Final Thoughts Beetle-kill bio-bonanza Opportunity lies in the production of high-valued products from the dead wood in forests. By Ken Shields ecently, I had the pleasure of re-turning to my home town of Prince George, B.C., to address the Natural Resources Forum, a gathering that pro-vides an opportunity for a cross section of forestry, mining, energy, and pipeline industry officials to liaise with representa-tives of the Government of British Colum-bia as well as First Nations Leaders. Dr. Ralph Sultan, Member of the Legislative Assembly for West Vancou-ver-Capilano and a PhD (Economics) graduate from Harvard University, asked the question that is central to the future prospects for the British Columbia forest products industry: “With the mountain pine beetle epidemic leading to forecast declines in B.C.’s sustainable harvest from 70 million cubic metres annually to 40 million, what is our plan?” My personal view is that too much public discussion in B.C. has been fo-cused on the dwindling sawlog supply resulting from the mountain pine beetle (MPB), and too little on exploring how bioenergy and bioproducts-related har-vest increases can offset inevitable de-creases in the sawlog harvest. Our thoughts differ from others be-cause of our belief that, over time, British Columbians as well as other Canadians will find ways to profitably use low-val-ued wood fibre as feedstock for high-er-valued bioenergy and bioproducts production. Simply put, we believe the emerging wood-based bioenergy and bio-product businesses presently under com-mercial development have the potential to provide benefits to forest health, local economies, as well as forest sector em-R ployees, suppliers and shareholders. To date, much of the bioenergy and bioproduct development in B.C. has been in the mass production of lower-valued products such as pellets and cogeneration, but the real opportunity lies in the produc-tion of high-valued products, such as bio-fuels, bio-based pharmaceutical products, plastics, etc. Here are some examples of developments from other regions that may have future application in B.C.: Sweden and Finland utilize about 16 million cubic metres of logging residuals annually as feedstock for more than 1,000 heat and power plants in operation in both countries. These two countries operate 10 times the number of heat and power plants we operate in Canada by using fibre that typically ends up in burn piles in B.C. A U.S. company is now making commercial shipments of woody bio-mass-based diesel and gasoline additives. This company produces 70 gallons of saleable product to a refinery from one ton of wood chips. Forward-thinking Europeans expect pulp mills to resemble chemical plants in the future. They believe the real val-ue-added in the pulp sector comes from separating wood fibre into its component parts and pursuing biochemical appli-cations. The Finnish pulp and paper in-dustry research scientists believe that by 2030, 50 per cent of pulp mill revenues will be derived from products that cur-rently do not exist. At last year’s Council of Forest Indus-tries convention, B.C.’s Chief Provincial Forester Dave Peterson presented com-pelling statistics concluding that the in-terior region of B.C. has sufficient fibre inventory to host a vibrant pulp sector and a growing bio-economy business. He went on to outline how he and his Ministry colleagues are exploring how the tenure system in B.C. can transition away from its historical focus on sawlogs to one co-dependent on sawlogs, but also providing assured access to lower-qual-ity fibre for utilization as feedstock in the pulp, pellet and bioenergy/bio-prod-uct sectors. Tenure modifications may need to be designed and implemented to provide greater certainty of supply for non-sawlog harvesting. In the next few years, we expect heightened European and Asian interest to be directed towards B.C.’s sustain-ably certified and plentiful softwood fi-bre resources. They see the benefits of using beetle-killed wood for renewable fuel production. Accessing B.C. fibre circumvents food-versus-fuel concerns, complies with their forest certification requirements, and is highly favourable in terms of carbon balance. The Interior B.C. forest products sector has an incredible opportunity to co-locate exciting new businesses with robust revenue and cash flow streams alongside traditional forest products facil-ities. By focusing on these new business-es, we can ensure that the best days of the forest industry in B.C. lie ahead of us, not behind us. • Ken Shields is the CEO and President of Conifex Tim-ber. This column was originally published online by the Forest Product Association of Canada (FPAC) at www.fpac.ca. 30 Canadian BIOMASS JULY/AUGUST 2014
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