Canada adds voice to ISO solid biofuels standards discussion

Experts from nearly 30 countries within ISO TC 238, the International Standards Organization Technical Committee on development of standards for solid biofuels, came together during the week of May 19.

ISO TC 238 convened its 11th annual meeting in Seoul, South Korea where Canada was represented by two delegates including the Wood Pellet Association of Canada’s (WPAC) research and technical development director, Dr. Fahimeh Yazdan Panah, and Dr. Maurice Douek with FPInnovations. The ongoing efforts by Canada on this technical committee are being sponsored by WPAC, FPInnovations and Standards Council of Canada.

ISO Technical Committee 238 was formed to develop international standards to guide international trade in solid biofuels. Canada is an active member of all working groups within the technical committee and is leading some of the works done on physical and mechanical properties of solid biofuels as well as the safety in production, storage and handling of solid biofuels.

Canada exported around 2.8 million tonnes of wood pellets in 2018 to the U.K., Belgium, U.S., the Netherlands, Italy, South Korea and Japan. As members of ISO TC238, the Wood Pellet Association of Canada, in close collaboration with the Biomass and Bioenergy Research group at the University of British Columbia led by Dr. Shahab Sokhansanj, have done substantial research on physical and chemical property enhancement as well as safety of solid biofuel in the past decade to support the standardization work on solid biofuels and have made great progress to date.

The next meeting of ISO TC 238 will take place in Vancouver during the week of May 11-15, 2020. The Canadian Mirror Committee to ISO/TC238 is managed by the Canadian Standards Association and is always looking for interested individuals to join the committee’s efforts in developing the standards as they are developed, to ensure they are well-thought-out, and reflective of Canadian interests in the global solid biofuels industry.

Please contact Jaime Fernandez (jaime.fernandez@csagroup.org) at the Canadian Standards Association if you are interested to join the committee or to support in Canada’s hosting of the next international meeting.