SHANGHAI CODE APPROVAL OPENS UP MARKET TO CANADIAN WOOD
SHANGHAI – Shanghai’s approval of a new wood-frame building code is a major step forward in the growing demand for Canadian wood products in China, the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, and British Columbia’s Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell announced today.
“The Shanghai Local Code is the first comprehensive set of guidelines for wood-frame construction ever published in China,” said Minister Raitt. “This is a big step forward in achieving our goal of opening new markets for Canadian forest products. We are confident that the Shanghai Local Code provides a framework that will be easily adaptable to other cities and provinces across China.”
“Shanghai – a city with about four times British Columbia’s population – is now a wider, more open market for Canadian and B.C. lumber,” said Bell. “Modern wood-frame construction can now be used to meet Chinese building needs, something that previously wasn’t easily done due to complex and dated building and fire codes.”
The Shanghai Local Code is the most comprehensive and detailed code for wood-frame structures in China, addressing all technical issues related to wood-frame construction, including structural, fire, durability, energy conservation, noise transmission and construction inspection.
Canada Wood Group (an industry marketing agency supported by the federal and B.C. governments), FPInnovations (a Canadian forest products research organization) and their Shanghai counterparts began work on updating the code in 2006.
Bell made his comments while attending the official launch of the code, which took effect Sept. 1, 2009. The event was attended by more than 300 guests, including engineers, architects and building officials who worked on the code changes.
Shanghai is one of the most important markets in China for Canadian wood products. It is home to the Dream Home Canada demonstration site that showcases wood-frame design and offices for Canada Wood Group and Forestry Innovation Investment staff promoting the province’s wood products and building solutions.
Canada is the second-largest supplier to China of softwood lumber after Russia, with about 98 percent of this lumber sourced from British Columbia.
Showing posts with label wood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wood. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, December 8, 2008
BC Company Turns Wood Waste Into BioEnergy
NORMAN LAKE Dec. 5 – Pine Star Logging has started grinding wood waste for Pacific BioEnergy’s wood pellet market after investing $750,000 in a new wood grinding machine, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell announced today.
“The work Pine Star and Pacific BioEnergy are doing highlights the potential for wood bioenergy in forestry’s future,” said Bell as he toured the Norman Lake site. “The forest sector has an important role to play in advancing B.C.’s green energy advantage, and Pine Star is an excellent example of a smaller, local company finding new ways to obtain more value from our forests.”
“Now that local companies are seeing the advantage of utilizing the wood waste and residue left over at logging sites rather than burning it, we have the opportunity to build a new culture around dealing with forest debris,” said George Stedeford, manager of commercial operations for Pacific BioEnergy. “A reduction in the burning of logging debris will decrease the amount of fine particulate released into the air, creating a better air shed and air quality for Prince George and its surrounding communities.”
When used to generate energy, wood waste is considered carbon-neutral because it releases no more carbon into the atmosphere than it absorbs during its lifetime. As a result, bioenergy can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere if it replaces non-renewable sources of energy.
“This is the beginning of a brand new industry because what was once considered waste now has new value,” said Keith Brandner, manager of Pine Star Logging. “We’ve made this significant investment because we see a future in bioenergy. Plus, the portability of this operation means we can go wherever we need to and harvest what has previously been left behind on the forest floor.”
The hog fuel that Pine Star is creating from grinding wood waste and other logging debris left on logging sites will be used to create wood pellets for Pacific BioEnergy’s overseas fuel markets. Hog fuel is processed through a “hog” – a large mechanical shredder or grinder and consists of pulverized bark, shavings, sawdust, logging residue, low-grade lumber and lumber rejects from the operation of pulp mills, saw mills and plywood plants.
Pacific BioEnergy, a privately held company, has its corporate office in Vancouver and its manufacturing plant in Prince George. The company only sources wood fibre from certified companies that practise sustainable forest management. It has been manufacturing high quality wood pellets since 1994 and exporting overseas to international utilities since 1998.
Supporting the development of new bioenergy opportunities is a key step in the BC Bioenergy Strategy. For more information on the strategy, or to download a copy, visit www.energyplan.gov.bc.ca/bioenergy.
Media
contact: Communications
Ministry of Forests and Range
250 387-4592
“The work Pine Star and Pacific BioEnergy are doing highlights the potential for wood bioenergy in forestry’s future,” said Bell as he toured the Norman Lake site. “The forest sector has an important role to play in advancing B.C.’s green energy advantage, and Pine Star is an excellent example of a smaller, local company finding new ways to obtain more value from our forests.”
“Now that local companies are seeing the advantage of utilizing the wood waste and residue left over at logging sites rather than burning it, we have the opportunity to build a new culture around dealing with forest debris,” said George Stedeford, manager of commercial operations for Pacific BioEnergy. “A reduction in the burning of logging debris will decrease the amount of fine particulate released into the air, creating a better air shed and air quality for Prince George and its surrounding communities.”
When used to generate energy, wood waste is considered carbon-neutral because it releases no more carbon into the atmosphere than it absorbs during its lifetime. As a result, bioenergy can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere if it replaces non-renewable sources of energy.
