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
800-661-2293
250-457-7319