Transitioning from

Fossil Fuels to

Forests:

Opportunities for

Modern Wood

Heating

Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry

BIOHEAT OPPORTUNITIES IN

ONTARIO:

A Primer – Part I

Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry

Megan Smith

November 29, 2017

Forest Industry Division

Vision:

• Dynamic industry, thriving

communities, sustainable

forests

Mission:

• We promote and support a

prosperous forest industry while

ensuring fair value for the people on Ontario

Role:

• Develop a competitive business environment, facilitate

investment, promote transformation and stimulate

demand for Ontario’s forest products

Vision: Ontario is home to a competitive, sustainable, and dynamic bioeconomy

that takes full advantage of forest resources.

Goal: MNRF enables industry and communities in becoming leaders in developing products

that support the forest bioeconomy through industry process integration, collaboration and

innovation.

Develop and

implement policies

that support the

diversification of

Ontario’s forest

bioeconomy.

Enhance

collaboration,

knowledge transfer

and information

sharing to promote

the forest

bioeconomy.

Enhance access to

biofibre and create

opportunities for

community/

Indigenous

development.

Attract high value

investors and

retain/ increase

skilled workforce

in the forest

bioeconomy.

Maximize value

from forest-based

feedstocks and

by-product

streams.

Research & Innovation: Stimulate innovation and commercialization through

research and collaboration.

Investment & Market Development: Drive industry transformation and new investment to

stimulate market demand for forest bioproducts.

Outreach: Provide the necessary tools to make informed decisions

regarding participation in bioeconomy supply chains.

Enabling Policy: Develop policies, programs and incentives to support

sustainable, bioproduct innovation and investment.

Coordination

Guiding Principles:

Alignment of initiatives and activities to provincial priorities.

Land and resource management practices support environmental, social and economic sustainability.

Ac

tio

n A

reas

O

bje

cti

ves

Forest Bioeconomy Strategic

Framework

MODERN WOOD HEAT

OPPORTUNITIES

An Overview

Setting the Stage for Wood Heat

Rural Communities:

“Rural means there’s a Tim Horton’s. Remote means there’s none.”

Ontario:

• 20% is

considered

rural

• Population =

1.4 million

Source: Stats Canada

Setting the Stage for Wood Heat

Communities Not Connected to Natural Gas:

• 25 to 30% of households not connected

– Approximately 800,000 households

Setting the Stage for Wood Heat

Remote Communities:

Source: Waterloo Global Science Energy Blueprint, 2017

Setting the Stage for Wood Heat

Ontario’s Remote

Communities:

• Approximately…

– 30 remote communities

– 15,000 people

– 22 million litres of diesel

fuel used annually for

electricity generation

• Inadequate energy

services

• Fuel is flown or trucked

into communities

Setting the Stage for Wood Heat

Ontario’s Forest Industry:

A vibrant and important part of

Ontario’s economy

supports over 170,000

direct/indirect jobs (57,000 are

direct jobs)

Contributes approximately

$5 billion to Ontario’s annual

GDP

$15.5 billion in sales in 2015

260 communities are dependent

on forest industry

E. Wainio, MNRF

L. Thompson, MNRF

Setting the Stage for Wood Heat

Ontario’s Forest Industry:

Setting the Stage for Wood Heat

Ontario’s Forest Industry:

-

5,000,000

10,000,000

15,000,000

20,000,000

25,000,000

30,000,000

35,000,000

40,000,000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Vo

lum

e (

cu

bic

me

tre

s/y

ear)

Scaling Year

Actual Unmerchantable Harvest

Actual Merchantable Harvest

Available Volume

Annual Utilization of Crown Resources

Setting the Stage for Wood Heat

Develop a New forest

Bioeconomy:

maximize value of forest resources by

utilizing all forest residues and by-

products of primary processes.

integrate new products within the

existing forest products industry to

maximize jobs and financial returns.

promote linkage, partnership and

coordination across the bioproduct

value chain.

Setting the Stage for Wood Heat

$0

$10

$20

$30

$40

$50

$60

$70

Dolla

rs/G

igajo

ule

Fuel Type

Historical Price Fluctuations (2006 to 2015) for Heating Fuel Types in Ontario

Minimum 2015 Maximum

Source: MNRF. 2014. Biomass Heat: What’s in it for Ontario? Internal government document.

Modern Wood Heat Opportunities

Dynamic industry

Thriving communities

Sustainable forests

Modern Wood Heat Opportunities

MNRF Strategic Alignment to Modern Wood Heat:

Increase and improve fibre utilization

New markets for low value and unmarketable wood fibre

Value from resource to the people of Ontario

Promote Indigenous and rural/remote community economic development

Develop the supply chain to support future higher value bioproducts

Contribution to provincial GHG emissions reduction targets

Modern Wood Heat: Many Challenges

We can’t do it alone…

Source: Egger, 2011

Supporting Biomass Heat Initiative

• “To improve the business and policy

environment for the use of biomass

fuels for Ontario”.

