A Northern
Centre for
Renewable
Energy
implementing bioenergy
applied research & development
regional sustainability
www.unbc.ca/green
June 2010
Under construction: This facility will house Nexterra’s biomass gasification technology that will reduce UNBC’s fossil fuel consumption by up to 85%.
Environmental
sustainability has emerged as one of the
defining issues
of our time. Living ItStudents, staff, and faculty are passionate about the environment. Students recently joined the U-Pass program with the highest approval vote in BC and they operate a popular compost demonstration garden.
What Green
Means
to Us
In northern British Columbia, it’s the environment that sustains communities, health, cultures, and the economy. This is just one reason why UNBC is the top choice for students and faculty interested in studying the environment up close and personal – rather than from a distant concrete jungle.
Is there another region in North America with greater wealth and diversity in natural resources?
Our environment provides trees, minerals, electricity, and natural gas. It also sustains world- class recreational pursuits, tremendous fish and wildlife populations, and agriculture.
As Canada’s Green University, we’re helping our region be a model for the country – and indeed, the world – leading the way to a more sustainable future for all.
Teaching
UNBC has a diverse range of environmental degree programs and has one of the highest proportions of students in nature-based degree programs in Canada.
Research
11 of UNBC’s 13 research chairs focus on environmental issues, a higher proportion than any other Canadian university.
We also have research stations throughout northern BC.
Campus
UNBC’s Prince George campus is a showpiece for the use of natural materials in architecture and none of the buildings is taller than the surrounding trees.
The Quesnel campus was built to a LEED Gold standard.
UNBC is implementing a bioenergy program that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption on the Prince George campus. The program will help the University meet its current and future energy needs, reduce or eliminate our greenhouse gas footprint, and reduce energy costs while contributing to R&D, training, student/public education and the development of bioenergy projects and demonstration opportunities for northern communities.
UNBC intends to be British Columbia’s model for green energy and the first university in Canada to implement major power plant measures to become carbon neutral and operate on renewable energy.
UNBC is uniquely positioned to join with governments, communities, the private sector, First Nations, and our educational partners to develop local solutions to these challenges by integrating campus operations, education, and research on a single site.
UNBC is a founding member of the Northern Bioenergy Partnership, a group exploring the development of bioenergy as a sustainable economic development opportunity for the region. Joining UNBC are the following organizations:
• Initiatives Prince George
• Innovation Resource Centre
• Northern Development Initiatives Trust
• National Research Council
Public education is integral to our plan. The University is creating a Green University Centre in the Winter Garden that will serve as an education hub for the University community about bioenergy, energy conservation, climate change, waste reduction, recycling, transportation, and more.
The personnel located in the Centre are being funded by BC Hydro, the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, and UNBC.
The Green University Centre will be a model of energy efficiency and will be the hub from which annual events and regional programs are delivered.
Phase 1:
Prince George
Campus
operations
UNBC, Western Economic Diversification, and the Wood Pellet Association of Canada have installed a wood pellet facility to provide heat to the University’s I.K. Barber Enhanced Forestry Laboratory and serve as a platform for applied research. The 1.4 million
BTU system is seamlessly integrated with the Lab’s existing natural gas heating system and has a filtration system to reduce emissions.
In fact, the pellet system has produced emissions on par with natural gas.
Existing Power Plant
The Prince George campus is uniquely positioned to be a showpiece for renewable energy.
All of the core campus buildings are connected to the Power Plant via a utility corridor for the efficient distribution of heat and power.
The Power Plant currently serves more than 56,000 square metres
of space in multiple buildings.
Currently, UNBC consumes nearly 85,000 gigajoules of natural gas per year to heat the campus. A biomass energy system at the University could offset up to 3,500 tonnes of annual greenhouse gas emissions.
UNBC is working with Nexterra Energy, a British Columbia bioenergy company, to install a biomass gasification system that will provide heat to the core campus buildings and offset an estimated 85% of current natural gas consumption.
This 15-million BTU fixed-bed gasification project has attracted
$14.8 million in funding from various government sources:
• The Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) fund
• The Public Sector Energy Conservation Agreement (PSECA)
• The federal-provincial Knowledge Infrastructure Fund
The project will be operational by early 2011. Wood waste to fuel the system will be provided by Lakeland Mills, a Prince George-based sawmill.
We’re Ready Now
www.unbc.ca/green/energy
The installation of bioenergy systems on campus will provide the platform from which to build a comprehensive and interdisciplinary research program. Opportunities for research will cover a range of topics that relate to the social, economic, political, biological, and technical aspects of bioenergy. The options range from studies on emissions and energy value of different bioenergy technologies to the land’s capacity to sustain them over the long term.
The operation of a small- scale bioenergy facility for research purposes will serve as a demonstration site for multiple biomass technologies and for the production of various by-products, including biochemicals and biochar. This facility will also be useful for the development of technologists and other highly qualified personnel, potentially in
conjunction with the College of New Caledonia.
Achieving a vision of bioenergy sustainability requires collective effort and partnership beyond the individual efforts of
governments, universities, industries, and communities.
Research provides the ideal venue for collaboration.
The expansion of bioenergy research would be
complemented by UNBC’s existing capacity:
• I.K. Barber Enhanced Forestry Laboratory
• Two research forests
• Research institutes focusing on natural resources, the environment, and community development
• Canada research chairs and a BC leadership chair
Phase 2:
Applied
Research
The ultimate objective of UNBC’s bioenergy and wood innovation program is to serve as a new knowledge source for British Columbia communities that are aiming to diversify their resource-based economies. Using the campus as a showpiece and adding the research component in phase two, this project is designed to demonstrate British Columbia technology for implementation in northern and First Nations communities and utilize
mountain pine beetle biomass in the creation of energy. This practical implementation phase will involve applying operational insights and research
information to communities of varying sizes and assisting them in creating solutions to environmental and economic challenges.
Phase 3:
Community Installations
BC Premier Gordon Campbell was in Prince George in 2008 to officially launch the BC Bioenergy Network. The 2009 Northern Economic Summit again highlighted local opportunities for bioenergy research and development at UNBC.
With an established forest industry infrastructure – as well as the challenge of managing forests infected with the pine beetle – northern BC is an ideal location for implementing bioenergy opportunities at the community level.
It is in remote Aboriginal
communities where the needs for energy security are perhaps most obvious. With connections to First Nations throughout northern BC and beyond, UNBC is eager to help ensure that the results of our bioenergy program are applied widely.
In the UNBC Power Plant, Chief Engineer Doug Carter describes to Ministers Neufeld, Bond, and Chong how simply an alternative energy system could connect into UNBC’s existing heating and cooling system. The scale of the UNBC system would make it an appropriate model for northern communities.
Northern BC:
A knowledge-based,
resource economy
connected to
the world.
The University has the potential to be a world class showcase of BC clean energy technology. The first of its kind at a Canadian university, the operational bioenergy plant will be a catalyst for applied research and economic
development. We are interested in being a national leader in climate action, renewable energy, research, and northern economic diversification.
Contacts
Phase 1: Campus Operations Eileen Bray, VP Administration (250) 960-5541
braye@unbc.ca Phase 2: Research
Gail Fondahl, VP Research (250) 960-5856
fondahlg@unbc.ca 3333 University Way Prince George, BC V2N 4Z9
