Nova Scotia Forest Notes

Dal/AC’s revamped biomass plant provides heat and power for the Truro campus and generates over a million dollars annually from exporting electricity. But is it truly carbon neutral and will it stay that way?

UPDATE: Comment from Rochelle Owen Executive Director, Office of Sustainability at Dalhousie University
View below

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Curved arrows represent biologically mediated flows of GHGs: the straight arrow, industrial emissions of GHGs; and the symbols at bottom right, long term sequestration of carbon in the oceans. Carbon dioxide is the most important GHG in relation to forestry.

There has been recent publicity around the Dalhousie University/AC’s revamped Biomass Energy Plant, Dal touting it as “a (Bio) Massive Achievement” and “a North American First” (AC: Agricultural Campus)

Dal’s Agricultural Campus has its sights set on being completely carbon neutral — a goal highlighted at the opening of the new Biomass Energy Plant, which celebrated its grand opening Tuesday morning (Nov. 20).

The renewed [30 year old] plant and district energy system, a $26.5-million project that began operation this summer, burns biomass fuel in a thermal oil heater. This heat moves a new 1 MW turbine to create electricity — an organic rankine cycle (ORC) system that’s the first of its kind on a North American university campus. It’s technology that places Dal on the leading edge of sustainable technology and renewable energy practices.

View A (BIO)MASSIVE ACHIEVEMENT: NEW AG CAMPUS ENERGY PLANT A NORTH AMERICAN FIRST
by Ryan McNutt in Dal News (Nov 21, 2018)
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View Trailer
View Burned – The Movie
View this post for a listing of showings in NS – two left in current sequence, at Centre Burlington on Nov 22, 2018, and Tantallon on Nov 28, 2018

Bev Wigney wrote the following after viewing a showing of Burned: Are Trees The New Coal? on Sun Nov 18, 7:00 p.m., at the United Church, Annapolis Royal:

REVIEW and SUMMARY of “Burned: Are Trees The New Coal?”

For those of you who missed the screening of “Burned” and the discussion that followed, I’ll try to provide a summary while the thoughts are still fresh in my mind. I’ll do this in two posts — one about the film, and one about the discussion.

Burned:
This documentary addresses the unsustainable use of forests to create biomass as a “green” alternative to fossil fuels. Most of the forests and the biomass plants shown in the film are located in the eastern United States. The largest biomass processing plants are along the eastern seaboard, or on the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico. The reason behind their location is that most of the biomass is processed into wood pellets to be shipped out of various ports, bound for England and Europe — where they will be burnt to produce electricity.
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UPDATES (Nov 7, 2018):
The Dark Side of the Bioeconomy: Climate Catastrophe, Forest Destruction, and Human Rights Abuses
Over 115 Organisations from 40 countries hold day of action on Nov 7, 2018 to reject the “BioFuture Platform” .
“The exponential growth of the bioeconomy is a global threat. Instead of contributing to climate mitigation, bioenergy and ‘bio’ products keep energy generation locked-in to the carbon cycle, decrease the amount of land available for food crops, drive land-grabs, and decimate forests – our most efficient carbon sinks.

MIT expert: Carbon-neutral biomass ‘accounting fraud’
Aaron Beswick in the Chronicle Herald NOV 5, 2018

Missing Pathways to 1.5°C
Climate Land Ambition and Rights Alliance – “CLARA pursues climate solutions that work for people—at community, landscape, and national levels. Our work is rooted in the latest science, in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the UN Convention on Biodiversity. We work with scientists, farmers and indigenous leaders to show the crucial role of local solutions for building community and ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change.”
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From EAC>Wilderness>Projects:

Burned Documentary Screenings

View Trailer
View Burned – The Movie

We’re proud to present screenings of Burned at locations across Nova Scotia this fall. Burned examines the rise of biomass in the Eastern United States. These are the same issues Nova Scotia is facing today. Following each film, we’ll have a Q&A to discuss what is happening with our forests.
Continue reading →