La Coop Fédérée set to become Canadian leader in bio-agriculture

La Coop Fédérée and Prairie Bio Energy Inc have signed a new partnership agreement, which will enable Fédérée to become a leader in the Canadian bio-agriculture.

From now on La Coop Fédérée will become owner of 50% of the intellectual belongings of Prairie Bio Energy Inc (PBE).

The partnership will be an essential step forward the Canadian co-operative, allowing it to explore the agricultural biomass, develop many new projects and distribute them through an accredited network.

La Coop Fédérée has proposed to the PBE Group to analyse together the perspective of using a bio mass exploitation factory based in Québec. This factory will enable the transformation of different types of biomass to create growth within the region.

“Our new association with the PBE Group leader in this area in our country is very promising. It has a great potential and it is an opportunity for all producers in this area. The expansion that La Coop Fédérée is undergoing in Canada, among other things through the acquisition of companies in the crop production sector, is opening the door to multiple markets. The synergy is there! The entire leadership of Quebec is running through our actions in the field of biomass,” said Mr Claude Lafleur, CEO of La Coop Fédérée.

“Quebec possesses an excellent potential for the exploitation of an energy industry based upon the biomass, because there is a population large enough to develop various projects. And the fuel cost of carbon fossils is higher than in Manitoba,” added Stéphane Gauthier, co-founder of the PBE Group.

La Coop Fédérée along with PBE Group would also be willing to work with companies within the oil industry in order to develop a product based on agricultural biomass that could be used for the remediation of the exploited soil.

La Coop Fédérée is a Canadian co-operative operating in both the agricultural and energetic sector. It comprises of 90,000 members from 103 co-operatives and has revenue of $4.6 billion. This year, named the International Year of Co-operatives by the UN, La Coop Fédérée celebrated its 90th anniversary.

Since its establishment in 2004, the PBE has been committed to transforming agricultural crop residues into a solid fuel to be used in boilers currently burning coal across Manitoba and beyond. CEO Stephane Gauthier spent mane moths researching and experimenting prior to the creation of the PBE.