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Forest energy

Paper & Power - The new old business model

Is there enough forest biomass in the US?

RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, states in its October 2008 Wood Biomass Market Report that “the perceived overabundance of ‘waste wood’ in the nation’s forests is simply not there.”

Trees instead of ethanol...

It didn't take long for the debate on biofuels to heat up again, despite the bottom-of-the-barrel price of oil and an economy in the drink. This time, it was a study published in the February issue of Science that said corn-based ethanol could add nearly twice as many greenhouse emissions as fossil fuels. Not to be left out, the California State Regulators, among others, have jumped into the fray and now seem ready to declare that biofuel will not help reduce global warming.

US Black liquor subsidies worries sector

A federal program intended to promote the use of renewable fuels is instead encouraging U.S. paper companies to pursue some rather "un-green" practices, such as substituting virgin pulp for recycled pulp.

Short on biomass?

EPCOR Power 's Williams Lake, BC facility has used cheap wood waste from the local mills for the last 15 years to generate power.

However, the 6 mills around Williams Lake have halted production, the power plant is now employing most of the logging truck drivers in the area to scouring the nearby roadsides for piles of logging waste to keep their thermal plant fed. However, the 6 mills around Williams Lake have halted production, the power plant is now employing most of the logging truck drivers in the area nearby to scouring the roadside for piles of logging waste to keep their thermal plant fed.

British Columbia's newly released action plan for forestry calls for more of the waste wood left behind after harvesting to be used for biofuel. British Columbia's newly released action plan for forestry calls for more of the waste wood left behind after harvesting to be used for biofuel.

Black liquor - P&P's redeemer?

Remember the other day when we heard that International Paper received $71.6 million from the IRS for burning an alternative fuel mix?

Well Domtar and AbitibiBowater want in too.

Domtar has retrofitted seven of its U.S. mills to produce the black liquor to qualify for the tax credit.

If approved, Domtar could see an estimated $225 million a year from the U.S. tax credit program.

The program was initially designed to encourage companies to add green energy like biodiesel to their fossil fuels to reduce America´s dependency of foreign energy.

For the forestry companies to qualify for the tax credit, they are actually adding diesel to the black liquor that they are already burning for steam generation. To qualify, at least 0.1% of taxable fuel such as diesel, gasoline or kerosene must be mixed with a qualified alternative fuel.

As a result of this tax credit, multi-national companies, like Domtar and AbitibiBowater, will likely increase production at their mills located in the U.S. at the detriment of their Canadian operations.

In addition to hurting the competitive position of Canadian producers, the incentive encourages producers to add even more pulp on the market even though an oversupply continues to deflate prices.

A Painfull slow Death

As I have stated elsewhere in recent writings, paper grades used primarily for communications will experience a permanent change in demand during the current economic distress. As consumers of all types look for opportunities to delay or permanently reduce expenditures, some will drop the purchase of communications papers products by changing their lifestyle, others will seek alternatives, such as ebook readers or plain old computers to reduce their expenditures.

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by Dr. Radut