Biomass may be answer to Renfrew County's forestry industry
Posted By SEAN CHASE
Updated 3 months ago
Renfrew County's forestry industry needs to diversify in renewable energy sources if it is to survive.
That was the message being presented to county council by Leo Hall, a Renfrew-based pulp and paper supplier, who contended the region needs to follow Europe's lead and produce and ship biological material, or biomass, necessary to generate electricity or produce heat.
The industry has been hit with the closures of two area pulp mills and a plant in Pembroke and it won't remain viable if businesses can't sell pulp wood, sawdust and chips to larger companies, Mr. Hall told county councillors this week. Further, there has been a 50 per cent decline in newsprint sales in North America.
"The forest industry is threatened with extinction in this region by the closure of large-scale markets that used to use pulpwood logs, sawmill chips and sawdust," he explained. "Over half of the tonnage of wood that is cut in area forests now urgently requires a new market to use it."
Mr. Hall said he has 25 tractor-trailer loads of poplar pulpwood, cut in January, that is sitting waiting for shipment to prospective buyers.
"We need a big market in Renfrew County," he said.
The future may lie in green energy as a replacement market.
He said producing biomass for energy is a concept that has saved the industry in Europe. Reacting to climate change and the belief that fossil fuels will not be economical in the long term, several European governments have enacted industry standards and legislation that call for 20 per cent of their energy output must be supplied by renewables.
"They see it as critical to supplying their renewable energy needs," said Mr. Hall.
The move to biomass for heating in Europe has resulted in the production and sale of eight-million tons of wood chips and 16-million tons of wood.
What is needed to a grow green energy market here is a green credit to enable wood heat from chips or pellets to compete with natural gas, which Mr. Hall sees as the primary obstacle in this region due to the presence of natural gas, currently a cheaper option.
The amount of this credit needs to be four cents per kilowatt-hour of thermal energy under current market conditions, he explained. The Ontario Green Energy Act should also increase the feed-in-tariff, a program which allows individuals and companies to sell renewable energy, such as solar, wind, water, biomass, biogas and landfill gas, into the grid at set rates.
Mr. Hall noted that biomass energy from wood is not a key component of the act, something that also frustrated several county councillors.
Petawawa Mayor Bob Sweet said the industry, and to some extent Renfrew County, needs to step up its lobbying efforts. He added he was exasperated that Premier Dalton McGuinty, who has a riding in eastern Ontario, doesn't see the value of biomass energy from wood.
However, Admaston Township Mayor Raye-Anne Briscoe suggested a major investor or company needs to be attracted to Renfrew County so a serious business case can be made to the province. Killaloe-Hagarty-Richards Mayor Janice Visneskie responded that her municipality has been in contact with some prospective companies.
Sean Chase is a Daily Observer reporter
