Brand Building Finding customer-driven solutions is the first step to a biomass economy. outside our direct control that may conspire to damage the image of forest biomass as a reliable, consis- tent alternative to fossil fuels. Most damaging is recent I news that would-be biomass brokers New England Pellet will not be able to meet sup- ply obligations made to hun- dreds of residential customers in the Northeast US relying on them to keep their homes, and families, warm. The company had taken around $200 a ton from consumers in return for what was to be a sure supply of wood pellets this winter. Now the company is being sued by the attorney general of Con- necticut for continuing to pre-sell pellets long after it knew it could not deliver. Many of these pellet consumers are new to the game, having recently given the pellet sector their trust in the face of escalating oil prices. Uncertain when, or if, they will see their pellet supply, these home- owners are not likely to be strong advocates for our industry moving forward. This is all the more unfortunate given what looked like a growing surge of pellet users in the massive Northeast US residential market. Going forward we’ll likely need a large supplier or coalition of suppliers with the brand power and proven reliability of a Shell Oil or Esso. When you sign a heating oil con- tract with such players, you may gripe about the price, but the thought of shortages never crosses your mind. If we want to win over the American and Canadian consumer, we’ll need the same clout. Then there are more technical issues such 4 CanadianBIOMASS f forest biomass for energy is a brand, we’d best start taking more care in building it. As recent events show, there are factors as the trials and tribulations of some industrial users in matching biomass fuel with combus- tion technology. In our greenhouse focus, you’ll read Heather Hager’s article about Lin- dy’s Flowers’ switch to bio- mass and its difficulties in getting its boiler to feed and burn well using a variety of agricultural feedstocks. The good news is they seem to have found success with hardwood pellets. Yet they suffered more aggravation than necessary getting there. In some ways this isn’t a for- est biomass issue – the early trials were with nonwood- based biomass. Still, to the greenhouse sector at large, it all becomes a problem with using biomass. By default the problem becomes ours. The issue is education. Biomass pioneers need accurate information to choose the right combustion technology to match the intended fuel source (or sources) and to design a trans- port, storage, and feeding system to make it all work as simply and painlessly as possible. It behoves our industry to help this education process with such key markets as the green- house sector. For that reason, we have invit- ed Dr. Fernando Preto of Natural Resources Canada’s CanmetENERGY to explain the finer points of commercially available combustion systems and have arranged to have this issue reach over 4000 greenhouse contacts through our partners at Greenhouse Canada Magazine. I welcome these readers and encourage them to consider Dr. Preto’s suggestions carefully. Regardless of the product, it’s all about providing solutions, not new problems.• Scott Jamieson, Editor/Group Publisher [email protected] BIOMASS CANADIAN Volume 3 Editor/Group Publisher - Scott Jamieson (514) 457-2211 ext 24 [email protected] Field Editor - Heather Hager (519) 429-3966 ext 261 [email protected] Western Editor - Bill Tice Market Production Manager Josée Crevier (514) 457-2211 ext 21 [email protected] National Sales Managers Tim Tolton - [email protected] 450-458-4341 Guy Fortin - [email protected] 90 Morgan Rd, Unit 14 Baie d’Urfé, Que H9X 3A8 Ph: (514) 457-2211 Fax: (514) 457-2558 Western Sales Manager Tim Shaddick - [email protected] 1660 West 75th Ave Vancouver, B.C. V6P 6G2 Ph: (604) 264-1158 Fax: (604) 264-1367 Production Artist - Brooke Shaw Canadian Biomass is published five times a year; March, June, August, October, and December. Published and printed by Annex Publishing & Printing Inc., and distributed as a supplement to Canadian Forest Industries and Canadian Wood Products magazines. Printed in Canada ISSN 0318-4277 Circulation e-mail: [email protected] Tel: (514) 457-2211 Fax: (514) 457-2558 Mail: 90 Morgan Rd, Unit 14 Baie d’Urfé, Que H9X 3A8 Subscription Rates: Canada - 1 Yr $48; 2 Yr $85; 3 Yr $115 Single Copy - $6.00 (Canadian prices do not include applicable taxes) USA – 1 Yr $44 US; 2 Yr $75 US Foreign – 1 Yr $75 US From time to time, we at Canadian Biomass make our subscription list available to reputable companies and organizations whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you do not want your name to be made available, contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above. No part of the editorial content of this publication may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission ©2009 Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. No liability is assumed for errors or omissions. All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of the publication. www.canadianforestindustries.ca AUGUST 2008
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