Northern B.C. has enormous potential to produce wood-based bioenergy, but it means forming partnerships and taking risks, Sinclair Group Forest Products president Greg Stewart.
Stewart was one of three panelists at the bioenergy session during the Council of Forest Industries annual convention on Friday. In addition to his role in the private sector, Stewart is a director of the Northern Bioenergy Partnership - a northern-B.C. based advocacy group.
"I firmly believe this region has the skills, the resources and the passion to do this," Stewart said. "[But] we're just lumber men and when it comes to some of these bioenergy technologies, we need help. You're probably going to have to take some risk, which will be uncomfortable because it's unfamiliar."
The Sinclair Group got it's start producing lumber and lumber continues to be a core part of the business, he said.
However, over the last decade, the company has expanded into producing wood pellets and now is a partner with the City of Prince George in the creation of the downtown district energy system., In addition, the Sinclair Group provides the feedstock for UNBC's bioenergy heating system and uses energy from residual wood in its operations.
"Obviously we found the risk level we were comfortable with, since the projects went ahead," he said. "But not having the right partners would have made that risk seem a hundred times more."
For a conventional lumber producer, diversification has meant creating jobs, insulating the company from volatile energy costs and reducing the company's carbon footprint, he said.
"We have the makings of a strong bioenergy sector in Northern B.C.... and we have the interest to capitalize on them."
Doug Konkin, B.C. deputy minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources, said the provincial government continues to have a mandate to promote bioenergy development.
However, cost-cutting measures at B.C. Hydro may mean less money is available for higher-cost power from bioenergy projects, Konkin said.
"We are very mindful of the narrow economics on this. [And] we all know this is one of the most uncertain fiscal times we've ever seen," he said. "Something we're very much committed to is improving the regulatory environment."
Managing access to wood fibre, while honouring the rights of existing tenure holders, is a complex issue which the ministry is working on, he said.
"We must be more flexible to get investment," Konkin said.
One way to expand revenue streams in bioenergy and conventional wood industries is to capture some of the high-value chemicals created during processing, Forest Product Innovations B.C. vice-president Alan Potter said.
"Wood is a wonderful material. It's really one of Mother Nature's gifts," Potter said. "If you can cost-effectively break it down, you can get some interesting materials from it."
Pulp mills should look at using some of the same approaches used by the petroleum industry to capture low-volume, high-value materials, he said.
"Only four per cent of what comes out of an [oil] refinery is used for chemicals and plastics," Potter said.
However 42 per cent of the profits generated by refineries come from that small, highly-valuable production, he said.
Wood byproducts have applications in areas like pharmaceuticals and lightweight, high-strength materials for the transportation sector, Potter said.
"Finding the right product with the high [profit] margins is important," he said.
