The locally supplied hog fuel for UNBC’s Nexterra system helps to reduce both logistics costs and GHG emissions. The 400kW pellet boiler installed at UNBC is the first to be owned and operated by a Canadian university. mill sells biomass to UNBC by the bone dry tonne. To date, the use of the biomass has reduced the campus’ annual purchase of natural gas by approximately $700,000 per annum. COMMUNITY DISTRICT HEATING The university isn’t the only group in Prince George to adopt the use of bio-mass for heat and power for its core buildings. The community’s municipal council has also adopted the use of biomass for heat and power. Approved by City Coun-cil in June of 2010, the Prince George District Energy System (DES) was intro-duced to provide carbon neutral green energy and improve the air quality in the community. Construction of the Peaking Backup Energy Centre began in July of 2011 and was completed in March of 2012. The system provides power and hot water in coordination with the Lakeland Mills sawmill, which provides the power to the system through its energy system that uses woody biomass. Since the system became active in the spring of 2012, eight buildings have be-come part of the DES in Prince George’s downtown core, including the RCMP headquarters, City Hall, Civic Centre, and the Wood Innovation and Design Centre (under construction). In 2013, use of the DES reduced the city’s natural gas consumption by 17,000 gigajoules, enough to supply heat for 110 homes annually. A FITTING HOST Air System Experts Biomass N Boardplants Power generation N Pulp & Paper Sawmills N Materials handling N Mining Allied brings 35+ years experience in industrial air systems. Allied’s combination of design, supply, installation & maintenance services provides lower project cost, on-time completion, smoother start-up and less downtime – adding value and safety to your operation. Safety Quality Value Surrey,BC N Vernon,BC N WilliamsLake,BC N Edmonton,Alberta N Prince Albert, Sask www.alliedblower.com N Phone: 800-576-3611 The Prince George Civic Centre is also home to Canada’s largest bioenergy conference: the International Bioenergy Conference & Expo (IBCE). The bienni-al event has called Prince George home since its humble beginning in 2004, when it was held in conjunction with Forest Expo. In June of 2014, at the 6th IBCE, over 300 attendees, 43 presenters and close to 50 exhibitors descended on the com-munity to discuss important issues af-fecting Canada’s bioeconomy (see www. canadianbiomass.magazine.ca/content/ view/4594/133/). Among those present-ers were some of the community leaders who have helped push the community bioeconomy forward, including Brad Bennett of Pacific Bioenergy, Ken Shields of Canfor, Rob van Adrichem of UNBC and Prince George MLA Shirley Bond. The conference also included a pre-con-ference tour throughout the B.C. Interi-or with stops at the Canfor cogeneration plant and both of the UNBC biomass facilities. This commitment from partners throughout the community’s biomass industry drives Prince George’s growth as one of Canada’s emerging bioecono-mies. • JULY/AUGUST 2014 26 Canadian BIOMASS
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