Bio Energy, Companies with Tenure WILL Be Players

By 250 News

Production of pellets, like this,  may be one economic diversification  idea  for the region, but  Minister of Forests Rich Coleman says  companies with forest tenure will  be made to play a part. ( photo opinion250 archive)

Bio Energy, the buzz words that have been making the circles as the possible economic  diversification  idea that many hope will keep  the central interior alive  when the  last beetle  tree  of value has been  processed  through the  mill.

B.C. Forest Minister Rich Coleman doesn’t want to hear from nay sayers "I don’t have time for them" says Coleman.  He wants to move forward with the positive possibilities  of  what to do with the beetle debris.   Bio energy  is one of those possibilities.

The recent call for Bio-energy proposals has met with great success says Coleman, “I have met with the President of Mitsubishi right through to companies in B.C. who have technologies on making electricity so we’re encouraging that, and we’ll see how that call goes, and we’ll  see  what the interest  is  for investment  to do other things in the forest base.” 

The key to making the bio-energy prospect work is tenure and while forest companies say they would prefer to handle that issue “business to business” Coleman  says  his Ministry is working on that very issue right now  “We are looking at how we cn deal with that regulatory wise  or do we  do it by giving a directive to companies to say  you will do it, or there are ways government can do it by making it financially difficult for them not to do it, so we will  find those solutions” 

Coleman says at this point,  producers in this area  have indicated they want to work  a partnership “There is no doubt, when you cut the tree down the first time, the most economical  period of time to get the debris is right then and so we’re not going to sit back and  not  do that.  We are going to see if they will cooperate and find those solutions with us, otherwise we will find the solutions for them.” 

Coleman  says things are changing  “We are not  leaving  the amount of waste we have in the bush today that we could use for chips or pellet so or bio energy anymore,   We are not going to continue to burn those piles,  we are going to use it for a product, and  they, I think, have got that message.  They also know that if I send it subtly, which I have so far, it means there is an iron fist inside that velvet glove, and if necessary, we will come down with what we have to."

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