NorthStar Utilities Solutions signed an agreement with Hearst Power Distribution to implement MeterSense as their Operational Data Store. MeterSense is a comprehensive meter data management solution (MDMS) designed to provide utilities with long-term storage of billing and operational data, validation, and through its configurable Rules Engine, intelligent real-time event management.
MeterSense creates real, quantifiable business process improvements in the growing world of smart meters.
(1888PressRelease) December 11, 2009 - OTTAWA - Hearst Power Distribution (Hearst) has signed an agreement with NorthStar Utilities Solutions, a division of Harris Computer Systems, to implement MeterSense as their Operational Data Store. In conjunction with the Ontario government's provincial Meter Data Management Repository, MDM/R, MeterSense will provide Hearst with a comprehensive solution to immediately validate the health and status of their metering infrastructure. It will also improve operational efficiencies by allowing Hearst to understand how their assets are performing. Through advanced reporting MeterSense provides invaluable information on distribution system loading and assists utilities in optimizing their assets in the field.The Province of Ontario has embarked on a plan that will see the implementation of resident smart meters on every household by 2011 and the move to time of use billing. This program is part of the government's overall strategy to create and promote a conservation culture and encompasses over four million residential smart meters. The incorporation of both smart grid technology and smart meters will facilitate the use advanced information-based technologies to increase grid efficiency, reliability and flexibility.Hearst contracted with Util-Assist, a leading industry consultant, to issue a request for proposal and review vendors. After a thorough review Hearst chose NorthStar's MeterSense solution based on its ability to meet both their immediate and long term smart meter objectives. "We are thrilled with the addition of Hearst to the MeterSense user community." said Rob DiMurro, General Manager of NorthStar Utilities Solutions, "Our MeterSense initiative has huge momentum as more utilities realize that they can gain operational efficiencies from a comprehensive meter data management solution like MeterSense."About Hearst Power Distribution Company Ltd.:Hearst Power Distribution Company Ltd. distributes electricity to the residents and businesses of the Town of Hearst. Ms. Nicole LeducGeneral ManagerHearst Power Distribution Company Ltd.Hearst, Ontario(705) 372-2815 nleduc ( @ ) ntl dot sympatico dot caAbout MeterSense:MeterSense is a comprehensive meter data management solution (MDMS) designed to provide utilities with long-term storage of billing and operational data, validation, and through its configurable Rules Engine, intelligent real-time event management. MeterSense is designed to reduce or eliminate the need for manual intervention in handling the significantly increased volume of data utilities are now faced with and act as the central point for integrating meter data and events with other business systems such as CIS, SCADA, GIS, OMS, WMS, and other critical utility systems. About NorthStar Utilities Solutions:NorthStar has been serving the utility market for more than 30 years. NorthStar provides utilities with integrated solutions for customer information and billing, financial management and meter data management. Our 200 customer in North American and the Caribbean, benefit from our solutions that let utilities manage their revenues, deliver superior customer service and improve efficiencies while reducing total cost of ownership. For more information on NorthStar Utilities Solutions and the NorthStar product suite please visit our website at www.northstarutilities.com.To learn more about MeterSense please contact:Mike Foley, Senior Account ExecutiveNorthStar Utilities SolutionsA division of Harris Computer Systems(613) 868-5594mfoley ( @ ) northstarutilities dot com About Harris Computer Systems: Since 1976, Harris has focused on providing feature-rich and robust turnkey solutions to public power and water markets as well as all levels of local government throughout North America. Harris' focus is on creating long-term relationships with our customers and ensuring that we meet the changing needs of our customers over time. For further information on Harris Computer Systems, please visit our website at www.harriscomputer.com or call 888-847-7747.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Four-Laning
Submitted by Editor on Mon, 12/07/2009 - 09:56.
