WPAC Report Advocacy and market support WPAC makes progress promoting key priorities By Gordon Murray A s WPAC’s executive director, I prepare a business plan and budget each year for approval by our board of directors and membership during our AGM. The business plan guides our direction for the ensuing year. Of course, from time to time, unforeseen priorities arise, and we need to adapt. Key business plan priority areas for 2019 included advocacy and market support, safety, and research and technical devel-opment. Here is a progress report of our efforts so far this year: ADVOCACY IN JAPAN AND EUROPE In January, we took JJ Ruest, CEO of CN, and other senior compa-ny executives to Japan. We visited the Keihin Biomass Power Plant and met with our Japanese customers and other participants in the wood pellet supply chain. WPAC met with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and also began co-oper-ating with JCOAL, a Japanese joint industry-government research study, to justify a seismic increase in wood pellet consumption by Japanese coal power plants. We took JCOAL representatives on tours in B.C. to educate them about our industry and to meet with government and pellet sector representatives. In May, WPAC sponsored the annual CMT Biomass Pellet Trade and Power Conference in Japan. We were accompanied by Diane Nicholls, assistant deputy minister and chief forester of the province of British Columbia. WPAC helped set the con-ference agenda, providing seven speakers. We also visited the Sakata Biomass Power Station that uses Canadian wood pellets. We met again with METI and JCOAL. Meanwhile, in Europe, I am continuing to participate as a board director of both the European Pellet Council and Bioener-gy Europe trade associations. WPAC also supplied speakers for the European Pellet Conference in Wels, Austria and the Argus Biomass Conference in London. Presentations were intended to reinforce Canada’s reputation as a reliable supplier of high-qual-ity, sustainably-produced wood pellets. WPAC has also made progress on the project to harmonize Eu-ropean and Canadian boiler pressure standards. We’ve met with European boiler manufacturers and national and European trade associations to formulate strategy. Through the Austrian Boiler As-sociation, we have submitted a CETA complaint to the European Commission that is now on the agenda for the November meet-ings between Canada and the EU. We have met with the Canadian Standards Association and joined their boiler standards committee. And we have had significant correspondence and many conversa-tions with Canadian government representatives about this issue. Canada had strong representation at the CMT Wood Pellet Conference in Japan. Starting third from left: Vaughan Bassett, President, WPAC; Diane Nicholls, ADM and chief forester, Province of B.C.; and Katsunori “Tiger” Takamitsu of Pacific BioEnergy. Photo by Fiona Pun, Center for Management Technology. ADVOCACY AT HOME At home in Canada, WPAC has raised external funding and be-gun work on a Canadian wood pellet market study. We will be carrying out another social media campaign in the fall. In March, WPAC met with B.C.’s deputy minister of forests to ask for improvements to fibre supply access and security. We filmed the B.C. government burning useable wood fibre and, in April, met with B.C.’s chief forester and her team in an attempt to stop this egregious practice by the B.C. government. WPAC is continuing to engage with the B.C. government in this regard. WPAC is also participating on the Canadian Clean Fuel Stan-dard Technical Committee and the Solid Fuels Subcommittee in an attempt to ensure that wood pellets are properly integrated into Canada’s proposed Clean Fuel Standard regulatory framework. A main issue for us is the proposed framework does not provide for the generation of carbon credits for fuel switching between heat-ing oil and wood pellets. In June, WPAC travelled to New Brunswick to lobby for a change to an RFP for a boiler for the City of Moncton to allow for wood pellets. We succeeded in delaying the RFP and in gaining approval for one boiler to be specified for pellets. SUMMER 2019 8 Canadian BIOMASS
Canadian Biomass Summer 2019: Page 8
