Simon Barnabé

Bécancour’s industrial park and port are home to 11 industrial enterprises and more than 15 service companies. Collectively, they use a number of energy sources for their industrial processes and heating. Some also generate energy locally as a main product or co-product. It is possible to decarbonize this energy consumption through various circular economy strategies, including process optimization and the local reuse of waste heat, as well as the establishment of local energy co-product exchanges and joint infrastructures for co-product sharing.

Rooted in industrial ecology, the strategy involves the identification and implementation of industrial synergies within a park, territory or region to spark a culture of industrial by-product recovery, collaboration and resource sharing within industrial symbioses. The technical and economic analysis and eventual optimization of the options to implement the opportunities require a more comprehensive view of the networking possibilities for local stakeholders and a more local perspective to ensure stakeholders’ long-term participation. In the case of industrial synergies involving pooling or joint investments, the participation of all stakeholders is required.

The overarching objective is two-fold. The first is scientific and relates to the development of a mixed integer linear programming model to optimize the opportunities for synergies and industrial networking within an industrial park. The second is practical and relates to the realization of a technical and economic study of the opportunities to decarbonize the energy sources used in Bécancour’s industrial park and port.

The project examines the CE vision, governance and practices at a municipal level.

It focuses on three key CE sectors: food, energy (including transportation) and waste (Keblowski et al 2020). Two key research issues are raised:

1. How do stakeholders understand CE as a concept and what is their understanding of CE practices and assessment in a city and region like Saint-Hyacinthe?
2. How is CE governed and practiced by different political and social stakeholders?

The questions will be explored from the perspectives of the concepts of the socio-technological vision and the governance of the socioecological transition.

The project aims to develop a new way to recover liquid digestates from methanization by producing microalgae as a solution to reduce the cost of the feeding regime used to rear black soldier fly larvae, as well as the cost to dispose of the waters.  

The proposed approach is to have a microalgae culture use the liquid digestates from methanization and then set out a feeding regime of microalgae and solid digestates.

What separates this proposal from others is the fact that it interweaves a circular innovation project in an emerging circular economy loop. The innovation lies in the development of a less costly feeding regime to rear black soldier fly larvae whose main component is the production of microalgae from liquid digestate from methanization (a waste).

This new approach to liquid digestate management and the production of edible and decomposer insects fits seamlessly into the circular economies of several cities and regions across Québec and around the world.