Canadian wood fuel is powering European cities

The time is now for things to change in forestry in B.C. and across Canada, said John Swaan, Wood Pellet Association of Canada's executive director. The industry faces many challenges, and among them an excess of deteriorating wood fibre that is growing in value, depending on the outcome of research and development in the use of bio-mass for energy.

"Access to sawmill residue is hard to find," said John. "The sawmill residue is being totally utilized. Meanwhile non-commercial grade fibre is abundant in the B.C. forests and elsewhere," due to existing forestry practices. The problem for wood pellet manufacture is that to harvest debris would cause a five-fold increase in the cost of fibre used in wood pellet manufacture because sawmill residue has been the cost-efficient commodity to make wood pellets to this date.

Nevertheless, "The forest floor holds the future of economic development," said John. In terms of bio-energy, untold mega-watts of electricity are being slashed and piled and burnt in North America's forests, a situation that becomes practically macabre when the deterioration of mountain pine beetle factors into the equation. In that disaster lies an opportunity, and the members of the association are poised to develop a new economic sector.

 People like John Swaan are impacted by the current state of B.C. forests because they are close witnesses to the situation. "I have made many trips through the B.C. Interior looking at forests that I was involved doing the replanting of lodgepole pine, and those trees of 30 years ago are dead." John doesn't mind saying the Ministry of Forests in B.C. remains bent on placating licensees and that is a perpetual reality in North American forestry, companies rule the forests. Things may be changing, however, and Swaan said First Nations are major partners in accessing volume of fibre required to the bio-mass/energy production equation, whatever form it ends up taking.

"We need to reclaim and remediate forests and First Nations are front-line advocates of the process. We have to deal with big changes in forests because of 50 years of fire suppression in forestry management." Fire is an ecological player that has played a reduced role, and it is a major part of the way forests have evolved. Meanwhile, the market for wood-generated energy is expanding, "Wood is displacing coal in Europe," said John. "In one Belgian city one of our members started shipping 120,000 tonnes of wood pellet annually to replace 80,000 tonnes of coal." Cities in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the UK are switching from coal fuel to wood. Canada is the source of their wood-energy.

The wood pellet industry runs on a shoe string, according to Len Fox, General Manager, Premium Pellet, in Vanderhoof, B.C., "It's difficult to make money. Our fibre costs are high and our profit margins are tight." Even so, Premium Pellet is filling orders as usual in Europe, and increasingly more often in North America. The area of operation for Premium Pellet is northern B.C., which puts Premium Pellet in close liaison with First Nations throughout the territory and they work exceptionally closely with Saikuz First Nation.

"Six of our 15 employees are First Nation and one of them is about to become certified as a millwright," said Len who grew up in Telkwa, B.C., a historical village of 1,400 located on the Bulkley and Telkwa Rivers. This is a completely integrated community of Babine First Nation people living with those of non-Native descent.

The business is export-driven and viability depends on watching costs, "We're the tail wagging the dog at this end of the industry. We are affected whenever CN Rail puts up their rates or truckers put up their rates. On the other hand we're pretty comfortable in our operations right now. We have an affordable supply of fibre and good relations all around."

 The Premium Pellet is a subsidiary of L&M Lumber Ltd. and Nechako Lumber Co Ltd. "L&M has agreements to employ Saik'uz First Nation (Stoney Creek) people in their harvest and other operations," said Len. Saik'uz is located 9km south-east of Vanderhoof on Kenney Dam road.

First Nation owned college feeling economy’s crunch

Haisla Nation in Kitimat, B.C., owns a Registered Private College in partnership with Alcan Aluminum and Roger Leclerc is the director of Kitimat Valley Institute (KVI). "We do several areas of programs," said Leclerc, "Aboriginal Education and Training, Technical and Industry programs, consulting work, special programs for management, pulp and paper technician program," and KVI has run a power engineering program in the past, "and still have the curriculum for that program." KVI has a conference centre for rent. (Story 2009)
 

At KVI, "Presently we are providing a 10 month employment training initiative that provides them with a Dogwood (high school diploma) certificate," said  Leclerc. "We are delivering academic and life skills programs, employment readiness, and work experience placements into jobs." The demands of a changing economy are creating new business opportunities in the region, and KVI runs a 12-day Aboriginal BEST Program, delivered on behalf of the Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, as run by Bruce Lacroix, "We've run it for the last two years," said  Leclerc. "It provides information and the ability to start a business," teaching the students business plans and marketing skills.
 
"With all these different industries coming into the region a local small business community will benefit," said Leclerc. KVI is using various delivery modes to put the education on-stream, "We deliver on-line programs and offer computer labs." Trades and equipment operation are offered, "KVI, Kitimaat Village (Haisla Nation's central community), and North West Community College are delivering a carpentry and housing maintenance program to produce residential housing workers."
 

Leclerc noted, "We struggle on delivering an essential job readiness program at KVI because it's a social program," and the education funds are hard to find. "We'll have 20 people register and 15 to 17 will complete it. This year we started with 10 and it's tough because we get no public funding. We've had industry and shareholders KVI's partners) fund the program in the past." The job readiness program delivers wider community benefits by building the capacity of the community for employment, "It has a September start date and we want to keep it alive. ALCAN is 110 percent behind what KVI is doing. We have anywhere between 500 and 1000 students and we operate 12 months a year." Leclerc said the ALCAN modernization program is moving ahead at a reduced pace in this 'down' economy, "and we are anticipating major expansions for industry, which works 12 months a year."

Meanwhile the school programs, industry related and dependent, have been reduced in scale to match the shrunken economic activity of a recession, "We've gone to job sharing ourselves, no layoffs, but KVI staff has been put on a three-day work week."

Dialogue on Aquaculture in First Nations Drum April 2009