Volume 9 Editor - Heather Hager (519) 429-3966 ext 261 [email protected] Group Publisher/Editorial Director - Scott Jamieson (519) 429-3966 ext 244 [email protected] Contributors - Colleen Cross, Reg Renner, Mark Ryans, 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 - Kelli Kramer Canadian Biomass is published six times a year: February, April, June, August, October, and December. Published and printed by Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. 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 - $9.00 (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 publica- tion may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission ©2010 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 “ on’t put all your eggs in one basket.” How many times have we each heard and recited this old adage? And yet, this is the situation confronting the Canadian wood pellet industry. The Wood Pellet As- sociation of Canada indicates that we produce about 1.4 million tonnes of pellets. Of this, 1.3 million tonnes is exported, mainly to Europe. That’s a whopping 93% that’s exported, leaving a mere 7% that’s used domestically. Without a magic crystal ball, we can’t know for sure what the future of wood pellet exports will look like. New pellet plants are spring- ing up almost monthly, and more countries are expand- ing into the pellet business: Brazil and New Zealand, to name a couple. The majority of these new pellet plants are also aiming to supply Europe’s demand for pellets. Will competitive supply outstrip foreign demand? Will there be a surplus of pellet makers that can get pellets to the buyers cheaper than Canada can by decreasing the transport dis- tance or the material and labour costs? Will coal plants be phased out altogether, mak- ing this pellet market obsolete, with energy generated more cheaply from raw biomass? What about losing market share to wind, solar, and geothermal energy, which are be- coming ever more popular options? Rather than relying so wholly on exports, the Canadian pellet industry needs to create new market diversity to increase its long- term stability. Our entire domestic pellet con- sumption is less than the total production from one of our larger plants. In the central Canadian provinces, however, there is little supply of local pellets because there are al- most no pellet plants. This breeds reluctance for consumers and business owners to con- vert to pellets, even if it’s cheaper energy. In areas where pellets arereadily available, there is often little incentive to switch to a pellet appliance because of the high installation cost, particularly if there’s already a function- ing system in place. Expanding the domes- tic markets for industrial, commercial, and house- hold uses can only benefit our wood pellet industry. But, numerous challenges need addressing for do- mestic solid biomass mar- kets to grow. Some of the requirements are: • a strong lobby for policies that create in- centives to use renewable pellet energy, including: tax credits and subsidies to install pellet appliances, an equitable share of the incentives that go to other forms of renewable energy, and fos- sil carbon penalties that make it both environmentally and economically responsible to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels; • reliable, modern storage and bulk delivery infrastructure to increase the ease and efficiency of energy delivery; • an established, well-marketed group of domestic and commercial heating professionals to install and service pellet appliances; and • marketing and public education pro- grams to get the average builder and consumer thinking about pellets. All that’s needed is a strong group of entrepreneurs to step up and get the ball rolling. It only remains to be seen who that will be.• CanadianBIOMASS 5
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