Date: -->
Monday Dec 07, 2009
By
Temiskaming Speaker, Wednesday December 2 2009
Is it feasible to turn 1,650 kilometres of highways 11 and 17, stretching from North Bay to the Manitoba border, into a four-lane divided highway?“We can do it, fairly easily,” says Judy Skidmore, publisher of The Working Forest newspaper.“How much and when? A Vision for Ontario’s Trans Canada Highway, North Bay to the Manitoba Border” was commissioned by the newspaper, which is headquartered in Callander.The study concluded that the project — which would take in 85 bridges, 56 kilometres of road upgrades through urban centres, and almost 1,600 kilometres of highway — can be completed over 25 years, with work beginning in seven sections simultaneously.“The cost is only $600 million per year, an amount already in the budgets of provincial coffers,” the study concluded.What’s pushing the proposal?Safety, Ms. Skidmore said.“I’m sick of all the deaths,” she told the Temiskaming Municipal Association in Earlton last week.She said the stretch of the Trans-Canada through Northern Ontario is below standards elsewhere in the United States, Europe and even other parts of Canada.And yet, she said, “this is the permanent highway across Canada.”THE STUDYIt’s not the first time that the idea has been proposed.“Whenever we talked about it, it was always, ‘well, it’s going to cost too much, it’s going to take too long.’ So I wanted to know much is it going to cost and how long is it going to take.”The study was prepared by James Liddell of North Bay, and financed with support from the Manitoulin Group of Companies, headquartered in Gore Bay, and Villeneuve Construction of Hearst.Costing data for four-laning and major bridge replacements was drawn from Ontario Ministry of Transportation reports on ongoing Northern construction projects.The study came up with an average cost of $8.4 million per kilometre for road construction and $13.8 million per bridge.“We have not yet had anybody say those numbers are not good,” she said.“Construction people, ministry people have said, ‘sounds about right, sounds about the right amount of time.’”As early as the 1960s, she said Transport Canada identified divided highways as being the safest.The study cites a 2003 study commissioned by the federal department that came to the same conclusion, with the use of overpasses a second leading factor in reducing road crashes.In the European Union, she said it’s now understood that the designers of transportation systems are ultimately responsible for their operation, use and level of safety.“So those accidents that happen out there, the finger has to be pointed at the government who designed the road, who put us on 24 feet of pavement coming at each other at 100 kilometres per hour, separated by four inches of paint,” she said.The report outlines the work, cost and timeline in each of the seven sections.The 156-kilometre stretch from North Bay to Dymond would require the four-laning of several bridges, including crossings in Latchford, Net Lake and Granite Lake.Overpasses would be added at Highway 64 and the southern entrances to Cobalt and Haileybury.In communities split by the highway — such as Temagami and Latchford - -the roadway would be widened only enough to accommodate turning lanes.Total cost is pegged at $1.5 billion, with the work completed in under two and a half years.Looking north, the project would include overpasses at Highway 569, Highway 582 to Thornloe, the north and south entrances to Earlton, Highway 624 to Larder Lake and Highway 560 to Charlton.The study describes the four-laning of the bridge over the Englehart River as “a huge project,” and doubles the estimated cost to $27.6 million.RESPONSE“One of the biggest problems is you’ve got to get the guys in Toronto understanding that you can’t get from Toronto to Winnipeg through Canada without coming here,” she said.She urged that the route no longer be called “the Northern highway.”“Call it what it is — the Trans-Canada Highway. Then all of us in Canada have a stake in upgrading and making that a reasonable road.”A number of municipalities are reviewing the report and endorsing resolutions of support, she said.Further efforts to press the provincial government to move forward with the project are also planned.The Temiskaming Municipal Association donated $1,000 to help with the promotion campaign
Date: -->
Monday Dec 07, 2009
By
Temiskaming Speaker, Wednesday December 2 2009
Is it feasible to turn 1,650 kilometres of highways 11 and 17, stretching from North Bay to the Manitoba border, into a four-lane divided highway?“We can do it, fairly easily,” says Judy Skidmore, publisher of The Working Forest newspaper.“How much and when? A Vision for Ontario’s Trans Canada Highway, North Bay to the Manitoba Border” was commissioned by the newspaper, which is headquartered in Callander.The study concluded that the project — which would take in 85 bridges, 56 kilometres of road upgrades through urban centres, and almost 1,600 kilometres of highway — can be completed over 25 years, with work beginning in seven sections simultaneously.“The cost is only $600 million per year, an amount already in the budgets of provincial coffers,” the study concluded.What’s pushing the proposal?Safety, Ms. Skidmore said.“I’m sick of all the deaths,” she told the Temiskaming Municipal Association in Earlton last week.She said the stretch of the Trans-Canada through Northern Ontario is below standards elsewhere in the United States, Europe and even other parts of Canada.And yet, she said, “this is the permanent highway across Canada.”THE STUDYIt’s not the first time that the idea has been proposed.“Whenever we talked about it, it was always, ‘well, it’s going to cost too much, it’s going to take too long.’ So I wanted to know much is it going to cost and how long is it going to take.”The study was prepared by James Liddell of North Bay, and financed with support from the Manitoulin Group of Companies, headquartered in Gore Bay, and Villeneuve Construction of Hearst.Costing data for four-laning and major bridge replacements was drawn from Ontario Ministry of Transportation reports on ongoing Northern construction projects.The study came up with an average cost of $8.4 million per kilometre for road construction and $13.8 million per bridge.“We have not yet had anybody say those numbers are not good,” she said.“Construction people, ministry people have said, ‘sounds about right, sounds about the right amount of time.’”As early as the 1960s, she said Transport Canada identified divided highways as being the safest.The study cites a 2003 study commissioned by the federal department that came to the same conclusion, with the use of overpasses a second leading factor in reducing road crashes.In the European Union, she said it’s now understood that the designers of transportation systems are ultimately responsible for their operation, use and level of safety.“So those accidents that happen out there, the finger has to be pointed at the government who designed the road, who put us on 24 feet of pavement coming at each other at 100 kilometres per hour, separated by four inches of paint,” she said.The report outlines the work, cost and timeline in each of the seven sections.The 156-kilometre stretch from North Bay to Dymond would require the four-laning of several bridges, including crossings in Latchford, Net Lake and Granite Lake.Overpasses would be added at Highway 64 and the southern entrances to Cobalt and Haileybury.In communities split by the highway — such as Temagami and Latchford - -the roadway would be widened only enough to accommodate turning lanes.Total cost is pegged at $1.5 billion, with the work completed in under two and a half years.Looking north, the project would include overpasses at Highway 569, Highway 582 to Thornloe, the north and south entrances to Earlton, Highway 624 to Larder Lake and Highway 560 to Charlton.The study describes the four-laning of the bridge over the Englehart River as “a huge project,” and doubles the estimated cost to $27.6 million.RESPONSE“One of the biggest problems is you’ve got to get the guys in Toronto understanding that you can’t get from Toronto to Winnipeg through Canada without coming here,” she said.She urged that the route no longer be called “the Northern highway.”“Call it what it is — the Trans-Canada Highway. Then all of us in Canada have a stake in upgrading and making that a reasonable road.”A number of municipalities are reviewing the report and endorsing resolutions of support, she said.Further efforts to press the provincial government to move forward with the project are also planned.The Temiskaming Municipal Association donated $1,000 to help with the promotion campaign
Monday, December 7, 2009
It's Time to Rethink Forest Management
It's time to rethink forest management
More subsidies will not succeed
Susanne Ivey-Cook, Financial Post Published: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/feeds/story.html?id=2094614#ixzz0Z28sXiPz The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.
Ontario's forest industry has changed fundamentally. Demand for newsprint has plummeted (U.S. consumption is down nearly 30% from last year) and lumber sales are doing even more poorly as a result of the slumping U.S. home-building sector. These factors, coupled with a high Canadian dollar and rising energy costs, have led to the shutdown of many of Ontario's pulp and paper mills.
The scale of the decline is staggering. Close to 8,000 jobs have disappeared in the past five years, forest-dependent communities are facing serious distress and best estimates suggest that wood extracted from public forests is down 40% from 2004 harvest levels. For Ontario's pulp-and-paper industry, this is not a cyclical downturn, but part of a larger industrial transformation caused by the rise of electronic media, declining newspaper use, and competition from places where trees grow more quickly and labour costs are lower. Consequently, waiting for a global economic recovery is not the answer; the structural changes are permanent.
Closed and idled mills mean lost jobs, towns without a sufficient tax base, and a province that is paying more to manage the forests than it can collect in logging fees.
So what can be done? The provincial and federal governments have tried grants, loan guarantees, road-building subsidies and special breaks on electricity prices, all with little success. Industry fundamentals have shifted dramatically and Ontario needs to rethink how to secure economic, social and environmental benefits from its forests and forest industry. More government subsidies will not succeed.
There is hope, and Ontario still has an opportunity to lead in new uses of forests that are better-suited to future demand. Our forests, all 50 million hectares of them, are, for the most part, healthy. Moreover, Ontario is a leader in forest sustainability with extensive areas certified to the rigorous Forest Stewardship Council standard, meaning green consumers from around the world will choose our forest products over those of other countries and regions. This tremendous public asset can provide a great place to invest and there are several promising industrial opportunities, such as biofuels, wood-based plastics and specialized structural and finish-wood products. Manufacturers of these products require access to wood supplies that are now tied to historical uses.
