Biomass power Nova Scotia; where there’s smoke, there’s controversy

It was supposed to be sustainable and environmentally sound when it was unveiled in the autumn of last year. However the Nova Scotia Power Generation plant 60-megawatt biomass co-generation facility near Port Hawkesbury is not without controversy.

Nova Scotia Power has said the biomass plant would only use material gathered using sustainable practices by burning waste biomass, such as sawdust, waste wood from sawmills and dead wood from woodlots.

Every day dozens of trucks deliver wood to the power plant, amounting to about 650,000 tonnes a year.

Now some sawmill and lumber operators in the province say there’s a growing shortage of high-quality logs available because they’re being lumped in with low quality wood to be fed to the biomass plant.

Supposed benefit to sawmills, and hardwood suppliers;just the opposite

Lumber suppliers were told that more good logs would become available to them as the biomass plant would make it economical for woodlot owners to access poorer quality woodlots. Instead of the costly practice of selecting and cutting valuable wood to be sold only to sawmills, the woodlot owner owners would make poorer quality woodlets much more profitable by supplying poorer wood to the biomass plant and making access to the good quality trees much easier and more viable.

Some sawmill and hardwood flooring suppliers say whats happening though is just the opposite.

They say due to the demand for low quality fuel on a tonne basis means the woodlot operators want to take out trees as quickly as possibly and send them to the plant, and don’t bother with spending time to sort good logs out. Several mill and specialty wood operators in the region say their supply of good quality wood is in jeopardy now.

Bob Bancroft, a biologist and forester has long been opposed to the biomass plant which he says promotes rapid clear cutting. He says clear cutting is not good for the forest, not good for wildlife and ultimately, not good for humans.

In 2008-2009, he was a member of a panel that advised the NDP government against allowing biomass fuel to be used for power generation.   He said the Nova Scotia government has allowed corporate interests to take over the forests in the name of saving jobs at the Port Hawkesbury pulp and paper mill.

Raymond Plourde with the Ecology Action Centre is also critical of the plant saying, “It may be renewable, because trees technically grow back — but it is not green in any sense of the word. Burning the forest to generate electricity is insane”.

But Nova Scotia Powerdisputes the criticism said it has taken steps to make sure all wood burned is indeed waste. It says inspectors are sent to check woodlots and screens suppliers.

“We feel very comfortable that we have a long term supply here in Nova Scotia, which will be an economic solution for firm renewable energy,” said Mark Sidebottom, Nova Scotia Power’s vice president of power generation and delivery.”