Combustibles ingénieux

This fact sheet from the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) describes 'smart-sourced fuels' (combustibles ingénieux) in Manitoba, Canada. These eco-friendly fuels are produced from underutilized local materials and waste, such as agricultural residues and wetland plants, to provide a sustainable heating alternative for residential, agricultural, industrial, and commercial use.

• Smart-sourced fuels are created from mixtures of underutilized products and waste, including agricultural residues, prairie plants, forestry residues, and wetland plants. These raw materials are processed into various forms for heat production, including pellets, biochars, briquettes, biogas, cubes, and fuel logs.
• The use of smart-sourced fuels offers several environmental and economic benefits, including a heating value comparable or superior to compressed wood fuels and low ash production. Environmentally, harvesting plants like cattails helps manage invasive species and removes nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) and heavy metal contaminants from stressed waters, such as Lake Winnipeg. Economically, it provides revenue for owners of marginal agricultural land and municipalities that harvest plants from ditches and drainage systems.
• Cattails (quenouilles) are highlighted as a highly efficient biomass source compared to conventional wood. While wood takes between 1,095 and 4,380 days to reach maturity, cattails reach maturity in 90 days. Both have a pellet heating value of 17–20 mj/kg, but cattails provide a yield of 14–20 tonnes per hectare and store 7–10 units of phosphorus, whereas wood stores none.
• Manitoba possesses significant biomass reserves, with an estimated 3 to 5 million tonnes of available biomass currently unused in soil and livestock management annually. Additionally, the IISD estimates there are 3 million tonnes of cattails in the province that could be sustainably harvested. High concentrations of these plants are found within a 100 km radius of Winnipeg and Brandon.
• There is a growing market demand for biomass in Manitoba as the province phases out coal. It is estimated that by 2017, 42 facilities will use over 1,000 tonnes of biomass per year and 13 will use 500 tonnes per year, totaling a minimum annual demand of 48,500 tonnes. According to the Manitoba Bio-products Strategy, replacing all known coal use in Manitoba with biomass would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 200,000 tonnes.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2016). Combustibles ingénieux. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/smart-sourced-fuel-products-brochure-web-fr.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Combustibles ingénieux. 2016. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/smart-sourced-fuel-products-brochure-web-fr.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Combustibles ingénieux |date=2016 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/smart-sourced-fuel-products-brochure-web-fr.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2016combustibles, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Combustibles ingénieux}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2016}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/smart-sourced-fuel-products-brochure-web-fr.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }