WPAC Report Domestic support Government organizations contribute to the success of Canada’s pellet producers By Gord Murray, WPAC executive director S ince 2010, Canadian wood pel-let exports have increased by 240 per cent, from one million tonnes in 2010 to 2.4 million tonnes in 2016. Last year’s exports totalled $408 million. Pellet producers have invested in new plant capacity, employed more people and paid more taxes while continuing to grow an industry using a raw material that was formerly a waste product of the sawmill industry. Obviously, the lion’s share of credit must go to pellet company owners, in-vestors, and management for leading the way. However, not many people know that two government organizations have played a key role in our industry’s suc-cess, namely Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and Forestry Innovation In-vestment (FII). NRCan and FII each manage pro-grams that support the export market-ing efforts of Canada’s forest industry, including the wood pellet sector. NRCan operates the Expanding Market Oppor-tunities Program (EMO) with the goal of maintaining and growing international forest product markets while promoting Canadian forest products as an environ-mentally responsible choice. Projects funded under EMO are cost-shared with industry and provincial government partners. FII operates the Market Ini-tiatives Program (MIP). FII is the B.C. government’s market development agen-cy for forest products. FII works with industry and the federal government to help maintain, create and diversify mar-kets for B.C. forest products. FII’s MIP encourages the development of export markets and new market segments so as to diversify the forest industry and sus-tain employment. Like NRCan’s EMO, MIP-funded projects are cost shared with industry and other levels of gov-ernment. Each year in November, NRCan and FII co-operate in calling for proposals from industry associations for the fol-lowing year’s export marketing projects. Proposals are reviewed by an advisory panel that includes NRCan and FII rep-resentatives, as well as independent for-est industry experts. Since 2010, WPAC has participated in the annual call for proposals and has successfully obtained funding for export marketing initiatives in Europe and Asia. Usually these proj-ects are cost shared 40 per cent by NR-Can, 30 per cent by FII, and 30 per cent by WPAC. Total annual spending has been about $200,000. Some of the WPAC projects that NR-Can and FII have supported include: • WPAC’s participation in the organi-zation and execution of international wood pellet conferences in Europe and Asia where we meet regularly with existing and prospective cus-tomers, we monitor our competitors, and promote Canada as a source of high-quality, sustainably-produced wood pellets; • WPAC’s participation in developing the ENplus wood pellet quality cer-tification program and our continued engagement in ENplus governance; • WPAC’s participation, together with the US Industrial Pellet Association and the European Biomass Associa-tion in negotiations with European power utilities regarding standard contracts, industrial pellet standards, and sustainability certifications; • WPAC’s participation, together with the US Industrial Pellet Association, the UK Renewable Energy Association and the European Biomass Association, • • • • • • • • and with our power utility customers, in operating pro-biomass campaigns in Europe and the U.K. and our engagement in impacting the post-2020 EU Renewable Energy Directive that will set the rules for bioenergy for the following 10 years; WPAC’s negotiations with the South Korean government to change ship-ping documentation rules so that Ca-nadian wood pellets could be legally shipped to that country after being temporarily halted; WPAC’s promotion of Canadian for-est management certifications to the Government of the Netherlands and Dutch NGOs so as to open that mar-ket for wood pellet co-firing; WPAC’s organization of trade missions to Italy, Ireland, and the U.K.; Completion of a study on the emis-sions of gases from wood pellets in ship holds and convincing the In-ternational Marine Organization to change its rules regarding fire extin-guishing systems on ocean vessels; Completion of a study on the phy-to-sanitary characteristics of wood pellets so as to ensure that Canadian wood pellets are not considered as a pest hazard in export markets; WPAC’s participation in a major Eu-ropean torrefaction research known as the SECTOR Project; WPAC’S chairing and participation on an ISO committee to establish uniform international procedures for the physi-cal and chemical testing of wood pellets; WPAC’s cooperation with allied inter-national pellet associations and Euro-pean power utilities in completing a peer-reviewed study on the sustain-ability and carbon balance of wood pellets; SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 8 Canadian BIOMASS
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