Public Tours Of UNBC's Bioenergy Plant

Saturday, March 19, 2011 06:30 AM

The new bioenergy plant at UNBC photo courtesy of UNBC

Prince George, B.C. - Following yesterday's official grand opening of UNBC's bioenergy plant by B.C. Premier Christy Clark, members of the public are being invited to tour the facility today.

The bioenergy plant takes wood waste that is already being produced at the Lakeland sawmill and converts it to enough energy to heat the university and reduce its fossil fuel consumption by 85-percent. The new facility joins the wood pellet system on the Prince George campus, which opened in 2009.

"This is an important development for UNBC, but it's also very important for the local forest industry and the 621 communities across Canada that are reliant on forests. This facility is a showpiece that will serve as a unique platform for education and research," says UNBC President George Iwama.

"Biomass is a sustainable, renewable energy source that is critical to the diversification of the forest industry and the communities that rely on it."

The tours will run at 10am, 11am, 12pm and 1pm. University officials are asking participants wanting to see the facility to gather in the Canfor Winter Garden prior to their tour time.

Attendees must be 18-years of age or older and wear appropriate footwear.

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Posted on Saturday, March 19, 2011 06:30 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Mercenary on March 19 2011 8:16 AM

Nice to see sites like this come on-line. Hopefully a lot more will open up in the future.

Posted by: PrinceGeorge on March 19 2011 9:00 AM

It makes a lot of sense. There is all the beetle killed wood and hopefully we will have less slash burning and related air pollution from the smouldering piles of waste.

Posted by: Loki on March 19 2011 9:30 AM

Real pretty industrial power plant. How much more did it cost to make it purty?

Bioenergy! The fuel of the future! Except that private homes are not allowed to use bio energy any more, they are banning all private burning.

Can you guess why?

Posted by: gus on March 19 2011 9:44 AM

My guess is because the local smoke, on inversion days, does not vent properly and hangs around to cause the nearby neighbourse, within 2 or 3 houses to inhale. Sort of like second hand smoke, except that the actual proidcuer of the smoke generally does not get any of the smoke in this case.

You see, there is the local effect along such things as major transportation routes, and then there is a total air shed effect.

So what is your guess Loki, as opposed to an understanding of the mechanisms involved here?

Posted by: gus on March 19 2011 9:54 AM

Making things "purty" actually typically costs nothing. Good design is not an expensive thing at all. Good design is simply a matter of hiring a good designer. They pretty well charge the same hourly rate and the materials typically cost the same as does labour.

This is nothing exotic. It is a very utilitarian building. You are just not used to it because we have a good share of ugly buildings in town.

The only bone I have to pick with what I see is let us look at ho the excterior wood will look in 10 years, 20 years, 40 years. Brick, for instance, will still look good in 40 years, the wood likely will not. Wood, like roads, is a maintenance item unless it is properly installed with good air circulation allowed behind it and you do not mind it turning grey over the years with spotted darker striations where water has run over it frequently and the sun has done its job on it.

I remember the days when people discovered barn wood ... some 100 years old, hard to even get nails through some of it, then brought indoors to decorate pubs for miles around. I bet you bottom dollars that wood will not end up lasting that long.

Posted by: Loki on March 19 2011 10:33 AM

Well Gus, I often agree with your comments and when I do not agree, I can see your logic.

In this case you are most likely correct with the political explanation of air shed quality. I can see how a large population density in a confined air shed such as the bowl would be an issue.

What annoys me is all the recent efforts to curb recreational yard fires and home heating with fireplaces or the better, more efficient modern wood burning (bio-energy) appliances. How is it that I (private citizen) am not allowed to utilize the bio-energy sources in my area, yet big industry can? A bit of a double standard don't you think. Sort of like years ago when males were allowed to drive and females were not.

If it is a matter of particulates, fine, set the building code regarding bio-energy appliances such that the particulates are managed or reduced to an acceptablke level. I am sure homeowners using bio-sources would rather comply than have the appliance outright banned.

I am a reasonable person until I am told that I cannot do what I used to, period. With no alternative regulation to allow it, they are just being tyrannical. Must be the Afgan Style of governing encroaching into our democracy.

Posted by: gamblor on March 19 2011 11:51 AM

You think that looks good? The 70's are over, pal. Looks like Duchess Park school - some "designer" got paid a grip to make some fugly 70's building. This does not enhance our city and make it look progressive. It makes it look like Cat Stevens puked out a building.

Posted by: PrinceGeorge on March 19 2011 12:25 PM

A research/bio-energy facility should look exactly like this, in my opinion! Don't forget, if any extra funds would have been spent on making it look like a fancy RCMP station or a Performing Arts Center they would be howling about the great waste of money!

I agree with gus, mostly! After a few years the wood can be allowed to weather and the building will look just fine, even better than it looks now.

Posted by: gamblor on March 19 2011 3:04 PM

Yeah, it'll look like the rest of the city - a decaying reminder of better days decades ago!

Posted by: PrinceGeorge on March 19 2011 3:25 PM

Trees can't move - people can!

Posted by: Surefire on March 19 2011 5:07 PM

Well I'm sure there are things to be said not favoring bioenergy, but after all is said I believe there'll probably be more good comming from the instalation of this plant and it will be initiated right here in Prince George. Good luck with all of your endeavors.

Posted by: interceptor on March 20 2011 6:36 PM

Loki - please learn how these bio-energy plants work, do not compare them to a backyard campfire. They actually pull gasses from the wood mass to burn in a funrace just like natural gas. Emmissions are not anything like simply burning wood for heat.