WPAC Report Desperation – the mother of creativity How one man’s vision turned wood pellets from niche to main-stream to a global powerhouse in the fight against climate change By Gordon Murray D o you know it’s been 25 years since our first shipment of pellets from Canada? What might have seemed like a pipe dream is very much a reality. Today, Canada’s pellet sector is a global powerhouse not just in producing pellets but in the global fight against climate change. We’ve taken what was niche and moved mainstream. And so, how did we get here? While it’s the collective efforts of companies, employees, suppliers, customers and others, it all started as the brainchild of one man. John Swaan; also known as the “godfather” of the pellet sector. It began with John’s idea of taking the wood waste residues from Northern B.C. sawmills and, instead of burning the shavings and sawdust in beehive burners (as was standard practice at the time), turning them into wood pellets. He planned to sell them in the growing Seat-tle market. By 1994, as Pacific Bioenergy, he negotiated a partnership with the Carri-er Group to build one of Canada’s first stand-alone wood pellet plants. Unfortu-nately, when the plant opened, the heat-ing pellet market in Seattle crashed. John negotiated a verbal commitment from a John Swaan, also known as the “godfather” of the pellet sector, was recognized for his role in the birth of the industry at the 2023 Wood Pellet Association of Canada conference in Ottawa in September. Photo: Annex Business Media. big box store for 15,000 tons of bagged product a year, but it fell through and now he had 9,000 tons of bagged product in the plant’s yard with no home for it. As the saying goes, necessity may be Making the shift from oil and coal-based heat and electricity to wood pellets in Canada will take three simple steps: the right policies, strong incentives and effective communications. 8 Canadian BIOMASS the mother of invention, but desperation is the mother of creativity. With 9,000 tons of pellets, John began looking for options. He identified Sweden as a potential market for his pellets. But there were a few logistical challenges to work out ... like a train, a vessel, a port … and how to get the pellets from Prince George to Sweden. Using his connections, John found an unused conveyance system and termi-nal in Prince Rupert. The company had FALL 2023
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