Silver linings in a pandemic Finding new ways to connect during COVID-19 t’s strange to think that just two months ago, in February, I was on vacation, sipping drinks on a beach. Today, that seems unthinkable as Canada and coun-tries around the world work to ‘flatten the curve’ of COVID-19. Just one month ago, most of us had never heard the term ‘flat-ten the curve,’ or given much thought to what would happen if the novel coronavirus became a problem in Canada. Fast forward to today – some of us are working from home and everyone is social distancing in an ef-fort to minimize the strain on our healthcare system and buy time to develop a vaccine. We’re also wonder-ing what the impact of this pandemic will be on our sector and the economy as a whole. The news so far has been grim, with many experts predicting a global eco-nomic recession, if not a depression. But there are some silver linings. Forest products companies across Canada, in-cluding wood pellet producers, have been deemed ‘essential’ and continue operating, following recommended health guidelines. Many manufacturers in Canada have pivot-ed their operations to produce much-needed personal protective equipment (PPE) and hand sanitizer, such as biofuel producer Greenfield Global. Communities are com-ing together in creative ways to support each other and frontline workers. Organizations are finding ways to continue sharing infor-mation and connect with their members. In fact, my team and I have been explor-ing different ways to continue connecting with you, our readers, as conferences and tradeshows around the world have been postponed or cancelled. On April 13, we hosted a webinar, sponsored by the Wood BIOMASS CANADIAN Volume 20 No. 2 Editor -Ellen Cools (437) 922-3026 [email protected] Associate Editor -PJ Boyd (416) 728-6209 [email protected] Contributors -Maria Church, Gordon Murray, William Strauss, Martin Engineering, Tim Hoy Group Publisher -Todd Humber 416-510-5248 [email protected] Account Coordinator -Stephanie DeFields Ph: (519) 429-5196 [email protected] National Sales Manager -Rebecca Lewis Ph: (519) 400-0332 [email protected] Quebec Sales -Josée Crevier Ph: (514) 425-0025 Fax: (514) 425-0068 [email protected] Western Sales Manager -Tim Shaddick [email protected] Ph: (604) 264-1158 Fax: (604) 264-1367 Media Designer -Curtis Martin Circulation Manager – Jay Doshi [email protected] Ph: (416) 442-5600 ext. 5124 COO Scott Jamieson [email protected] Canadian Biomass is published four times a year: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Published and printed by Annex Business Media. Publication Mail Agreement # 40065710 Printed in Canada ISSN 2290-3097 Subscription Rates: Canada -1 Yr $57.00; 2 Yr $102.00 Single Copy -$9.00 (Canadian prices do not include applicable taxes) USA – 1 Yr $121.50 CDN; Foreign – 1 Yr $138.00 CDN CIRCULATION [email protected] Tel: (416) 510-5124 Fax: (416) 510-6875 or (416) 442-2191 111 Gordon Baker Rd., Suite 400, Toronto, ON M2H 3R1 Annex Privacy Officer [email protected] Tel: 800-668-2374 Occasionally, Canadian Biomass magazine will mail information on behalf of industry-related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above. No part of the editorial content of this publication may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission ©2020 Annex Business Media, 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. I Pellet Association of Canada, called “Pellet Pulse: Analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on the industrial wood pellet industry.” William (Bill) Strauss, president of Fu-tureMetrics, shared insights about how the pandemic could impact wood pellets’ sup-ply and demand, as well as the impact of different countries’ policies. Given the poignant topic, I expected a fair number of people to tune in, but was pleasantly surprised to see that 383 people registered for the webinar! Bill gave a great presentation and was able to answer many attend-ees’ questions. It made me realize that although I can’t meet with industry stake-holders and professionals in person, there are still many ways to connect. If you missed our webinar, don’t worry, Bill also wrote an article summarizing the potential effects of COVID-19 on the industry, which you can read on page 14. In the meantime, life continues, albeit in a different way than any of us ever could have expected. Bioenergy projects contin-ue to come online, including Nova Scotia’s newest pellet plant and Sustane Technol-ogies’ new demonstration plant, which is converting household waste into usable material. Read more about those projects on page 10 and page 28. As the situation with COVID-19 evolves, we will continue to look at different ways to connect, including additional webinars. Hopefully we will begin to reopen the econ-omy soon and start making our way back to “normal.” Until then, stay safe. www.canadianbiomassmagazine.ca 4 Canadian BIOMASS SPRING 2020
Canadian Biomass Spring 2020: Page 4
