• Who We Are
• Northern BC Advantage
  • The Advantage
  • The Opportunity
• Strategic Plan
  • Goal
  • Objectives
  • Strategies
  • Action Plan
• Resource Inventory
  • Biomass Potential
  • Forest Products Processing Capacity
  • Pulp Mill Cogeneration
  • Wood Pellet Production
• Company Locator
  • Northern BC Companies
  • Northern BC Research & Education
  • Northern BC Public Sector Partners
• Membership
• Contact Us

The Northern BC Advantage

The Advantage

In order to successfully nurture a world-class bioenergy sector in British Columbia, there must be co-location and geographic clustering of research and commercial activities within bioenergy value streams.

As a result of the economic and investment climate in the industry, and in order to take advantage of existing commercial capacity, ongoing grassroots innovation, and proximity to fibre resources, this activity as it pertains to the forest-based bioenergy sector must occur in Northern British Columbia.

The reason it is important to locate the centre of the forest-based bioenergy industry in the north is that the region has a number of assets that position it to take a leadership role in the advancement of next generation bioenergy. For example:

• the natural abundance of wood fibre within the region combined with an historical record of industrial achievement and leadership in forest technology and forest fibre management;
• a network of companies located throughout the region with a large capital investment in the forest industry and the emerging bioenergy industry, and whose entrepreneurial activity is driving the development and implementation of new technologies;
• the largest producing and exporting region in Canada for forest and bioenergy products that include lumber, pulp, paper, pellets and electricity;
• a research intensive university that has set carbon neutrality and renewable energy (including a bioenergy program) as a goal, and which is connected by research networks to the innovation capacity of BC universities; and,
• communities large and small committed to finding ways to grow their economies sustainably through diversification based on existing expertise, and willing to collaborate at the local level to develop a robust science- and technology-based bioenergy industry.

There is now an opportunity to establish the Northern Bioenergy Partnership (NBP) as an organization that fosters the innovation, growth, and productivity of a commercially-grounded, forest-based bioenergy industry in British Columbia.

By bringing together key stakeholders from industry, academia, First Nations, and government, the NBP can strategically align interests so that the region can catalyze growth and market share for the sector provincially.

In this process the NBP will assume a position of leadership on a national level within the growing bioenergy sector.

The Opportunity

The most obvious bioenergy opportunities to be pursued in Northern British Columbia are those applications that use wood biomass. The availability of timber killed by the mountain pine beetle, as well as residue or other byproducts from lumber and pulp and paper operations are the basis for this industry’s opportunities.

Pellet manufacturing has already been established in the North-Central region of BC, and presents an excellent use for wood residue and beetle-killed wood. Pellets are economically exported to markets with higher energy costs in Europe, and pellet plants can make use of lower-quality biomass for their primary source of power, making this an energy-efficient industry.

Bioenergy can also create a variety of opportunities for Northern BC in sectors other than wood products manufacturing. Bioenergy production contributes to integrated resource recovery by creating a new value stream in BC’s primary wood sector, thereby helping stabilize the industry, diversify markets and make the forest industry more competitive.

A regional network of bioenergy projects supports regional economic strength, creating opportunities for local equipment manufacturers and service and supply companies, as well as for general business interests invested in the local economies.

The University of Northern BC can establish itself as the centre for bioenergy research and development. Prince George has the opportunity to be known as a centre for basic and applied research and also to be a model for institutional biomass utilization. There are opportunities to connect UNBC’s research to funding through the BC Bioenergy Network, and to establish a Canada Research Chair in forestry and bioenergy, along with a research cluster related to new and emerging technologies in bioenergy.

Taken together, these advantages position the Northern Bioenergy Partnership to lead the coordination of a pan-Northern approach to industrial research and development that integrates regional knowledge effectively at the intersection of production and innovation.

 

Back to Top