There will also be new markets for ecological services, notably carbon-intensive industries in the west paying for Ontario's forests to absorb some of the carbon they emit. Finally, Ontario's forests contain globally significant wilderness areas and all evidence points to growing demand for wilderness, while in most countries this asset is being decimated at unprecedented rates.
Unfortunately, new business ventures are prevented easy entry into Ontario because our publicly owned forests are locked into long-term licences to forest companies, some of which are no longer operating. Potential investors are therefore unable to access forest areas or wood supplies; placing constraints on resourceful individuals or communities eager to explore new ways to sell goods or services from the forests nearby.
We must replace the almost 100-year-old system under which forests are managed largely as supply departments for large integrated pulp-and-paper companies. Within the current licencing arrangement, forest companies have a business interest in keeping the cost of wood, labour and long-term investment low. After all, they don't own the forest and their profits are, in good measure, dependent on how low they can keep their costs.
In place of this antiquated system, Ontario needs to make room for new business opportunities by reforming the licencing system to provide citizens (the owners) with market-based prices for the wood cut, the carbon stored and the ecological services provided. The forests themselves would then become the asset and the centre of wealth creation. Retained profits could be invested in improved forest management, greater resource productivity, new recreational amenities and a stronger management infrastructure. These activities will create new and better jobs with more employment per cubic metre of wood harvested.
This new system would be easier to administer, increase citizen participation in the management of the forests, let the marketplace determine the best use of the wood harvested, and allow new companies to manage forests for multiple products and services of the highest value. Furthermore, it would undercut one of the key arguments made by the United States against Canadian lumber exports, namely that our logging fees are not set in a competitive market and therefore constitute a government subsidy.
We are at an important juncture; the Ontario government has launched a process to review forest tenure, licencing and pricing. Ontario's forests and forest communities will be much better off with a market-based licencing model. A decision is expected in the spring of 2010 and we encourage and support the Premier in doing what is best for all of Ontario.
--- - Susanne Ivey-Cook is the director of the Ivey Foundation, a philanthropic charity that supports environmental causes in Canada.Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/feeds/story.html?id=2094614#ixzz0Z29KnVUd The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.
More subsidies will not succeed
Susanne Ivey-Cook, Financial Post Published: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/feeds/story.html?id=2094614#ixzz0Z28sXiPz The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.
Ontario's forest industry has changed fundamentally. Demand for newsprint has plummeted (U.S. consumption is down nearly 30% from last year) and lumber sales are doing even more poorly as a result of the slumping U.S. home-building sector. These factors, coupled with a high Canadian dollar and rising energy costs, have led to the shutdown of many of Ontario's pulp and paper mills.
The scale of the decline is staggering. Close to 8,000 jobs have disappeared in the past five years, forest-dependent communities are facing serious distress and best estimates suggest that wood extracted from public forests is down 40% from 2004 harvest levels. For Ontario's pulp-and-paper industry, this is not a cyclical downturn, but part of a larger industrial transformation caused by the rise of electronic media, declining newspaper use, and competition from places where trees grow more quickly and labour costs are lower. Consequently, waiting for a global economic recovery is not the answer; the structural changes are permanent.
Closed and idled mills mean lost jobs, towns without a sufficient tax base, and a province that is paying more to manage the forests than it can collect in logging fees.
So what can be done? The provincial and federal governments have tried grants, loan guarantees, road-building subsidies and special breaks on electricity prices, all with little success. Industry fundamentals have shifted dramatically and Ontario needs to rethink how to secure economic, social and environmental benefits from its forests and forest industry. More government subsidies will not succeed.
There is hope, and Ontario still has an opportunity to lead in new uses of forests that are better-suited to future demand. Our forests, all 50 million hectares of them, are, for the most part, healthy. Moreover, Ontario is a leader in forest sustainability with extensive areas certified to the rigorous Forest Stewardship Council standard, meaning green consumers from around the world will choose our forest products over those of other countries and regions. This tremendous public asset can provide a great place to invest and there are several promising industrial opportunities, such as biofuels, wood-based plastics and specialized structural and finish-wood products. Manufacturers of these products require access to wood supplies that are now tied to historical uses.
There will also be new markets for ecological services, notably carbon-intensive industries in the west paying for Ontario's forests to absorb some of the carbon they emit. Finally, Ontario's forests contain globally significant wilderness areas and all evidence points to growing demand for wilderness, while in most countries this asset is being decimated at unprecedented rates.
