Alberta companies receive €2.97 million in grants

$4 million (€2.97 million) is being distributed between 3 companies in Edmonton, Canada, in a bid to boost the area's bio-refining sector. The grants will help Ceapro, Radient Technologies and TerraVerdae BioWorks take their products developed from biomass and municipal waste into commercial realms. Approximately 30 other companies were in the running to receive the grants, awarded by the Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions.

The funding is set to be distributed over the next 3 years and will help the companies scale up their technological processes for commercial production.

The first company, Ceapro, received $1.6-million (1.19 million). This will be put towards the $4.9-million (3.64 million) construction of a commercial-scale manufacturing plant that will create oat-based ingredients for cosmetics and personal-care products.

Radient was awarded $1.2-million (0.89 million) for a $7.4-million (5.5 million) project set to involve the construction of a production plant where patented microwave technology will extract ingredients from raw materials such as flax and canola for use in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, food and cosmetics.

Finally, TerraVerdae has received a $1.2-million (0.89 million) grant helping its $3.6-million (2.68 million) project that uses micro-organisms to convert methanol derived from municipal and forestry waste into biodegradable plastic.