprise value in the longer-term, for the forest industry and its partners.

Learn more about this course and register to attend at the TAPPI website.