Unfortunately, new business ventures are prevented easy entry into Ontario because our publicly owned forests are locked into long-term licences to forest companies, some of which are no longer operating. Potential investors are therefore unable to access forest areas or wood supplies; placing constraints on resourceful individuals or communities eager to explore new ways to sell goods or services from the forests nearby.
We must replace the almost 100-year-old system under which forests are managed largely as supply departments for large integrated pulp-and-paper companies. Within the current licencing arrangement, forest companies have a business interest in keeping the cost of wood, labour and long-term investment low. After all, they don't own the forest and their profits are, in good measure, dependent on how low they can keep their costs.
In place of this antiquated system, Ontario needs to make room for new business opportunities by reforming the licencing system to provide citizens (the owners) with market-based prices for the wood cut, the carbon stored and the ecological services provided. The forests themselves would then become the asset and the centre of wealth creation. Retained profits could be invested in improved forest management, greater resource productivity, new recreational amenities and a stronger management infrastructure. These activities will create new and better jobs with more employment per cubic metre of wood harvested.
This new system would be easier to administer, increase citizen participation in the management of the forests, let the marketplace determine the best use of the wood harvested, and allow new companies to manage forests for multiple products and services of the highest value. Furthermore, it would undercut one of the key arguments made by the United States against Canadian lumber exports, namely that our logging fees are not set in a competitive market and therefore constitute a government subsidy.
We are at an important juncture; the Ontario government has launched a process to review forest tenure, licencing and pricing. Ontario's forests and forest communities will be much better off with a market-based licencing model. A decision is expected in the spring of 2010 and we encourage and support the Premier in doing what is best for all of Ontario.
--- - Susanne Ivey-Cook is the director of the Ivey Foundation, a philanthropic charity that supports environmental causes in Canada.Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/feeds/story.html?id=2094614#ixzz0Z29KnVUd The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.
Lumber could be the new oil
Submitted by brett h on Thu, 12/03/2009 - 08:57.
Date: -->
Thursday Dec 03, 2009
By
CBC News
Shares of several of Canada’s largest lumber exporters have skyrocketed in the past two months as new building codes in China allowing wood in construction have cracked open a previously inaccessible market for Canada’s long-suffering forestry industry.
Since Oct. 1, shares in International Forest Products Ltd. have soared 58.3%, while Canfor Corp. and West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. shares jumped 31.4% and 28.4%, respectively.
The advances come in the wake of quiet implementation of new wood-frame construction codes in Shanghai in September. Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources, later attended a launch in the city in early November. “We are confident that the Shanghai Local Code provides a framework that will be easily adaptable to other cities and provinces across China,” she said.
David Watt, a currency strategist with RBC Capital Markets, sees this development as a breakthrough for both the lumber industry and the loonie. “This is an opportunity the Canadian lumber industry has been dreaming about for years,” he said. “This gives us a chance to take advantage of a huge market that has suddenly overcome an aversion to your product.”
And the price of lumber has so far reflected that excitement, with lumber futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for January 2010 rising 21% since October, closing Wednesday at US$231.
Lumber exports are also on the rise, with Pat Bell, B.C. Minister of Forests and Range, estimating that exports will reach a new high of 1.5 billion board feet for 2009, and top four billion in 2011.
Canadian lumber exporters have had a difficult time convincing the Chinese that wood-frame buildings could be as stable as concrete buildings. However, deadly earthquakes in China in the past few years have likely forced the Chinese government to reconsider their stance on using the material.
“With the earthquakes, it was clear some of the buildings made of wood held up a lot better,” Mr. Watt said. As for ties to the Canadian dollar, he suggests lumber could be the “oil of the next decade” in how it lifts the loonie.
“It may seem dramatic, but consider in 1999 a barrel of oil was US$12, so who would’ve thought oil would be the oil of the past decade?” he said. “Will there be an oil-like rise in lumber? Who knows? Why not?”
A Vancouver-based analyst said the news is positive for Canadian lumber, but warned it was too early to know how it would affect exports.
“It’ll definitely help fix the supply-demand balance, so any news out there will help, but in the next year or two it won’t be a huge driver,” he said, noting it will take at least a year to educate construction companies about wood frames.
Related Links:
CBC News
Date: -->
Thursday Dec 03, 2009
By
CBC News
Shares of several of Canada’s largest lumber exporters have skyrocketed in the past two months as new building codes in China allowing wood in construction have cracked open a previously inaccessible market for Canada’s long-suffering forestry industry.
Since Oct. 1, shares in International Forest Products Ltd. have soared 58.3%, while Canfor Corp. and West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. shares jumped 31.4% and 28.4%, respectively.
