Eight New Brunswick companies have received Crown forest biomass allocations.
The biomass material, which consists of branches, tree tops and foliage not traditionally used by the forest industry, will be used to produce renewable carbon-neutral energy or be incorporated into value-added products. The allocations total 1,276,000 cubic metres (cu. m) of biomass, enough to displace about 200 million litres of oil.
"Most of the biomass will be used in co-generation facilities to produce energy for use by these companies in their own facilities, and potentially surplus electricity for sale to the provincial power grid," said Natural Resources Minister Wally Stiles June 8.
Energy produced from biomass is considered carbon neutral because the biomass material takes carbon out of the atmosphere while it grows and returns it when it is burned.
CBC News reported that the Conservation Council of New Brunswick and the Alliance for Community Energy were disappointed with the allocations.
The Conservation Council’s Tracy Glynn was concerned about the ’”negative effect on forests and wildlife”’. Alliance Vice President Toby Couture told CBC News that local communities would have benefitted if small woodlot owners, individuals and individual business owners had been included.
Twin Rivers Paper Co. Inc. received the largest allocation — 308,000 cu. m. The biomass will be used to produce carbon-neutral energy for its Edmundston mill.
The other allocations were:
• 272,000 cu. m to AV Cell Inc. for energy production at its mill in Atholville;
• 221,000 cu. m to AV Nackawic Inc. for a planned co-generation facility for its mill in Nackawic;
• 139,000 cu. m to Lake Utopia Paper to help fuel a planned co-generation facility at its mill in St. George;
• 138,000 cu. m to Irving Pulp and Paper Ltd. for co-generation at its Saint John plant;
• 76,000 cu. m to Irving Paper Ltd. of Saint John for co-generation;
• 62,000 cu. m to Groupe Savoie Inc. to integrate into value-added products produced at its plant in St. Quentin, and
• 60,000 cu. m for the J.D. Irving Ltd. mill in Chipman for co-generation.
The department received 16 replies from interested parties in response to its Request for Proposals (RFP) that were evaluated by staff from Natural Resources, Energy and Business New Brunswick.
"The response to the RFP was so overwhelming that the requested allocations far exceeded the level of biomass material that can be harvested on a sustainable basis,'" said Stiles.
The minister said the DNR has developed a Crown Land Forest Biomass Harvesting Policy and related assessment tools to ensure that biomass material is harvested in a sustainable manner. The volume of this material available in any given year will depend on the amount of wood harvested in the same year.
