ubC's bbrG holdInG Pellet workshoP In VAnCouVer For 10 years, the Biomass & Bioenergy Re-search Group (BBRG) has researched wood pellet production, storage, handling and more, on the new generation of torrefied pellets. It is holding a 1.5-day pellet work-shop in conjunction with the Wood Pel-let Association of Canada (WPAC) annual general meeting being held Nov. 18 to 22 in Vancouver. Attendees will participate in sessions outlining wood pellet research and feedstock engineering, including the work being done at the new biomass gas-ification plant on the University of British Columbia’s campus. Some of the topics to be covered are self-heating initiation and spread of heat in wood pellet storage and ways of designing and managing storage to mitigate it, innovations in online mea-suring of biomass compositional proper-ties, and opportunities to reduce the pellet cost using blends of low quality feedstock. For more information on the workshop visit www.biomass.ubc.ca. T renewAble dIesel MAndAte he Ontario government has said that there will be meetings in the near future to discuss the possibility of a renewable diesel mandate becoming part of its budget, confirming its commitment to renewable fuels. The discussions will seek a renew-able content standard for diesel, and consider the carbon intensity for any qualifying fuel. The budget announcement is the first step in the creation of the mandate, wel-come news for biofuels producers and consumers, according to the Canadian Renew-able Fuels Association (CRFA). The CRFA is recommending a 2% renewable content standard in the Ontario diesel fuel market, and a carbon intensity of at least a 50% improvement over a life-cycle basis. Doing so would require that at least 160 million litres of renewable product be blended in Ontario and could create the equivalent greenhouse gas reduction of removing 100,000 vehicles from Ontario’s roads. low-CArbon Fuels In the CeMent Industry A new multi-company partnership has invested $8 million in Lafarge Canada’s cement plant in Bath, Ont., with the goal of helping the cement industry adopt low-carbon fuels quickly. The investment is intended to help the Canadian cement industry become more competitive while providing better local value to local communities and reducing carbon emissions. The organizations in the partnership – Lafarge Canada Inc., Natural Resources Canada, the Queen's Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy, and Carbon Manage-ment Canada – are looking to reuse as low-carbon fuels local surplus materials and other energy-containing materials not currently recycled. For exanded industry news and daily updates, visit www.canadianbiomassmagazine.ca Rotary Dryer System Heat Energy Pellet Press Roller Biomass Pelletizing & Energy Systems Pellet Plants | Dryers | Furnaces | Steam Boilers | Thermal Oil Heaters | Cogeneration Dieffenbacher USA, Inc. 2000 McFarland 400 Blvd. | Alpahretta, GA 30004 Phone: (770) 226-6394 | [email protected] www.dieffenbacher.com Canadian BIOMASS 7
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