CURRENT ISSUE
| Cover Story |
| Columns |
| On the Leading Edge |
| Renewable Energy | |
| By Joanna Miller | |
| Thursday, 19 July 2007 | |
 Permolex International’s commitment to safety and a diverse range of products have helped it survive a wheat gluten crisis. The Red Deer plant, which operates as Permolex Ltd. and employs 50 people, produces bakery flour that ultimately is used to make bread for McDonald’s locations in western Canada. It exports wheat gluten to the United States and now faces up to 10-day delays in that process, President and CEO Doug MacKenzie says. “The market tightened when the Chinese weren’t dumping product into North America,” he says. “They closed the borders. Now, there is a 10-day delay. I hope that doesn’t continue. There should be a way of pre-certifying product as opposed to stopping it at the border.” The company makes safety a priority, MacKenzie says. “We make it a major accountability of management and employees to operate safely,” he adds. The Red Deer plant operates a unique value-added grain fractionation facility, the first of its kind in North America, using feed-grade wheat in its initial stages of production, the company states. The plant’s design incorporates leading-edge technologies and processes to capitalize on the benefits of integration of three traditionally independent manufacturing processes, namely a flour mill, a gluten plant and an ethanol plant. “This unique integration allows the by-products of one process to be utilized as feedstock for the next process,” the company says. Northeast Biofuels Permolex International is establishing a second plant in Volney, N.Y., which will operate as Northeast Biofuels. The plant will produce ethanol and high-protein animal feed and carbon dioxides to be distributed throughout Ontario and the northeastern United States. It will employ approximately 50 people and will be operational in the fourth quarter of this year, MacKenzie says. The company plans to add plants in Alberta and the United States and is looking for opportunities in other markets around the world, he notes. “The Volney plant will use approximately 41 million bushels of corn annually as a feedstock to produce 114 million gallons of ethanol each year, which will be used as a clean-burning gasoline additive and extender to help states like New York comply with federal clean air mandates,” Permolex states. Northeast Biofuels is developing its training program and will train initial employees at the Red Deer plant. The company has developed training manuals for all stages of development, both introductory and ongoing enhancement, MacKenzie says. Diverse Offerings Permolex has set itself apart by not focusing exclusively on corn. “We have focused on multiple feed stocks and multiple geographies,” MacKenzie says. “We produce wheat and corn products, and we’re looking at sugar cane and tapioca as feedstock. We will be one of the first to be extracting corn germ and partnering with a company to create biodiesel and natural gas from it.” Permolex International is owned by CVCI and the Brent MacKenzie Group GP Ltd. It owns 100 percent of Permolex Ltd. and 85 percent of Northeast Biofuels. “The foundation of the company started when the Brent brothers and myself took over a company called API Grain Processors in Alberta in October 2003,” MacKenzie says. E+P |
|
| < Previous Story | Next Story > |
|---|
