Pellets Down Pat Using roundwood fibre is already a reality, so what’s next? I t has been clear for some time that any major growth in the Canadian wood pellet industry will come from new fibre sources. With sawmill residues largely spoken for even before the current lumber market collapse, we’ve started eye-balling such alternatives as green round- wood or demolition/construc- tion waste. As Wood Pellet As- sociation of Canada president John Swann points out on page 15, the past few years of falling sawmilling production has only made the need to de- couple the pellet sector from the forest products sector all the more urgent. In addi- tion to providing John’s views on this new pellet business model, we’ve also gone out and found someone who’s doing just that. Our cover story this issue is on Curran Renewable Energy (page 16), a spanking new pellet mill owned and operated by seasoned log harvesting and bush chipping veterans Lee, Pat, and Tim Curran. They have invested over $10 million in a modern wood pellet fa- cility just over the border in Massena, NY, and shipped their first order to a Quebec client in July. It’s a staggering investment for a logging company, but more to the point, it’s 100% based on a fibre supply of green roundwood chips. The goal is to compensate for a declining local pulp market by sending unwanted or off- species chips to the pellet mill. The company can rely on an established and highly efficient transportation infrastructure, a skilled harvest- ing team, good relationships with local land- owners, and a steady market for at least some of its pulp chips. It’s also perched on one of the largest domestic markets for wood pellets in North America, and one that suffered through shortages all last winter. In short, the new ven- ture slides into the old one like a glove. Yet the Currans’ situation is hardly unique. This scenario mirrors many struggling forest regions in Canada, from Newfoundland and New Brunswick to north- ern Quebec, Ontario, the prairies, and pockets of BC where beetle-kill fibre is not spoken for. Still, it’s not for the faint of heart. As Pat Curran says, they now own a company “with a lot of debt and not many assets.” Launching similar opera- tions in Canada may require banding together several large contractors to get the deal done (already being discussed in BC), or may involve municipal or provincial incentives. Above all, starting such operations in Can- ada will take imagination and daring, and not just from our forest entrepreneurs. Govern- ments at all levels will have to get involved, even if only to remove barriers. Access to credit and fibre needs to be addressed, especially in areas where a crumbling old-guard forest in- dustry still stands in the way. Finally, programs to encourage domestic pellet use for industrial and residential applications need to be devel- oped for regions where the fibre is available and the fossil fuel alternatives unattractive. Still, if one plucky logging company in up- state New York can do it, it can be done here too. Enjoy this first look at Curran Renewable Energy’s green chip pellet operation. We wish the Currans well, and will watch their progress closely. • Scott Jamieson, Editor/Group Publisher [email protected] BIOMASS CANADIAN Volume 5 Editor/Group Publisher - Scott Jamieson (519) 429-3966 ext 244 [email protected] Associate Editor - Heather Hager (519) 429-3966 ext 261 [email protected] Contributors - Colleen Cross, Bill Tice Market Production Manager Josée Crevier (514) 457-2211 ext 21 [email protected] National Sales Managers Tim Tolton - [email protected] 514-237-6614 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.canadianbiomassmagazine.com 4 CanadianBIOMASS
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