Catalyst Agri-Innovations Society

Catalyst Agri-Innovations Society was created as the founders started construction on the first on farm anaerobic digester (biogas plant) for agriculture in British Columbia Canada. This facility was the first in North America to deliver Renewable Natural Gas to a utility grid from a farm, and it has supplied more than 1000 customers for more than 9 years.

Our group is focused on what is now called the “Circular Bioeconomy”, and are hard at work to build The Symbiosis Center for Zero Waste Agriculture.

In 2015 all United Nations Member States signed on to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The world has been told by McKinsey and Co. (Barton Report) that it is “Canada’s Next Economic Pitch; to Feed a Hungry World”.
It is the mission of Catalyst Agri-Innovations Society (CAIS), with our partners, the National Industrial Symbiosis Program (NISP), Bakerview EcoDairy and others, to provide development and scale up infrastructure to all stakeholders, advancing innovation opportunities, specifically for the Bioeconomy (SDG 9). Through the power of Partnerships (SDG 17) we will deliver an education and outreach program from British Columbia, and fund/support research resources for agriculture technologies.
This program, The Symbiosis Centre for Zero Waste Agriculture, will have its operational budget paid for 20 years by a renewable Natural Gas contract (Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 7), into a Community Contribution Company (C3). This project represents a substantial opportunity for the impact
found in on farm biogas production with nutrient harvesting. These “bundled solutions” are the fruit of more than a decade of work by the proponents, and are now broadly called the “Circular Bioeconomy” (SDG 12). The original purpose of this effort was to move up in context, addressing food, energy and water together, which we have done conceptually, and in pieces at different locations. With this proposal we will create a single campus where all of these things will come together, creating an agricultural focal point for the 2030 Agenda. This work builds on the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) report, Nutrient Recovery and Reuse in Canada: Foundations for a National Framework.
We will deliver sustainable solutions for agriculture (Food Systems for SDG 2), supporting clean air, soil (SDG 15), water (SDG 14), food, and energy, all driving progress on Climate Change (SDG13)
The Symbiosis Centre will be built in Abbotsford BC, the self proclaimed “Agricultural Capital of Canada”. We are well placed near Vancouver to feed the city (SDG 11), and create many new spin out businesses and jobs (SDG 1, 10, 16) Currently there is no place that technology development for the bioeconomy can
come together in BC; We are the only Province in Canada without one. We are also the only province in Canada with an established Renewable Natural Gas program that is hungry for supply.
The Symbiosis Centre is designed to produce nearly 250,000 GJ of RNG per year, and will do so by diverting millions of gallons of manure from direct land application. Even by the most conservative models, it will deliver more than 9000 tonnes of GHG reductions per year. We estimate the Centre will have at least $5 million dollars per year, that by the C3 constitution, MUST be invested in mission aligned research and technology development. This incentive will insure our success on SDG 17.
We believe this project represents the most comprehensive demonstration of progress on the SDGs. A pathway for progress on all 17 can be shown in this work, will start now, and continue for at least 20 years, feeding the world, and healing the planet.