Staff

Patrick Girouard is President, CEO and Principal Consultant at Agronovita, which he founded in 1999 to provide comprehensive and integrated consulting services in the fields of renewable energy, agribusiness development, climate change and carbon management. As an applied economist and experienced commercialization manager, Patrick Girouard addresses the full lifecycle of renewable energy, agribusiness and carbon management projects.

Career Highlights

Patrick Girouard’s career as an agricultural economist and commercialization facilitator has spanned economic and market research, market intelligence, business modeling, commercial development, supply chain management, crisis management and project management. His specialization in cellulosic biomass stems from the early 1990s when he conducted economic and agronomic research and carbon accounting at Resource Efficient Agricultural Production (REAP) in Montreal.

His career expanded further in the marketing and commercial development fields while at Molson Canada (Manager, Market Analysis Quebec & Atlantic Canada), where he monitored the beer market and sales force performance, developed market forecasts, and conducted market surveys and market intelligence.

During his five years at Iogen Corporation he was instrumental in developing and implementing a straw purchase option campaign that contracted with more than 800 farmers in Western Canada for the production of cellulose ethanol. As part of this initiative, he was a key player in the commercial feasibility, go-to-market strategy, supply chain development, advertising and public relations for the project. He also participated in a similar project in the state of Idaho in the United States.

Current Work

Since founding Agronovita in 1999, Patrick Girouard has worked in partnership with and on behalf of government agencies, private industry, investment funds, farm associations on a wide variety of projects focused on commercial development and risk management in the fields of renewable energy, carbon markets and agribusiness.

Education & Affiliations

Patrick Girouard received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Agricultural Economics/Agri-Business from McGill University.

He is an active member of the Board of Directors for BioTalent Canada, where he is Chairman of the Products & Services Committee and Member of the Executive Committee. His affiliations include the Ordre des Agronomes du Quebec and the former Biomass Working Group of the Great Plains Institute of Minnesota. He is a widely published author in his field. Many of his publications can be viewed or downloaded online.