Bioeconomy event welcomes industry leaders to Prince George this week

The event begins with two pre-conference workshops on Wednesday.

• The Wood Pellet Association of Canada and WorksafeBC host the Wood Products Safety Summit. The summit will delve into the key issues around process and operations safety issues for all parts of the wood products industry, including lumber, pulp and pellets.
• The City of Prince George hosts the Community Energy Forum: Building Partnerships for Community Sustainability at the Wood Innovation and Design Centre. Here, local community leaders, energy managers, and industry suppliers will discuss the how’s and why’s of taking local control of energy management. A highlight of the workshop will be the opportunity to learn from the city of Växjö, Sweden, dubbed the “Greenest City in Europe” for its commitment to move to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030.

Anna Tenje, the Mayor of Växjö, will also kick off the Canadian Bioeconomy Conference with a keynote on the morning of Thursday, June 7. She will be joined by an A-list of speakers in the Canadian and American bioeconomies today, including:

• Hon. George Heyman, BC Minister for Environment and Climate Change
• Dr. Werner Kurz, renowned research scientist and expert in carbon accounting and climate change mitigation
• Industry association executives Gordon Murray (Wood Pellet Association of Canada), Derek Nighbor (Forest Products Association of Canada) and Ian Thomson (Advanced Biofuels Canada)
• Leading thinkers and analysts Seth Walker (FutureMetrics), Joel Stone (Convergince Advisors) and Jeff Passmore (Passmore Group)
• Industry leaders Martin Pudlas (Canfor Pulp), Perry Toms (Steeper Energy), Tim Hoy (Clean Energy Consulting), Scott Bax (Pinnacle Renewable Energy) and Shawn Bells (Pacific Bioenergy)
• Community energy leaders Chief Donny Van Somer (Kwadacha First Nation), Alex Boston (Renewable Cities) and Blair Hogan (Teslin Tlingit Council)
• Government representatives from British Columbia, Ottawa and the United Kingdom, and more…

Panelists will be considering global trade and markets for bioproducts; policies and regulations affecting the industry; opportunities for contributing to the low carbon economy; advanced uses for woody biomass; and local solutions for community energy security.

There will also be plenty of business-to-business networking opportunities, starting with a Conference Opening Reception on Wednesday, June 6 at Prince George’s first microbrewery, Crossroads Brewing, and including a Gala Reception June 7 in the Trade Show. The event finishes with a tour to Pinnacle Renewable Energy’s Meadowbank pellet plant on Friday, June 8.

With 41 sponsors, 40 exhibitors and over 200 delegates – including a sold out Trade Show and Community Energy Workshop – the Canadian Bioeconomy Conference continues to be the pre-eminent event in the bioeconomy in Western Canada.

North-Central British Columbia is the largest producing region in Canada of wood pellets, and one of the largest in the world. It is home to Pinnacle Renewable Energy, Pacific Bioenergy and Premium Pellets, as well as to some of the longest-operating pulp mill cogeneration facilities in North America and a number of district energy systems.

The new Canadian Bioeconomy Conference and Exhibition will take place in Prince George June 6-8, 2018. Registration is still available at www.bioeconomyconference.com/register