2009: The Second Quarter

What We’ve Been Up To

A lot’s happened since the start of 2009. As a new business, every small step we take is important, and the steps taken thus far have continued to open more doors for us to walk through.

For starters, we decided on a name that helped to portray the underlying mission of ReGenerate. Regenerative design is all about creating greater output than the sum of your inputs, which is how we see biogas production. By using a resource that is currently disposed of, sometimes at a cost to the producer, and turning that into energy that can be plugged into the provincial gas and electricity grids, we are creating something new (and adding value) from an existing process.

• April: Accepted into the MaRS Discovery District – Business Mentorship and Entrepreneurship Program (BMEP). MaRS is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, and the program connects entrepreneurs-in-residence with startups like ours, providing advice and guidance, free of charge. According to their website, BMEP helps entrepreneurs accelerate the process of taking innovative products and services to market.
  • Two meetings took place with my adviser, David Pasieka, during Q2, which were invaluable to establishing my strategy and approach to the nascent Ontario biogas market.

• April: I obtained a certificate degree from University of Toronto in Carbon Finance.
  • Biogas production will produce carbon credits which can be traded and will have an increasing value as we move towards a carbon-constrained North American economy. A strong understanding of these markets will be integral to ReGenerate’s future success.

• May 11-12: I attended the Ontario Centres of Excellence Discovery ’09 conference in Toronto, a gathering of entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and innovators operating in the life science, high-tech and clean-tech sectors in the province.
  • Attendance proved to be quite fruitful as I met with representatives from waste management companies, regional economic development offices, university professors and researchers, community energy non-profit organizations, and other companies operating in the renewable energy field. It was an exciting atmosphere and I’m looking forward to attending next year.

• May 14: the Ontario legislature passed the Green Energy and Economy Act (GEA). This legislation is part of Ontario’s plan to become a leading green economy in North America. According to the province, the GEA will:
  • Spark growth in clean and renewable sources of energy such as wind, solar, hydro, biomass and biogas in Ontario.
  • Create the potential for savings and better managed household energy expenditures through a series of conservation measures.
  • Create 50,000 jobs for Ontarians in its first three years.

• June: I held our initial web strategy meeting with Elastic Mind to discuss the kind of site we wanted and who we’ll be targeting.
  • Our website, www.regeneratebiogas.com, is currently under construction and will be online by the end of Q3 hopefully.

• June: Met with some potential investors and stakeholders to tell them about the exciting work being done and the opportunities we see in the marketplace.
  • All participants expressed interest in further correspondence; a success in our books!

Looking Ahead

Our goals for the next quarter include launching our website and blog, providing information and articles for any and all of our future stakeholders on how to generate biogas in their communities and take advantage of the new legislation. In addition to meeting with our growing list of contacts to find more opportunities, our website will be essential in connecting us to new clients.

We will continue meeting new stakeholders, such as farmers, researchers, food processors, municipal councilors, citizen groups, etc. Management has compiled a list of people we know with some waste, we plan on contacting these people to tell them about ReGenerate and how we can help.

We are also planning to have an investor day near the end of Q3 to give all those who are interested, the opportunity to be a part of our mission and share in the value we are regenerating for communities across the province.

Business Description

ReGenerate is a player in the growing Ontario renewable energy market, with a focus on biogas. We offer community energy consulting and general resource assessments to municipalities, farmers, and businesses in the food industry. In addition to this, we are pursuing the development of our own projects, leveraging the currently favourable political and regulatory environment in the province.

Our main objective is to help as many communities as possible by showing them how to use all of their available resources to reduce energy costs, create jobs, reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, produce renewable energy, and earn revenue for them and for us.

What is biogas?

• Biogas is produced through a process called anaerobic digestion, where organic matter (cow manure, food waste, waste water, slaughterhouse remains, etc.) is placed in an oxygen-free environment, along with bacteria, to produce a mixture of gas that is 50-72.5% methane (natural gas is 90% methane) depending on the feedstock

• The gas is suitable for gas distribution networks or power and heat generation.

• High-quality fertilizer is the by-product

Biogas production uses a proven and established technology; we are not a technology firm.

The Numbers

	04/01/09 – 06/30/09	01/01/09 – 06/30/09
Revenues	$0	$0
Expenses
General Admin (including travel)	$196	$288
Conferences	$415	$415
Total Expenses	$611	$703
Net Profit (Loss)	-$611	-$703