• Provincial government partners

working group

• Focus areas:

– Comfort and water heating, small-scale CHP, air conditioning

– Solid biofuels (under CAN/CSA-ISO 17225), gaseous biofuels,

substitution of heating oil with liquid biofuels

– Off the shelf equipment with heat input capacities of less than

3MW

• 4 action areas:

Source: Egger, 2011

Enabling Policy Outreach

Research & Innovation Investment & Market

Development

Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP)

• 5-year plan (2016-2020) to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario

• Outlines more than 90 actions items in 8 areas:

Industry and business

Buildings and homes

Transportation

Land use planning

Research and development

Indigenous communities

Carbon neutral government

Productive and sustainable

society

Cap and Trade and CCAP

MNRF and CCAP

Wood Stove Exchange and Replacement Program:

• Led by MOECC, with participation from MNRF and MIRR

• Financial incentives to switch out the following with new high efficiency modern wood heating appliances:

• Low efficiency wood stoves

• GHG intensive heating sources (e.g., fuel oil, propane)

• Focus on northern, rural and Indigenous communities

• Contact: wood.stoves@ontario.ca

MNRF and CCAP

Mass Timber Program:

• To encourage expertise that will help build

mass timber buildings and promote the

use of wood in buildings

Tall Wood Demonstration Projects

• Providing funding to help with the costs of constructing

mass timber buildings

Tall Wood Building Reference

• Provides background and references to assist

applicants, reviewers and designers as they consider

using wood in buildings

• Contact: masstimber@ontario.ca

• Website: www.ontario.ca/page/building-with-wood

Forest Bioeconomy Framework for

Canada

Vision:

• Canada will be a global leader in the use of forest

biomass for advanced bioproducts and innovative

solutions.

Modern Wood Heat: Ontario at a

Glance Stimulate

• Aligning policy

• Regulations & standards

• Research & development

• Grants & funding programs

• Pilot & demonstration

projects

Demand

• Customer base

• Homeowners

• Cooperatives

• District heating

networks

• Government

procurement

Support

• Training & education

• Energy business networks

• Local energy action plans

• Information campaigns

• Technical training seminars

• Subject-matter experts

• Resources & handbooks

Supply

• Raw material suppliers

• Fuel manufacturers

• Fuel distributers

• Heating equipment

retailers

• Contractor services

• Insurance

High

Low

High

Low

High

Low

High

Low

In Closing…

A little bit about me:

• Recently upgraded to a modern

firewood stove!

• Wood is sourced from local firewood

dealers and our

woodlot

Blaze King catalytic wood stove

www.blazeking.com

Questions?

Megan Smith

Program Specialist – Forest Bioeconomy

Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry

Forest Industry Division

Sault Ste. Marie, ON

megan.smith@ontario.ca

(705) 945-5843

COMMUNITY ENERGY

PLANNING

An Overview

Community Energy Planning

Community Energy Plans (CEPs):

• Tool that defines community priorities around energy to:

– Drive economic development

– Manage future risks and

enhance resilience

– Improve energy efficiency

– Cut GHG emissions

• CEPs typically contain:

– Energy and emissions

inventory

– Energy and emissions

reductions targets

– Broad scope of actions

Community Energy Planning

Resources to Get Started:

The Integrated Community

Energy Planning Primer

The Community Energy

Implementation Framework

Community Energy

Planning and Data for

Small and Rural

Communities Primer

www.gettingtoimplementation.ca

Community Energy Planning

Partners for Climate Protection Program: • Network of Canadian municipal governments that have

committed to reducing GHG and to acting on climate change

– Currently represents 300 municipalities across the country, including 73 in Ontario

• Milestone Framework

– Creating a GHG emissions inventory and forecast

– Setting an emissions reductions target

– Developing a local action plan

– Implementing the local action plan or a set of activities

– Monitoring progress and reporting results

• Resources: https://fcm.ca/home/programs/partners-for-climate-protection/program-resources.htm

Community Energy Plans and CCAP

Municipal GHG Challenge Fund:

• Will fund up to 100% of the eligible costs for GHG

emission reduction projects proposed by municipalities

• Any municipality with a community-wide GHG inventory,

emissions reduction targets and a strategy/plan to

reduce emissions is eligible to apply

• Challenge fund notionally allocated $300 million over

four years

– Designed to have four cycles, ending in 2020/21

– First cycle has just closed

• Contact: challengefund@ontario.ca

• Note: upcoming Municipal Action Plan Program (MAPP)

Community Energy Plans and FCM

Federation of Canadian Municipalities: • Offers a range of tools and resources to support local

climate action - www.fcm.ca/home/resources

• Offers grants for a range of municipal plans, studies and

capital projects - www.fcm.ca/home/funding

Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program

• Grants of up to $175,000 to develop plans and studies

to reduce GHG emissions and help communities adapt

to impacts of climate change

• Grants to implement climate change initiatives through

capital projects for up to 80% of costs of up to $1 million.

• Contact: programs@fcm.ca