Final Thoughts Can’t see the forest for the trees? How about the biomass for the wood? By Patricia Hanney C anada’s renewable fuel targets have been in place since 2010. The transition from first-generation feedstocks to more advanced options highlights forest biomass as a promising option; however, the lack of clarity at the federal, provincial and local levels could hamper this development and create un-foreseen problems. As we have yet to identify a scientifical-ly proven method to assess the sustainabil-ity of biofuel production from the range of biomass options out there, it makes it Harmonized regulation could create a level playing field that would help to reduce uncertainty for wood pellet and biomass producers. harder for decision and policy makers to design and implement coherent guide-lines for bioenergy feedstock production. Attempts have been made to understand how to go about assessing impacts of bio-fuels production through Comprehensive Environmental Assessment, which takes into account the whole supply chain and accompanying stakeholders. Guidelines designed for the removal of woody bio-mass are implemented at the provincial level, and apply to public but not private forested lands. The maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have made the most notable contributions to biomass removal guidelines. British Co-lumbia, the largest domestic exporter of forest products, has been slower to ad-dress the sustainability concerns of har-vesting (B.C. accounted for 34.8 per cent of forest product exports in 2010). As expectations and demands for for-est residues are set to increase, both wood pellet and biomass producers would benefit from the creation of legislation that assesses risk factors and offers clear guidelines. Crown lands make up the majority of Canadian forests (93 per cent), with less than 0.2 per cent being harvested each year. The annu-al allowable cut (AAC) from the forest is governed at the provincial level. Certifica-tion initiatives, on the other hand, are voluntary, market-driven schemes that im-plement standards through a set of guid-ing principles with numerous criteria and indicators. They ensure that sustainability standards have been met throughout the supply chain with the use of chain-of-cus-tody, which acts as a tracking mechanism for forest products as they leave the site. A sustainability label is then awarded when these standards have been met, rendering the product “certified.” Right now, over 150 million hectares of Canadian forest are certified under one of following programs: The Canadian Standards Association, the Forest Stewardship Council and the Sus-tainable Forestry Initiative. The challenge for Canada is to find a way to ensure that these various certification schemes can be harmonized and consistent, with stan-dards that are applicable at local, national and international levels. Without harmonized regulation, it’s very difficult to make optimal decisions on environmental impact, sustainable development, and life-cycle assessment; understanding the environmental perfor-mance of forestry-based biofuels across each stage of the supply chain is next to impossible, and a range of negative environmental consequences on soil, water, and air quality, as well as biodiver-sity, could occur. If progress is to be made within the parameters of existing forestry certification initiatives and provincial guidelines, attention must be directed at the harvesting and operation manage-ment patterns at the local and regional levels. Harmonized regulation could stan-dardize the process of biomass removal, creating a level playing field that would help to reduce uncertainty for wood pellet and biomass producers. Ideally, a set of legislated guidelines would enable industry to follow clear re-quirements in line with developments of the European Renewable Energy Directive. As the forest industry continues to develop this valuable opportunity, Canada needs to ensure that we give forest-derived biomass the regulation it needs to thrive. • Biomass feedstocks are undeniably one of the most important considerations for the emerging bioeconomy. Patricia Hanney and Dr. Terry McIntyre’s research at Con -cordia University, Montreal, looks at the environmental sustainability of biomass options and policy develop -ments for advanced biofuels. January/February 2014 30 Canadian BIOMASS
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