ANDREA KENT APPOINTED CRFA PRESIDENT The Board of Directors of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA) has appointed Andrea Kent as its new president, following the announcement that W. Scott Thurlow was leaving the position. “We are extremely pleased that Andrea is growing her role within the CRFA and has accepted this new challenge,” said Scott Lewis, Chairman of the Board of the CRFA. “Andrea has been an instrumental part of our team over the last several years and her vast knowledge of our industry will serve our membership well. I look forward to Andrea’s leadership helping us ensure that Canada’s renewable fuels industry continues to grow and flourish.” Prior to her appointment as CRFA president, Andrea Kent held several senior roles in communications, media relations and issues management, including vice president of communications at the CRFA. Andrea brings with her almost a decade of leadership experience in numerous federal departments and crown corporations. Ms. Kent’s appointment follows the recent departure of W. Scott Thurlow. “We thank Scott for his service and dedication to the renewable fuels sector in Canada,” said Mr. Lewis. “We wish him every success as he embarks on the next stage of his career.” GTI PARTNERS WITH MILLAR WESTERN ON BIOENERGY Geomembrane Technologies Inc. (GTI) is working with Millar Western Forest Products Ltd. To help harness clean energy from pulp mill wastes as part of an exciting Bioenergy Effluent Project (BEP). Millar Western is a privately held forest products company that has been in business for more than a century. Its pulp mill in Whitecourt, Alberta, produces 325,000 air-dried metric tonnes (ADMT) of hardwood and softwood bleached-chemi-thermo-mechanical pulp (BCTMP) per year. GTI’s involvement in the project includes the fabrication and installation of gastight floating membrane covers for three anaerobic digesters that will be central components of the bioenergy facility, as well as the installation of an internal piping and media system. Nearly 30,000 2’ x 2’ x 4’ blocks of corrugated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) media modules are being fabricated and assembled as part of the project. GTI will fabricate and assemble modular panels with XR-5® top sheet to fit each of the three 126-foot-diameter digesters. Once completed, the covers will float on the pulp process wastewater, creating a seal to capture the biogas produced during anaerobic digestion. The biogas that GTI’s covers collect will be scrubbed and used to fuel a power island that will generate power and heat, helping to displace fossil fuels in pulp mill processes. The BEP is expected to lower Millar Western’s direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by about 40,000 tonnes per year. B. C. INTRODUCES INNOVATIVE, FLEXIBLE FOREST LICENCE The B.C. government has created a new type of forest licence that allows emerging, innovative forestry companies to more effectively respond to fluctuations in the supply of wood fibre. The new supplemental forest licence allows companies to harvest wood only when traditional, business-to-business fibre supplies are reduced. This helps ensure that licence holders – bioenergy companies, pellet producers and secondary manufacturers – have ongoing access to the fibre supply they need to operate. The new licence also allows the Province to include conditions in licences that encourage the harvesting of less marketable and harder to access wood, helping to make greater use of the existing allowable annual cut. “The new licence gives companies in B.C. a flexible option that allows them to address temporary supply shortages,” says Gord Murray, executive director of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada. “This is critical for an industry like ours, which has to respond to an ever-growing global market quickly, effectively and reliably. Greater certainty gives us more confidence as we move forward and promote the role of wood pellets in the Canadian and global markets.” The legislation follows up on a recommendation made by the Special Committee on Timber Supply in its 2012 report, and is consistent with strategies identified in the Province’s 2012 Mid- Term Timber Supply Action Plan. The new licence is not available to sawmills, which traditionally have more stable supplies of wood. Enviva goes public Enviva Partners LP has announced plans for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) to generate $100 million in revenue. The largest manufacturer of wood pellets for the global energy market, Enviva will have first right of refusal to acquire an additional two million tonnes of production capacity from Riverstone/Carlyle. Currently, Enviva owns five companies in the U.S. southeast with a combined production capacity of 1.7 mil. Tonnes.