Tag: biomass



254. Biomass a missing link for Canada’s future sustainable economy?

There are an estimated 120 million tonnes of waste and residue biomass in Canada right now — waste that could form the cornerstone of a green COVID-19 recovery effort that fights climate change by building the sustainable economy we need.

Alberta Pacific Forest Industries uses 2.56 million cubic meters of Aspen, poplars and birch to feed their pulp mill and power plants in Boyle, Alberta. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

93. Big Biomass 101

We head to one of the largest pulp mills in North America to check out how big biomass works up close.

Ashley Lubyk next to a completed rocket stove. Notice the barrel and the large cob bench he is sitting on. That cob bench acts as a thermal battery, storing the heat after the fire is burned out.

47. Rocket stoves and the rocket mass heater

The rocket stove takes our fascination with fire and bends it 90 degrees. It’s a hyper efficient wood stove that uses far less wood to get a far more effective result.

Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures Sherwood Park Biomass/Nat Gas District Heating Project

46. Biomass district heating in Sherwood Park

In Sherwood Park, Alberta just minutes from refinery row city hall, the famous Festival Place Theatre, condos, a high school and more buildings are all heated by biomass, wood to be exact.

Receiving one of two daily biomass shipments at the Bioenergy Research and Demonstration Facility at UBC. Photo David Dodge

32. UBC district heating: Low carbon Lego

The new low temperature hot water style heating system at UBC is taylor-made to integrate renewable energy systems like biomass, geoexchange, solar thermal and waste heat into a natural gas system all because the barrier for entry is lower. The bouncer at the old steam heating system was pretty strict – you had to be 190 C to get in. Now you only have to get the temperature up to 80 C.

 

Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures Willow harvesting at Ohaton Sewage Lagoon, Camrose County, Alberta

25. Waste to willows

Learn how a small rural Albertan county is treating it’s waste in a more environmentally responsible fashion and growing their own substitute for natural gas. They pump the effluent from a waste lagoon into a densely planted stand of willows. Willows like moist soil, grow fast and grow easily in our climate. That willow is then chopped down every three years and can be used for wood, heat or compost. In Camrose, they’re using it to heat their main county office.

Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures Nova Scotia

22. The greenest little campus in Canada

Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia switched from fuel oil boilers to biomass, then added solar thermal modules to their dorms and even installed two wind turbines and are saving money on operating costs!