A Sault Ste. Marie green fuel company expects to head to market in 2010 with a commercial version of a small-scale bio-diesel system.

SITTM (Stick It To The Man) Technologies Inc. expects to start production by mid-year, contingent on getting a fire code certification and the arrival of additional government funding.

Once the company starts manufacturing, it could provide 15 to 20 production jobs.

Over the years, the company has been steadily expanding into larger space, including last June’s move into a 15,000-square-foot building in the Blue Heron Industrial Park on the Batchewana First Nation.

"The intention is to manufacture here," said company president and CEO Luc Duchesne, who won’t disclose future production numbers.

The fully-automated machine converts waste and virgin vegetable oil into bio-diesel. In December, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund announced the company was receiving $135,000 for work on its small-scale bio-diesel production refinery. Duchesne said the funding, spent months ago, was earmarked toward development on the company's latest prototype, version No. 8, that he thinks is the final commercial machine.

The challenge has been to make a system that meets standards in fuel quality and fire code compliance – the latter being the biggest challenge in the bio-diesel industry. Meeting the Canadian fire code, which is an internationally-recognized standard, is the last hurdle to overcome.

"A lot of the big manufacturers don’t meet those standards," said Duchesne.

When it hits the market by mid-2010, the system will be capable of producing five million litres of bio-fuel a year on a semi-continuous basis.

Duchesne said this latest machine is bigger than previous versions.

Years before, Duchesne, a former federal forestry scientist, had the altruistic plan to place consumer-friendly, mini-refineries in everyone’s garage. But to take advantage of federal subsidies and market opportunities, the machine got bigger.

The company is not taking orders yet, but Duchesne says there is plenty of interest which he can’t disclose. Possible buyers include municipalities, people with access to waste vegetable oil and small enclaves where there is potential to grow oil seeds, but no room for factories.

Duchesne said the company's intentions are global. Staff are targeting Europe, Pacific Rim and Asian countries.

The machines will sell in the $1-million range, which could be feasible for farming communities to purchase and achieve a measure of energy independence.

"The notion is you’ll see farmers making use of idle land to generate oil seeds in a co-op setting," said Duchesne. "Some of the fuel will be for their own use and they’ll team up with cities and large fuel uses."

The company is a partner of the Algoma Biofuels Co-op, consisting of local farmers, the City of Sault Ste. Marie and the Public Utilities Commission.

Before the SITTM hit the international market, Duchesne wants to use the Sault and Algoma district as a proving ground.

"What we’re doing locally is we’re developing the market and relationships with the end-users, so ultimately the machine we’re going to put into production has its output already sold," said Duchesne.

"We want to prove the market part of the fuel and we’ve done that."

Come January, the bus fleet of the City of Sault Ste. Marie’s transit fleet will be running on a mix of five per cent biodiesel, 95 per cent petrol.

Duchesne said the machine’s concept is a widely-popular one, but he and his staff must prove to potential buyers and regulatory bodies that they can produce ASTM fuels (American Society for Testing and Materials), that it’s cost effective and the market will buy it.

"The last thing you have to worry about is whether you can sell the bio-diesel and make money with it. The big emphasis is to develop the bio-fuel market."

In the past, the company considered setting up test sites at trucking companies, a fish rending plant and an abattoir.


www.sittm.ca