Alberta Looks to Tires for Alternative Fuels

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Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The oil-rich Canadian province of Alberta continued its efforts to lower its environmental footprint with investments that would support a pilot project for recycling used tires for fuel.

Alberta on Wednesday launched a test program, supported by US$7.25 million in funding, to examine the effectiveness of turning used and worn tires into energy for industrial facilities. Led by a provincial recycling authority, the aim is to turn up to 1.5 million tires into nearly 16,000 tons of chips that would be burned as a source of fuel.

The province has tapped Lafarge Canada (Calgary, Alberta), a division of the largest cement manufacturer in the world, to take part in the initial program. Lafarge recently commissioned a low-carbon fuel facility that would draw on industrial wastes, primarily wood, rather than natural gas for its kilns.

Lafarge Canada believes its $27.5 million facility would use 50% less natural gas. Additionally, the facility could keep around 120,000 tons of construction waste out of landfills each year and potentially cut emissions of carbon dioxide by 30,000 tons annually, the equivalent of removing 7,000 gas-powered vehicles from the road.

"We are investing in lower-emission fuels and facility upgrades to set our energy sector up for continued success," Rebecca Schulz, the provincial minister for the environment, said Wednesday. "These new initiatives will keep our province at the forefront of technological advancement and ensure Alberta continues to lead the way to reduce emissions and turn waste into energy."

Dubbed tire-derived fuel (TDF), the application was among the first market uses for scrap tires. Compared with other solid fuels, TDF has a heating value that can be as much as 50% greater than coal and 200% that of wood, one of Canada's top exported products.

Because older tires carry contaminants such as dirt and other debris, the application is limited to heavy industries such as cement kilns. Alberta's government estimates it has recycled more than 145 million tires that would otherwise go to landfills since its recycling program began in 1992.

With 168 billion barrels of estimated oil reserves, Canada ranks fourth in the world, behind Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Most of that is in Alberta, where production averaged 4.3 million barrels per day (BBL/d) last year.

Supported largely by its energy sector, the provincial economy saw $1 billion worth of goods threatened by a rail strike this year, while the resort town of Jasper was largely destroyed by fires in the Canadian Rockies. The energy sector escaped largely unscathed, however.

The provincial gross domestic product is expected to post a 3.3% expansion this year, up 0.4% from budgetary expectations but somewhat lackluster when compared to the population growth as spending remains weak due to inflationary strains.

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