“This is the beginning of a brand new industry because what was once considered waste now has new value,” said Keith Brandner, manager of Pine Star Logging. “We’ve made this significant investment because we see a future in bioenergy. Plus, the portability of this operation means we can go wherever we need to and harvest what has previously been left behind on the forest floor.”
The hog fuel that Pine Star is creating from grinding wood waste and other logging debris left on logging sites will be used to create wood pellets for Pacific BioEnergy’s overseas fuel markets. Hog fuel is processed through a “hog” – a large mechanical shredder or grinder and consists of pulverized bark, shavings, sawdust, logging residue, low-grade lumber and lumber rejects from the operation of pulp mills, saw mills and plywood plants.
Pacific BioEnergy, a privately held company, has its corporate office in Vancouver and its manufacturing plant in Prince George. The company only sources wood fibre from certified companies that practise sustainable forest management. It has been manufacturing high quality wood pellets since 1994 and exporting overseas to international utilities since 1998.
Supporting the development of new bioenergy opportunities is a key step in the BC Bioenergy Strategy. For more information on the strategy, or to download a copy, visit www.energyplan.gov.bc.ca/bioenergy.
Media
contact: Communications
Ministry of Forests and Range
250 387-4592
Friday, March 9, 2007
New Energy - Ground heat, Waste wood, Underground CO2
Every time you turn around these days you learn of new technologies being developed to encourage cleaner energy and less waste. A year ago I never would have thought that clean energy would be such a hot topic in mainstream media.
Just today, three stories on seperate news channels caught my eye.
The first was a story about a former BC environment minister who is building a house in BC. Instead of using only natural gas or electricity to heat the house, which would cost hundreds of dollars per month (it's a 9000 sq ft home), they are using ground geothermal heat. Once you get a few feet underground the temperature remains constant year round, and well above freezing. Basically, they are digging trenches in the back yard about 6 feet deep, laying pipes that contain liquid, and the system will be used to heat the home at a cost of under $100 per month. And the ground heat is always there, an endless source of clean energy. I've heard of this being done in the US, but not in BC. If this were done on a large scale imagine the energy savings, both in dollars and environmentally.
The second story was about using waste wood, say from mountain pine beetle killed timber, or wood scraps from sawmills, as a source for clean energy. They are developing ways that wood can be used to create energy without causing the harmful smoke and CO2 emissions normally associated with wood burning. We have a huge potential supply of waste wood as a result of harvesting in BC. This is wood that is not large enough to mill, or has rot, leftover pieces from mills, and wood that is not suitable for cutting or wanted by pulp mills. Currently, we use the wood that is economic and the rest is discarded, burned, or left on site. Forest operations could become more efficient in the future - we'll continue to use what's conventionally economic, waste wood can go to create clean energy, and a new forest gets established on logged areas that will help to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
The third story involved the oil industry. Again, new technology is coming along that will allow CO2 emissions produced by the oil industry to be pumped underground. The news story said once the CO2 is underground, it would stay forever. As a bonus, the CO2 can also be used to help extract oil deposits - which may put less pressure on water or natural gas, two compounds that are used now to help extract oil but can not afford to be wasted.
I am not a specialist on these new clean energy strategies, but I look forward to seeing them used on a large scale.
Just today, three stories on seperate news channels caught my eye.
The first was a story about a former BC environment minister who is building a house in BC. Instead of using only natural gas or electricity to heat the house, which would cost hundreds of dollars per month (it's a 9000 sq ft home), they are using ground geothermal heat. Once you get a few feet underground the temperature remains constant year round, and well above freezing. Basically, they are digging trenches in the back yard about 6 feet deep, laying pipes that contain liquid, and the system will be used to heat the home at a cost of under $100 per month. And the ground heat is always there, an endless source of clean energy. I've heard of this being done in the US, but not in BC. If this were done on a large scale imagine the energy savings, both in dollars and environmentally.
The second story was about using waste wood, say from mountain pine beetle killed timber, or wood scraps from sawmills, as a source for clean energy. They are developing ways that wood can be used to create energy without causing the harmful smoke and CO2 emissions normally associated with wood burning. We have a huge potential supply of waste wood as a result of harvesting in BC. This is wood that is not large enough to mill, or has rot, leftover pieces from mills, and wood that is not suitable for cutting or wanted by pulp mills. Currently, we use the wood that is economic and the rest is discarded, burned, or left on site. Forest operations could become more efficient in the future - we'll continue to use what's conventionally economic, waste wood can go to create clean energy, and a new forest gets established on logged areas that will help to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
The third story involved the oil industry. Again, new technology is coming along that will allow CO2 emissions produced by the oil industry to be pumped underground. The news story said once the CO2 is underground, it would stay forever. As a bonus, the CO2 can also be used to help extract oil deposits - which may put less pressure on water or natural gas, two compounds that are used now to help extract oil but can not afford to be wasted.
I am not a specialist on these new clean energy strategies, but I look forward to seeing them used on a large scale.
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