Prince George, B.C.- The  fourth  Bioenergy Conference in Prince George has wrapped up with some experts saying there is still a great deal of work to be done.

While a lot of renewable energy technology and projects are still in the development phase, a number have been operating for some years with considerable success. 

 

Sotirious Koroganas, who is Manager of the Strategic Capital and Energy division at Canfor Pulp Limited Partnership, says bioenergy is and has been a cornerstone of the Canfor Pulp operations going back many decades. Currently, the company processes 3 million tonnes of biomass each year and is the largest producer of bioenergy electricity in the province. Under the federal government’s “Green Transformation Program”, the company is receiving $122 million in funding for various projects, including recovery boiler odor reduction at its Prince George operations.

 

The bioenergy company Nexterra is installing a bioenergy heating system at UNBC with Sinclair Forest Products supplying the biomass. According to Nexterra CEO  Jonathan Rhone, there is an $18 billion market in North America for renewable energy installations and conversions in universities and other public facilities.

 

Creating oil through “pyrolysis” is an interesting process. Randall Goodfellow, VP Envergent Technologies, explained how solid biomass is converted into a liquid in less than two seconds by exposing it to hot whirling sand. The pyrolysis process results in a wide range of products from green transportation fuels and chemicals to the “smoky” flavour that is found in supermarket barbecue sauces.

 

Mobile wood pellet facilities are a significant advantage for pellet companies. In that regard, SBC Firemaster has developed modular pellet plants that can be moved around in regular sized shipping containers. According to Paul Adams, General Manager, setup can take as little as two weeks because the equipment does not need to be re-engineered.

 

But not all is rosy in the Bioenergy world. Some of the panelists at the Bioenergy conference in Prince George said there is not a “level playing field” in North America. In the U.S., for example, there are a wide range of loan guarantees, grants and subsidies in place for companies to access. But in Canada, these are not available to the same extent making it more difficult to secure financing for projects.

 

Another contentious and ongoing issue has to do with access to fiber. The view is put forward that bioenergy companies need more secure access to feedstock if the industry is to develop. However, the forest industry as a whole, along with forest tenure policies, is more geared to the traditional forest companies, a situation which can present problems for bioenergy companies to get off the ground and maintain operations.

 

On the other hand, the traditional forest company sector argues back that bioenergy operations should not develop at its expense.