Biomass to burn, but no markets

Nov. 25, 2011, North Bay, ON – Last week, representatives
from all aspects of the biomass industry met in North Bay for a conference held
by the Biomass Innovation Centre, through Nipissing University.

The conference, entitled Harnessing
Biomass II: Support for Northern Ontario Bioeconomy Initiatives, was a
two-day event, comprised of six different sessions focused on aspects of
biomass and its management. Highlights included talks on forestry development,
funding opportunities, descriptions of handling/processing equipment and a
variety of case study analyses.

One of the main points discussed at the conference was the abundance
of woody biomass available in Northern Ontario, but nowhere for it to go. This
was most evident during a field trip taken to an experimental Tembec harvesting
operation, where large mounds of chipped biomass were sitting for months
awaiting pick-up.

One of the highlights of the conference was observing an experimental Tembec tree harvesting project and seeing how biomass sat for months while awaiting transportation – Photo taken by John Pineau. Advertisement

“The biomass is here, ready to be taken, but we just don’t
have somewhere for it to go,” said Al Stinson, a representative from the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The Biomass
Innovation Centre hosted the conference with support from the Canadian
Ecology Centre Forestry Research Partnership, the Ontario Trillium Foundation
and the NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program.

Look to the next issue of Canadian Biomass for more on the Harnessing Biomass II conference.