Japanese paper makers adding bioenergy
August 27, 2013
By
Scott Jamieson
August 27, 2013, Tokyo - Paper manufacturers in Japan facing a lack of demand for their product are hoping to energize profits by plugging into the biomass power generation industry.
Motivated by a government feed-in-tariff system for clean
energy, companies are also hoping to promote more effective use of
wasted wood chips from forest thinning through their new business. However according to a report in The Asahi Shimbum, there will not likely be enough local supply to fuel this biomass bonanza. However before Canadian west coast pellet makers get too excited, the plants will consume wood chips as their biomass fuel.
"Because the wasted wood chips from their own forests will not
be enough to ensure stable power generation, paper makers will have to
purchase a necessary supply from suppliers at home and abroad," the report notes. "Nippon Paper Industries officials said the company had already
finished preparation to procure the necessary amount of wood chips:
70,000 tons per year."
Ironically the report also mentions the country will be adding significant coal generating resources. Read more here.
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