Bio-energy

Bio-energy is electrical and thermal energy derived from biomass fuels-which are organic materials available on a renewable basis and include bark, sawdust, shavings, waste paper fibres and other wood residuals. Because biomass is an abundant, renewable, and carbon neutral substitute for fossil fuels, it is viewed as increasingly important both within British Columbia and worldwide.

BC is well positioned to supply biomass that results as a byproduct from harvesting and manufacturing operations as well as timber stands ravaged by the Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB). Given the forest industry's capacity to generate surplus green energy and the fact that much of the needed infrastructure, systems and personnel are already in place, BC is also well positioned to create new bio-energy technologies and uses.  

It is worth noting that sawmill and forest harvest waste and MPB-killed stands, if not used for bio-energy, will release their stored carbon back into the atmosphere as CO₂-either slowly as they decompose or quickly if subjected to wildfire. Utilizing these forest residuals as a source of energy is carbon neutral, so their substitution for traditional fossil fuels means reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Bio-energy Production

Biomass is already an important source of energy in British Columbia. It is common, for example, for companies to convert some of the biomass that results from wood product manufacturing to electrical and thermal energy that can be used for drying lumber or powering pulp and paper plants. Currently, 75 per cent of BC pulp and paper mills self-generate electricity from biomass, producing enough electricity to power approximately 450,000 homes. However, there is considerable potential to develop new applications and increase use.

The forest industry is somewhat unique in this regard, as its thermal energy requirements outweigh its need for electrical energy. This makes the industry an ideal candidate to cogenerate thermal heat and electrical power using steam generating boilers and turbines. Many of BC's forest products companies are using or exploring cogeneration as well as other bio-energy opportunities as a result of the BC government's recent call for proposals.

Some companies are producing bio-energy fuels in the form of wood pellets, which are a reliable and clean source of fuel. Wood pellets made for wood fuel are comprised of compressed sawdust and shavings to form small eraser-sized pieces. Most of the pellets now produced are exported, but new initiatives are beginning to target markets and users within the province.

BC's current bio-energy opportunity, as it relates to forest industry operations, is as follows:

1. Replace fossil fuel-generated imported power with green energy from pulp and paper and solid wood operations = opportunity for 5 million metric tonnes in reduced CO₂ emissions
2. Displace other fossil fuels in pulp mills (e.g., replace natural gas in lime kilns and CTMP flash dryers) = opportunity for 1.5 million metric tonnes in reduced CO₂ emissions
3. Displace natural gas used for lumber and veneer drying in solid wood operations = opportunity for 0.75 million metric tonnes in reduced CO₂ emissions
   

Bio-energy Fibre Sources

The most cost-effective sources of bio-fuel from BC forests are the unused residues from the conversion of lumber into wood products and from harvesting residuals. This is because the biomass is already in hand and, if it isn't used for energy, it often requires additional cost and effort for disposal.

At a primary sawmill, almost half of the total content of a typical saw log becomes residue-or what was once considered wood waste. This material is now used to make a variety of secondary products, such as pulp chips, wood fiber for fiberboard and composites, and garden products such as decorative bark. Sawmills segregate their residues based on the highest-value markets available, but a small per cent of the total generally has no useful product application and is an ideal source of fuel for bio-energy.

In BC's interior forests, the BC government estimates that 4.4 million cubic meters of wood each year is left after logging. This is because most of the forests harvested are old and many of the trees are already dead and decaying, and thus unsuitable for conversion into lumber and other wood products.

At the same time, BC also has an opportunity to utilize timber killed by the Mountain Pine Beetle. To address the devastation and begin to regenerate healthy young forests, the province has temporarily increased the amount of timber available for harvest. In addition to its other uses, some of this fibre will be an available source of biomass.

BC's current bio-energy fuel opportunity, is as follows:

• Increased utilization of wood residues from mills and roadside waste = 6-8 million tonnes BDT/year
• Harvesting of beetle killed forests = 0.5 Billion m3/year for the next 20 years
  

Bio-fuels are Carbon Neutral

When used for energy, biomass such as organic waste, wood residues and agricultural fibre is considered clean or carbon neutral because it releases no more carbon into the atmosphere than it absorbed during its lifetime and does so in a relatively short life cycle. 

This is in sharp contrast to fossil fuels, which release carbon that's been trapped for hundreds of thousands if not millions of years. Substituting biomass fuels for fossil fuels recycles carbon rather than introducing long dormant "geologic carbon" to the atmosphere, which in turn helps to reduce the atmospheric build-up of carbon dioxide.