The advances come in the wake of quiet implementation of new wood-frame construction codes in Shanghai in September. Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources, later attended a launch in the city in early November. “We are confident that the Shanghai Local Code provides a framework that will be easily adaptable to other cities and provinces across China,” she said.
David Watt, a currency strategist with RBC Capital Markets, sees this development as a breakthrough for both the lumber industry and the loonie. “This is an opportunity the Canadian lumber industry has been dreaming about for years,” he said. “This gives us a chance to take advantage of a huge market that has suddenly overcome an aversion to your product.”
And the price of lumber has so far reflected that excitement, with lumber futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for January 2010 rising 21% since October, closing Wednesday at US$231.
Lumber exports are also on the rise, with Pat Bell, B.C. Minister of Forests and Range, estimating that exports will reach a new high of 1.5 billion board feet for 2009, and top four billion in 2011.
Canadian lumber exporters have had a difficult time convincing the Chinese that wood-frame buildings could be as stable as concrete buildings. However, deadly earthquakes in China in the past few years have likely forced the Chinese government to reconsider their stance on using the material.
“With the earthquakes, it was clear some of the buildings made of wood held up a lot better,” Mr. Watt said. As for ties to the Canadian dollar, he suggests lumber could be the “oil of the next decade” in how it lifts the loonie.
“It may seem dramatic, but consider in 1999 a barrel of oil was US$12, so who would’ve thought oil would be the oil of the past decade?” he said. “Will there be an oil-like rise in lumber? Who knows? Why not?”
A Vancouver-based analyst said the news is positive for Canadian lumber, but warned it was too early to know how it would affect exports.
“It’ll definitely help fix the supply-demand balance, so any news out there will help, but in the next year or two it won’t be a huge driver,” he said, noting it will take at least a year to educate construction companies about wood frames.
Related Links:
CBC News
Biorefining research facility opens
Submitted by Editor on Sat, 12/05/2009 - 09:50.
Date: -->
Saturday Dec 05, 2009
By
The Working Forest staff
A new research facility in Thunder Bay will strengthen the North's emerging green energy and chemicals sector and create at least eight jobs within its first year of operation.
Developed with the support of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), Lakehead University's Biorefining Research Initiative (BRI) officially opened today. BRI will focus on developing new technologies for converting forest biomass into chemicals and biofuels that could be commercialized as green energy and chemicals alternatives.
For example, BRI could develop new processes for making bioethanol from forest residue such as tree tops, wood bark and irregular limbs. Ethanol is added to gasoline to make car engines work more efficiently.
. The NOHFC has invested $1 million for equipment and renovations for Lakehead University's new biorefining research facility.
. Over the next few decades, as fossil fuel supplies decrease and prices rise, biorefining technology will play a leading role in replacing petro-chemicals.
. A biorefinery is much like a petroleum refining system, except that forest biomass replaces crude oil as a resource to produce chemicals.
. Biomass is renewable plant material from agricultural (corn cobs, wheat
stalks) and forestry (trees, branches, sawdust, wood chips) residues that can be used to produce bioenergy.
. Northwestern Ontario has 18 million hectares of productive forest - about 45 per cent of the provincial total.
Add new comment
Date: -->
Saturday Dec 05, 2009
By
The Working Forest staff
A new research facility in Thunder Bay will strengthen the North's emerging green energy and chemicals sector and create at least eight jobs within its first year of operation.
Developed with the support of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), Lakehead University's Biorefining Research Initiative (BRI) officially opened today. BRI will focus on developing new technologies for converting forest biomass into chemicals and biofuels that could be commercialized as green energy and chemicals alternatives.
For example, BRI could develop new processes for making bioethanol from forest residue such as tree tops, wood bark and irregular limbs. Ethanol is added to gasoline to make car engines work more efficiently.
. The NOHFC has invested $1 million for equipment and renovations for Lakehead University's new biorefining research facility.
. Over the next few decades, as fossil fuel supplies decrease and prices rise, biorefining technology will play a leading role in replacing petro-chemicals.
. A biorefinery is much like a petroleum refining system, except that forest biomass replaces crude oil as a resource to produce chemicals.
. Biomass is renewable plant material from agricultural (corn cobs, wheat
stalks) and forestry (trees, branches, sawdust, wood chips) residues that can be used to produce bioenergy.
. Northwestern Ontario has 18 million hectares of productive forest - about 45 per cent of the provincial total.
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