Barriers to Implementing

Biomass Boilers January 22, 2015

David Dubois - Project Coordinator

Wood Waste to Rural Heat Project

Wood Waste to Rural Heat

Work with communities, First Nations and Not-for-Profits assisting them to understand and adopt biomass heating solutions

Previously known as the Green Heat Initiative

Independent source of Information

Funding provided by:

What does Wood Waste to Rural Heat

(WW2RH) do?

• Technical assistance

• Developing business cases

• Commercial, institutional, and municipal

not residential

Benefits of Biomass Heat

Economic development

related to biomass sourcing

GHG Reductions

Potential fuel cost reductions

Alexis Creek School

Barriers of Biomass Heat

LACK of KNOWLEDGE

◦ Technical

◦ Cost (capital/operating)

◦ Fuel Supply/availability

◦ Social License

Technical Knowledge

Lack of references – Where can I kick the

tires?

New to engineering/planning

Fundamentals of how systems operate and

realistic expectations

http://www.thefullwiki.org/Beehive_burner http://planning.montcopa.org/planning/cwp/fileserver,Path,PLA

NNING/Admin%20-

%20Publications/Renewable_Energy_Series/Hydronic_heaters

_web.pdf,assetguid,63e45ed6-2426-4548-

bc6dcfb59d457833.pdf

Current Heating Projects in BC Baldy Hughes Treatment Centre, Deltech Supplier Prince George BC Operational 2009

Burns Lake Village- (Tom Forsyth Memorial arena) Burns Lake BC Operational 2011

Castlegar Fire Attack Base Castlegar BC Operational 2010

City of Prince George Prince George BC Operational 2012

Dawson Creek- Northern Lights College Dawson Creek BC Operational 2010

Dockside Green Victoria BC Operational

False Creek SEFC & Olympic Village Vancouver BC Operational

Fink Machine DE system Enderby BC Operational 2011

Fraserwood Industries Ltd. Garibaldi Highland BC Operational 2005

Hubers Furniture Vernon BC Operational 2004

Kalamalka Research- Ministry of Forest Vernon BC Operational 2008

Granisle Firehall Granisle BC Operational 2011

Quesnel School District - Nazko School Nazko BC Operational 2008

Recreation Centre Community Biomss Energy Project, Lillooet Lillooet BC Operational 2011

Revelstoke Community Energy Corporation Revelstoke BC Operational

Sherwood Forest Products Likely BC Operational 2010

Structurlam Penticton BC Operational 2008

Structurlam OK Falls BC Operational 2012

Village of Telkwa DE Telkwa BC Operational 2013

Tonewood Sound Boards Fruitvale BC Operational 2013

UBC - Nexterra CHP Vancouver BC Operational 2012

UNBC - Biomass Pellet project Prince George BC Operational 2009

UNBC - Nexterra Gasification system Prince George BC Operational 2011

Westbank First Nations Kelowna BC Operational 2007

Whistler Athletes Village (Cheakamus Crossing) Whistler BC Operational

Williams Lake School District - Alexis Creek Alexis Creek BC Operational 2011

Williams Lake School District - Tatla Lake Tatla Lake BC Operational 2011

Lake Cowichan Secondary School Ladysmith BC Operational 2014

Nak'azdli First Nation DH Fort St. James BC Operational 2013

Enderby Public Works building Enderby BC Operational 2013

Cost

Higher capital than

fossil fuels by 1.5-2

times … more

infrastructure required

Minimally more

operations time 1-2

hrs/week

Higher capital vs lower

fuel costs

Energy Prices in BC

$11/GJ

$0.65/l

$1.25/l

$0.08/kWh

$220/cord

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Natu

ral G

as

Pro

pan

e

Oil

Ele

ctr

icit

y

Co

rd W

oo

d

Wo

od

Ch

ips

Pellets

Pri

ce p

er

GJ

Fuel Type

Unit

Sale

size

Retail Price

Natural Gas GJ $10-12/GJ

Propane Litre $0.5-1.00/l

Fuel Oil Litre $1.00-1.50/l

Electricity kWh ¢7.0-9.0/kWh

Ponderosa

Pine Cord $200-250/cord

Wood Chips Green

Tonne $35-55/Tonne

Pellets

(Retail) Tonne $175-210/tonne

How much do I need?

12,000 Truck Loads

5,000 Truck Loads

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

400000

450000

500000

Pellet Plant Power Plant 5MW Community

Electricity

Enderby

To

nn

es

of

Bio

mass

per Y

ear

Typical Biomass Consumption by Usage

1,000 Truck

Loads

20 Truck

Loads

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

50000

5 MW Community

Electricity

Enderby DH

10X Magnification

How much? Biomass is VERY local market driven

need to understand local market

◦ What goes where?

◦ How much do they pay?

◦ How long is the contract?

◦ etc

Most likely sources are small scale wood producers

from -$30 to $120 per tonne

Notes on Chips

• Chips need to be very clean and consistent

• European standard for moisture/size etc. but

very similar to pulp chip

• Moisture below 35% (air dried wood)

• Does not matter wood species

• Cost will depend on delivery from weekly to

seasonally

Notes on Pellets

• Uniform

• Easy to use

• Lower capital cost of

installation

• Higher fuel or operating cost

Social License

• What is key driver?

• Energy Cost?

• GHG reductions?

• Economic Development?

• Other?

• Engage early to educate and

provide information

• Overcome misconceptions

and myths

Wood Heating Effectiveness over

the years C

arbon M

onoxid

e C

once

ntr

atio

n

Year

Contact

For more information

www.woodwaste2ruralheat.ca

Or Contact me

David Dubois, BSChE

Project Coordinator

David@woodwaste2ruralheat.com

800-661-2293

250-457-7319