great rail system and processing and stor-age facilities, this country can be a leader in making biofuel viable on a commercial scale,” he said. Lampitt, with reference to Air Canada’s goal of carbon-neutral growth from 2020 on-ward, remarked, “If you grow it, we will fly it.” Newsum outlined Boeing’s two-pronged approach to reducing carbon emissions, which consists of building more efficient airplanes and increasing operational effi-ciency. But he stressed that sustainable and affordable biofuel is a key factor that will enable his industry to continue growing. Moderator Ross MacFarlane, senior ad-visor of business partnerships for Climate Solutions, was even more outspoken. He cited cost, conflict and climate as the three main drivers for aviation biofuels and stated that the political and economic instability of fossil fuels has rendered vul-nerable “the profitability and even the sur-vivability” of airline companies. He went on to note that although great strides have been made in biofuel test usage, some airline companies have transitioned to early commercial flights: “We now need to set up a feedstock chain from end to end . . . we want to have 1,500 flights a day powered by biofuels, not 1,500 a year.” The speakers were united in the convic-tion that government can create policies to ensure that aviation fuels are not at a disadvantage, as well as maintain a stable policy environment to give investors con-fidence in continuing to pursue advanced biofuel development. At the “Overcoming Regional Biomass Feedstock Supply” plenary, discussion focused on the fact that while the timber supply in North America has increased by over 60% in the past 60 years and there-fore biomass supplies are abundant, it re-mains a low-value, high-cost market. Anna Rath, president and CEO of bio-mass crop producer Nexsteppe, suggested that while the volumes of biomass necessary for commercialization may exist on home turf, the ability to process huge volumes is problematic. “Many companies are locating in Brazil due to that country’s facilities and experience,” she said. However, she pre-dicted the same wherewithal will develop in North America “in the long run.” The Canadian government’s potential to assist in the commercialization of bio-mass production was debated. “The mar-ketplace must be allowed to work,” said Linda Beltz, director, technology partner-ships, for Weyerhaueser, adding that since global energy demand will increase by 50% by 2035, “all types of biomass have to be made available and useful.” Michael Rushton, chief operating offi-cer for Lignol Innovations, said that with-out government assistance “we wouldn’t be as far along as we are now.” However, “incentives provided by government have been inconsistently applied and influ-enced by interest groups.” Potential bio-mass players, he concluded, “are staying away until that landscape has settled.” For his part, Rushton reminded audi-ences of a familiar impediment to wide-scale biomass production. “A lot of folk simply don’t believe that forests are sus-tainable,” he explained. “Peoples’ backs get up when they hear that new parts of a forest are opened up for logging.” Erickson views the Vancouver event, which attracted over 300 attendees, as an unqualified success. Next year’s Pacific Rim Summit will be held in November in San Diego. • KAHL Wood Pelleting Plants Quality worldwide. AMANDUS KAHL GmbH & Co. KG, SARJ Equipment Corp., Mr. Rick B. MacArthur, 29 Golfview Blvd., Bradford, Ontario L3Z 2A6 Phone: 001-905-778-0073, Fax: 001-905-778-9613, [email protected] www.akahl.de 8 Canadian BIOMASS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012
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