Research grants support bioenergy development

Victoria, BC – BC’s provincial government is providing $600,000 to help grow BC’s wood bioenergy sector with continued research into feedstock supplies, technology and infrastructure.

$300,000 funding is being given to the FPInnovations forest research institute, $200,000 to the University of British Columbia, and $100,000 to the University of Victoria for a research partnership focused on feedstock availability, harvesting and delivery equipment and systems, and economic analysis.

Specific topics include:

– Assessing inventory supplies by region and timeframe,
– Developing a model to estimate costs for delivering wood biomass resources in areas with different terrain and climate conditions,
– Assessing forest transportation infrastructure,
– Return on investment from recovering different sources of wood biomass, and
– Expanding wood pellet markets.

“Biomass-to-energy conversion is rapidly gaining interest because of rising fuel costs and concerns related to emissions and climate change,” said Tony Sauder of FPInnovations. “Our research is dedicated to the supply side of forest feedstocks. It will provide government and industry with harvesting and delivery data needed to help encourage biomass utilization in BC.”

“This funding will help our consortium of scientists continue their leading-edge research into new uses for wood biomass resources in the quickly emerging bio-industry,” said Dr Shahab Sokhansanj, UBC biomass and bioenergy research group principal.