BIOMASS update WPAC APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT Gordon Murray, executive director of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC), is pleased to announce the appointment of Fahimeh Yazdan Panah as Director of Research and Technical Development. Dr. Yazdan Panah joins WPAC from the University of British Columbia, where she was a research associate with the Biomass and Bioenergy Research Group. For the past 12 years, she has carried out bioenergy research on behalf of the uni-versity, governments and private industry clients, focusing on biofuel densification, pretreatment, storage, biomass handling and safety. A prolific writer, Dr. Yazdan Panah has co-authored more than 80 technical reports and peer-reviewed publications on the topic of bioenergy. Dr. Yazdan Panah also serves as the project lead within ISO Technical Com-mittee 238 (Solid Biofuels) and as the chair within ISO Technical Committee 300 (Solid Recovered Biofuels). She received her Ph.D. and MASc from UBC and a BASc from the Amirk-abir University of Technology in Iran. She is registered as a professional engineer with the Association of Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. and as a professional project manager with the Project Manage-ment Institute. Dr. Yazdan Panah also volunteers as the regional director of the B.C. chapter of the Canadian Society for Bioengineering. Her appointment is effective April 1, 2019. Nihtat Corporation eyes pellet plant development in Beaufort Delta The Nihtat Corporation in the Northwest Territories is receiv-ing a $220,000 federal investment to conduct a capacity de-velopment study looking into wood-based biomass options in the Beaufort Delta region. The study will explore options for wood pellet plant de-velopment, wood-based biomass opportunities and biomass supply chain enhancements. According to a news release, the goal is to encourage the use of biomass as a healthy, economical choice for heating that will reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions. The funding is part of a larger $3.5 million investment in the Nihtat Corporation from Natural Resources Canada’s Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities Program, the bulk of which is supporting a solar power with battery storage project. “The Nihtat Gwich’in are excited to partner with the gov-ernment of Canada on this cutting-edge opportunity that will reduce the cost of living and operations for the people and businesses of Inuvik, while at the same time reducing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from our community,” Jozef Carnogursky, president of the Nihtat Corporation, said in the release. “We see this as a strong example of how Indigenous peo-ples and the government of Canada can work together in the interest of sustainable development in the North,” he said. CO2 SOLUTIONS STARTS UP CARBON CAPTURE UNIT AT SAINT-FÉLICIEN A CO 2 capture unit installed by CO2 Solutions Inc. has started commissioning at a Resolute Forest Products pulp mill in Saint-Félicien, Que. The project is in conjunction with Fibrek General Partner-ship, a subsidiary of Resolute Forest Products Inc., and Serres Toundra Inc., and involves the deployment of a 30-tonne per day (TPD) CO 2 capture unit and ancillary equipment at the pulp mill, as well as the commercial reuse of the captured CO 2 by the adjacent Toundra Greenhouse complex. Start-up of the CO 2 capture unit officially took place on March 14, preceded by the successful pre-operation veri-fications of each of the capture unit’s systems, after which the unit was put into operation and the first tonnes of CO 2 were captured. “This unit, a three-times scale-up from our currently operating 10-TPD unit in Montreal-East, confirms the position of our proprietary enzymatic technology as the world’s most advanced second-generation carbon capture technology,” said Richard Surprenant, chief technology officer at CO2 Solutions. Once the Saint-Félicien capture unit reaches its nominal capacity of 30 tonnes of CO 2 per day, a six-month demonstra-tion period will begin, after which the commercial phase will begin and CO2 Solutions will generate revenues from the sale of the CO 2 to Toundra Greenhouse. SPRING 2019 8 Canadian BIOMASS
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