Greg Nuttall likes to take visitors to the very top of his 10,000-square-foot chemical plant, tucked behind a secluded research building outside Sarnia, Ont. He runs up a couple flights of metal stairs, which give way to three sets of ladders woven into what looks like an outsized, freshly assembled Erector set rising from the snow

"The MaRS Cleantech fund seeks technologies with the potential to revolutionize the energy sector," says Tom Rand, co-managing director of the Fund. "Woodland Biofuels is on track to become the first company to profitably make renewable fuels from non-food sources without requiring any form of subsidy. That's the kind of game-changer we target."

Woodland Biofuels Inc. has begun commissioning its new demonstration cellulosic ethanol facility in Sarnia, Ontario. “We’re in the preliminary stages of commissioning,” CEO Greg Nuttall told Ethanol Producer Magazine. “We’re testing each piece of equipment. Within a couple of weeks we will be ready to move to staged startup.”  Located at the Bio Industrial Innovation Centre, the facility will be capable of handling 7.2 metric tons per day of wood waste, or about 2,400 metric tons per year.

Woodland Biofuels’ $12-million Sarnia demonstration plant is up and could be producing ethanol from wood waste by the end of the year, says president Greg Nuttall.

The newly-built facility is located at the Western University Research Park’s Bioindustrial Innovation Centre in Sarnia.

Woodland Biofuels announced today the closing of a common equity investment in Woodland to help build a groundbreaking demonstration plant that will efficiently produce cellulosic ethanol from renewable wastes. 

Woodland Biofuels, a leading cellulosic ethanol company, has made the 2011 GoingGreen Top 200 for being one of the most promising private greentech companies on the planet.  Inclusion in the GoingGreen Global 200 signifies industry leadership and a game-changing technology that is likely to disrupt existing markets and entrenched players. Woodland was selected by the AlwaysOn editorial team and industry experts spanning the globe based on a set of five criteria: innovation, market potential, commercialization, stakeholder value, and media buzz.

The New Entrepreneurs paints a heartening picture of what the green economy could look like. At the same time, it introduces us to dozens of clean technology innovations and, behind them, the Canadian risk-takers who are passionately trying to drive change in a resource-driven country that likes the way things are – even if it can’t last.

Ontario is investing $4 million through the Innovation Demonstration Fund (IDF) to help Woodland Biofuels Inc. and its partners build a groundbreaking demonstration plant that will efficiently produce cellulosic ethanol from renewable wastes.

Ontario is supporting new clean energy technology and creating jobs as part of its Open Ontario Plan.Through the Innovation Demonstration Fund the province is helping Woodland Biofuels Inc. build a pilot plant at the Bioindustrial Innovation Centre in Sarnia, Ontario. The plant will help the company improve its ability to produce cellulosic ethanol. Using low-cost, locally available waste materials, such as wood waste, this cleaner fuel can be mixed with gasoline for use in automobiles.