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Terry
McIntyre
Ph.D. P.Ag
Environment Canada
Biofuel 'Footprint
Reduction' Strategies
with Biotechnology
Wednesday,
September 15, 2010
1:30 - 2:00 pm
Abstract:
The world’s
energy system is at
a crossroads.
Current global
trends in energy
supply and
consumption are
patently
unsustainable –
environmentally,
economically and
socially but this
situation can be
changed if we can
secure a supply of
reliable and
affordable energy;
and effect a rapid
transformation
towards a
low-carbon, energy
efficient and
environmentally
benign system of
energy exploration,
supply,
distribution, and
use.
Canada has been
blessed with an
abundance of energy
options and
alternatives to
petroleum based
feedstocks and is
now beginning to
explore its
bioenergy options -
with greater vigour
- based on the ready
availability of
significant and
diverse quantities
of organic
feedstocks, and
their potential
utility in both
augmenting existing
energy supplies as
well as off-setting
reliance on
petroleum based
alternatives as well
as other chemical
feedstocks.
Forecasting the
potential for
bioenergy and its
environmental
consequences under
Canadian conditions
however, will be
challenging because
of the myriad of
potential feedstocks
and biodiversity;
novelty, scale, and
complexity of
conversion
processes;
compatibility issues
with existing
petrochemical,
transportation and
energy "grid"
infrastructures;
petroleum "parity
issues",and
challenges in
optimizing across
both political
jurisdictions and
economic /
environmental
considerations.
This presentation
will examine the
catalysts for and
current extent and
range of bioenergy
development in
Canada. It will
introduce the
importance of the
use of environmental
benchmarking for
bioenergy and some
selected results
from ongoing
research and
collaboration
designed to better
understand the
environmental
consequences from
this development to
date.
It will also
introduce new
scientific
challenges on the
horizon - as
bioenergy
development garners
increasing momentum
in Canada and
elsewhere. Finally
it will suggest
future research
necessary to enable,
inform, and guide
development of an
orderly and
sustainable
bioenergy "industry"
and allow all
bioenergy
constituents in
attendance at the
ABIC workshop to
better understand
and capture the
attendant
environmental and
economic benefits
from these exciting
opportunities.
Biography
Terry McIntyre is
the Senior Science
Advisor-Biofuels and
Bioenergy - for the
Science and
Technology
Integration Branch
of Environment
Canada.
For the past 28
years, he has held a
number of positions
within the
Department that have
focused on improved
understanding the
regulatory,
scientific,
technical, and
environmental
dimensions of
applied biosciences
- for a variety of
domestic, national,
and international
life science
initiatives.
His first fifteen
years were spent in
the development of
the Canadian
Environmental
Protection Act- New
Substances
Notification
Regulations where he
managed the
scientific team
responsible for the
development of the
risk assessment
framework now
currently deployed
under CEPA NSD for
the evaluation of
microorganisms prior
to their
importation,
manufacture, and use
in Canada. For the
last fourteen years,
he has worked
exclusively on
applied
environmental
biotechnology where
he leads a research
term exploring the
environmental
consequences of
applied microbial,
plant, and
biochemical based
approaches to such
areas as biofuels
and biochemicals
production, energy
efficiency,
industrial ecology,
GHG adaptation and
mitigation, and
plant based
remediation and
restoration systems.
In this capacity
Terry established
Environment Canada’s
Strategic Technology
Applications of
Genomics in the
Environment (STAGE)
program- a platform
to support and
explore
environmental
applications of
genomics in support
of both a number of
departmental
mandates and
research priorities.
He also manages
Environment Canada’s
Bioenergy and
Environment Science
and Technology (BEST
) program - designed
to develop the
environmental
science base
necessary to support
the Canadian federal
government
transition towards
accelerated biofuel
production and use
under the Renewable
Fuels Strategy
Framework initiative
announced in 2006.
Terry has also
worked extensively
internationally, on
a number of
environmental
technology outreach
projects across
North and South
America, Asia,
Eastern Europe,
Russia, India,
China, and Africa.
He holds
undergraduate
degrees in economics
(BA-University of
Western Ontario),
environmental
science (B.E.Sc.
University of
Waterloo); a Masters
Degree in Resource
Management
(University of
Guelph) and a Ph.D.
in Environmental
Science (University
of Waterloo). He is
also a Professional
Agrologist and the
author of seven book
chapters and over
350 scientific and
technical papers and
presentations.
Click to view Terry
McIntyre's ABIC 2010
presentation
