Canadian Biomass • Winter 2019 • Industry News

B.C. is making several policy changes to revitalize the province’s coastal forest sector, including establishing a coastal fibre recovery zone. Premier John Horgan announced the changes at the annual Truck Logger Association convention in Vancouver in January.

The changes are part of the Coast Forest Sector Revitalization Initiative, a government program that aims to “reverse a systemic decline that has taken place in the coast forest sector over most of the last two decades,” according to a news release.

The initiative has five goals, which will be executed through legislative, regulatory and policy changes in the next two years:

• Rebuilding solid wood and secondary industries so more B.C. logs and fibre are processed in B.C.

• Increasing fibre availability for domestic mills by improving harvest performance.

• Upholding a credible auction system by verifying independent timber sale licenses.

• Creating stronger business relationships between BC Timber Sales, major licensees and First Nations.

• Amending the Forest and Range Practices Acts and auditing the private man aged forest land regime to re-establish public trust.

These reforms come after six months of consultation with First Nations, industry and labour.

As part of the program, the fee for log exports will be based on harvest economics, beginning July 1, 2019.

The waste policy will also be reformed, with the goal of redirecting some of the two million cubic metres of wood waste to pulp and paper producers, as well as the bio-products and bioenergy sector. In the spring, a coastal fibre recovery zone will be established, along with penalties for leaving more waste than acceptable, based on new lower waste benchmarks in harvested areas. Penalties will also be increased for reporting waste late.

Meanwhile, BC Timber Sales will engage with First Nations and other licensees in area-based planning to create better landscape-level planning and forest management practices. BC Timber Sales will also work with these groups in business arrangements that would result in all parties sharing timber volume, expertise and/or capital, as well as decision-making and mutual benefits.

Canada is the newest member of a global intergovernmental organization that aims to foster the growth of renewable energy, a move that will increase the visibility of our cleantech sector.

Canada joins 159 member countries in the International Renewable Energy Agency (IREA) to support the transition to sustainable energy through international co-operation.

“The growing green economy is among the greatest economic opportunities for Canada in a generation,” Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi said in a news release. “Becoming an IRENA member will accelerate Canada’s efforts to build a clean energy future that will bring new economic growth and thousands of new, well-paying jobs.”

According to the release, membership in IREA means Canada will promote its expertise in the development and deployment of renewable energy technologies, increase the presence and visibility of its cleantech sector internationally and demonstrate its leadership in renewable energy. The forum will also allow Canada to help shape the ongoing global dialogue on renewable energy and climate change, including on issues such as energy access and gender equality.

The federal government is investing $645,000 in two Indigenous forestry projects in Yukon.

The Teslin Tlingit Council received $595,000 to purchase biomass wood chip boilers, as part of a larger project that aims to reduce reliance on non-renewable heating fuels and help create jobs by installing direct heating systems.

“Teslin’s biomass project, which is field predominantly by the community’s waste wood, is providing local opportunities in the forestry sector and in the professional trades,” said Blair Travis Hogan, executive councillor, Teslin Tlingit Council, in a statement. “The 13 large buildings connected to the biomass district heating network, including the Teslin School, will now be able to avoid burning heating fuel, which is estimated to be about 100,000 litres per year.”

The remaining $50,000 will help Na-Cho Nyäk Dun Development Corporation develop a solution for the lack of local seeds used to restore land impacted by nearby mining. This will help the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun to conduct a feasibility study and create a business development plan for sourcing local seeds.

Timberlands International Inc., a subsidiary of Active Energy Group, has received two five-year commercial cutting permits to harvest 100,000 m3 annually on the Great Northern Peninsula in Newfoundland.

This will support the operation of a new $19.7M wood pellet plant in Hawke’s Bay, N.L. AEG’s external investors will provide funding to build the proposed plant.

According to a news release, the cutting permits stipulate that 25 per cent of the harvest be made available to commercial sawmills for first right of refusal. “Wood fibre requirements of 148,000 m3 would be provided via the cutting permits and by purchase from existing forest operators,” the release says.

The Hawke’s Bay plant will produce 55,000-65,000 metric tonnes annually of CoalSwitch wood pellets to be exported to Poland. AEG has agreed to provide wood pellets to Cobant, a Polish research, development and coal recovery/production company, to supplement coal use in Poland’s residential heating market.

The company predicts the plant will result in 25 new fulltime jobs in plant operations, as well as 30-50 positions in harvesting and trucking.

“This agreement is a significant achievement for the company and for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and will reap rewards for all parties in the years to come. We look forward to becoming part of the community on the Great Northern Peninsula and working with stakeholders to provide positive economic opportunities as we rebuild this important industry together,” said Richard Spinks, managing director of Timberlands International.

The federal government is giving Competitive Green Technologies a leg up to research and develop a biomass-based nylon for automobile manufacturing and other industries.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) announced it’s investing $499,433 in the company, which is working with the University of Guelph’s Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre (BDDC) in Ontario to develop a new biocomposite material from resin and natural fibres derived from agricultural waste.

“We are really happy to have created an impact by working with AAFC on this project – nano-enhanced, ag biomass-based hybrid bio-composites for light-weighing automotive. AAFC funding has resulted in an industry needle-mover. As a farmer and president of Competitive Green Technologies, I am absolutely delighted to see the value-add to agriculture through this innovative technology break-through,” Mike Tiessen, president of Competitive Green Technologies, said in a government news release.

The global bioplastics and biocomposites sector is entering the plastics market at a growth rate of 30 per cent annually, according to the release.

To keep 350 jobs at the Barrette-Chapais sawmill in Chapais, Que., the company has decided to invest $70 million in an industrial wood pellet plant that will process much of their residuals.

The new plant, called Granule 777, will produce 210,000 metric tonnes of wood pellets per year, primarily for export.

“Basically, this new company was created to sustain the mill’s jobs and to provide market alternatives for residuals,” explained Benoit Barrette, president of Granule 777 and the Barrette-Chapais sawmill. The sawmill, which processes close to one million cubic metres of wood – one of the largest in Quebec – produces a lot of sawdust, shavings and chips that must be recovered in order to remain profitable.

“There have always been ups and downs in the chip market, especially the latter, but one thing is inevitable – newspaper consumption is going down,” Barrette added. “So we decided to create an alternative ourselves.”

The majority of the pellet plant supply will come from sawmill by-products, but residual forest biomass could also be used.

The Granule 777 plant will mostly export their pellets. The company has only one industrial client in Canada, which consumes around 90,000 metric tonnes of pellets.

The products will be exported through the Port of Grande-Anse, where more than $15 million has been invested. According to the current plans, different industry players will be able to use this export infrastructure, but there are still some loose ends to tie up with the Quebec government before an official announcement is made.

The company began constructing the new pellet plant in August 2017. The plant is expected to produce its first pellets by the end of July 2019 and create around 40 jobs – 20 at the mill and 20 in transportation.

Natural Resources Canada has invested $15 million in the project on top of the $70 million, and Canada Economic Development has announced a $5 million repayable contribution.