Andrew Richard

Biography

      As Comet's founder Andrew draws on his deep expertise in process development and commercialization of new technologies. He is a recognized expert in the field of biomass conversion, pre-treatment, biorefining and biomass based fuels and chemicals, including cellulosic sugars. Andrew has a successful track record of developing and scaling up biomass conversion processes, including the production of linerboard pulp from ryegrass straw that included also converting cellulose derivatives, ethanol and butanol, into transportation fuels. Andrew has worked on successful platform chemical projects converting both forestry and agricultural residues into chemicals and hemicellulose and lignin co-products.   Andrew received his B.E.Sc. degree in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from The University of Western Ontario in 1990, an M.B.A. from the Richard Ivey School of Business in 1993. Andrew also completed his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering at The University of Western Ontario in 2005.

Research Interest

 Green Chemistry, Sustainability, renewable resources, biomass, biofuel, Green Engineering, green industrial applications, green investments, green process, green energy, biomaterials, nanotechnology, waste management, water treatment, bioreactors, bioprocessing, green economy