NRCan publishes Solid Biofuels Bulletins

The bulletins are based on a suite of solid biofuel standards developed and published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and adopted for Canada by the CSA Group (Canadian Standard Association). 

“Our intent with the bulletins is to provide easy-to-read introductory guides to the use of solid biofuels. We primarily aim the consumers who are using or considering solid biofuels for space heating and the biomass fuels producers as the target audience for the bulletins. We believe the series might also be of interest to equipment manufacturers, testing laboratories and regulators” explains Sebnem Madrali, a research engineer at CanmetENERGY in Ottawa, Ont. 

Sebnem is leading her lab’s efforts at developing and disseminating standards related to bioenergy. She helped create the bulletins to make the information in the ISO standards easier for the public to understand.

“Standards are to describe fuels and equipment, and, are vital for biomass resources to become commodity fuel, and, for equipment to operate safe and reliably, efficiently, and clean. The overwhelming number of biomass heating projects in Canada is fuelled by forest based biomass, such as wood pellets and wood chips, and these fuels at most cases are being sold and bought at adhoc basis. Now that Canada has fuel standards for solid biofuels, NRCan has condensed the information in the ISO standards in bulletin forms highlighting key fuel specifications in a short and concise manner. There are total of seven of bulletins.”

The seven solid biofuels bulletins cover the following topics:

Bulletin 1: Solid biomass fuels
This bulletin is related to solid woody biomass fuels (solid biofuels). It introduces sources of biomass, provides definitions for solid biofuels and their key characteristics.

Bulletin 2: Primer for solid biofuels
This bulletin is based on the CAN/CSA-ISO 17225 Solid Biofuels – Fuel Specifications and Classes. It explains the most important terms and definitions used in the Standard, the basic principles of classification of solid biofuels and provides details on key fuel properties and their significance. Subsequent bulletins on the various grades of firewood, wood chips, briquettes and wood pellets elaborate on the information described in this bulletin. This primer will help end users and consumers ask appropriate questions and make informed decisions on solid biofuel purchases.

Bulletin 3: Solid biofuels standards
This bulletin introduces the CAN/CSA-ISO series of standards on solid biofuels adopted in Canada and summarizes details related to fuel classifications, specifications and test methods.

Bulletin 4: Graded wood pellets
This bulletin introduces the different grades of wood pellets, their appropriate use and the important parameters that can affect the fuel characteristics. It provides information on the graded wood pellets as specified in the CAN/CSAISO 17225 Part 2: Graded wood pellets.

Bulletin 5: Graded wood briquettes
This bulletin introduces different grades of wood briquettes, their appropriate use and the important parameters that can affect the fuel characteristics. The information on the graded wood briquettes is based on the CAN/CSA-ISO 17225 Part 3: Graded wood briquettes.

Bulletin 6: Graded wood chips
This bulletin introduces the different grades of wood chips, their appropriate use and the important parameters that can affect the fuel characteristics. It provides information on graded wood chips as specified in the CAN/CSA-ISO 17225 Solid Biofuels — Fuel specifications and classes — Part 4 Graded Wood Chips.

Bulletin 7: Graded firewood
This bulletin introduces grades of firewood, the important parameters that can affect the fuel characteristics and their appropriate use. It provides information on the graded firewood as specified in the CAN/CSA-ISO 17225 Part 5 Graded firewood.

To view the full bulletins, visit www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/renewable-electricity/bioenergy-systems/7311(English bulletins) or www.rncan.gc.ca/energie/renouvelable-electricite/systemes-bioenergie/7312(French bulletins).

This article is part of the Bioheat Week 2023. Read more articles about bioheat in Canada.