Nova Scotia Forest Notes

A Nova Scotia lumber founded in 1866 is in trouble with the cause related to the province’s ill-thought-out biomass-for-electricity programs. “Former Hefler Forest Products employee Stephen Peter Thurston blames the biomass plant for the company’s financial woes….They were able to get government money to build this biomass plant and it just isn’t working… Hefler Forest Products was chipping up logs to burn in the power plant.” View CH article, also the Healthy Forests Coalition’s Biomass Briefing Note which advocates that Burning Forest Biomass Must be Removed from the List of Renewable Sources of Electricity.

On April 8, 2016, the NS Government announced that the Nova Scotia Power biomass plant will no longer run 24/7, which the Ecology Action Centre and others called ‘a great first step’ to eliminating biomass”. I shared that optimism. However, it wasn’t long before alternative uses of the “low grade” wood were being promoted such as marine biofuels (see posts below: Bio-based fuels and What is this hub?).

The word from the woods in recent days is that while the burning of biomass has slowed, the cutting of it has not… the contracts for fibre are in place and it just being directed elsewhere. In fact, the dropping of the 24/7 requirement was what NSP wanted for purely business reasons – it was not a move towards eliminating biomass by the NS Government. Continue reading →

In the C-H Buisness section today (July 9, 2016) Rachel Brighton raises lots of questions about the just announced forestry innovation hub, noting that “Emera, which indirectly owns the province’s two major biomass plants, seems attracted to the commercial prospects for diverting low grade wood to higher value products at a time when there is less demand for burning biomass to produce electricity.” She also profiles some of the other investors and comments that “now that the big biomass plants are producing less power from wood [re change in requirement to operate Point Tupper 24/7], government is obviously keen to generate new markets for low grade wood.” Read Rachel Brighton

Big announcement today, with taxpayer dollars going to study “innovative uses of [Nova Scotia] forest products and new market opportunities…Being studied are things including new market opportunities and alternatives for petroleum products with bio-based fuels in marine diesel and heating oil applications. Another initiative is looking at how forestry contractors can integrate technology, innovation and best practice to help improve their performance.” It would be nice if words such as “while maintaining forest life and the productive base of forestry” could be added to such statements but perhaps they can’t. View Innovacorp/Natural Resources Press Release

A report in localexpress.ca provides a few more details gleaned from the public announcement event: “Nova Scotia Power’s parent company and government are providing $1.67 million in funding for a new centre that will develop uses for the forestry industry’s leftover wood…The hub’s initial focus will be developing biofuel for the local heating oil and marine fuel markets. But the plan is to create other potential green products made of wood fibre. Work is already underway elsewhere in Canada and around the world to commercialize such value-added technologies as new building materials, plastics and chemicals that stem from waste wood, officials said. Nova Scotia startups include Cellufuel, which has a biofuel demonstration project in Brooklyn, Queens County.” View localexpress article.

Ouch. These are not products that require a healthy forest to produce and we’ve heard the “waste wood” story before.