Renewable auto technologies development receives $5.9M funding

Toronto, ON – Ontario’s agri-food sector is receiving research support from its provincial government that will help find new ways to use farm and forest products in the auto sector.

“These initiatives will help make Ontario a world leader in bio-based automotive manufacturing and help us protect our environment for generations to come,” says Dalton McGuinty, the province’s premier and minister of research and innovation.

The government is providing over $5.9 million to the Ontario BioCar Initiative, a research project to turn Ontario’s harvest – such as wheat, corn, soybeans and forest biomass – into viable materials for the auto industry. The government is also giving $255,000 to the Ontario BioAuto Council to help move these emerging technologies into the marketplace.

“The key to success is how fast and how economically we can make these materials match the performance of the existing plastics, composites and metals,” says Mohini Sain, who will lead the BioCar project at the University of Guelph, where he is an adjunct professor. “This research will make sure Ontario stays on the forefront of this emerging area.”

“We will ensure Ontario is positioned to capture a substantial share of what is projected to be a $50-billion global market for bioplastics by the year 2015,” says Terry Daynard, Ontario BioAuto Council’s executive director.