Forest Biomass Action Plan ontario.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ontario.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ontario’s Draft Biomass Action Plan has the potential to create thousands of family-supporting skilled jobs in rural Ontario. Photo Credit: WPAC
As an outcome of the Forest Sector Strategy, Ontario has committed to putting a Forest Biomass Action Plan in place. The plan is intended to support economic development in Ontario by enhancing the use of under-utilized forest resources including mill by-products and under-utilized forest biofibre. On May 6, the province released a draft of the plan for comment. I encourage readers to submit comments before the deadline of June 21, 2021.
The Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC) welcomes the draft plan and is aligned with five objectives identified within it. WPAC believes that the plan sets out a sensible path and milestones for developing a sustainable biomass sector in the province. It:
All the challenges and opportunities surrounding forestry biomass in Ontario are laid out in a draft action plan now available for public consumption and feedback.
The Forest Biomass Action Plan is one component of the provincial government s forestry strategy rolled out last August.
With mill by-products and forest biofibre, the government wants to generate more investment, encourage more innovation, create jobs and make Ontario s $17.6-billion forest sector more sustainable.
These by-products are often used in heat and power generation application and low-carbon consumer products.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said the objections of this draft plan were developed based on discussions with a working group of people involved in the forest biomass supply chain.
The draft action plan outlines five objectives:
identifying pathways to markets for forest biomass
supporting demand for forest bioenergy and bioproducts
improving the business and regulatory environments for the use of forest biomass
supporting holistic, culturally relevant pathways for Indigenous community involvement in forest biomass value chains to support reconciliation between Indigenous communities and the Crown
communicating, collaborating and informing on forest biomass opportunities.
“In our forest sector strategy, our government committed to helping Ontario’s forest industry reach its full potential, through recovery and into the future,” said Natural Resources and Forestry Minister John Yakabuski.
“Expanding the use of forest biomass is essential to the competitiveness of the forest industry and will further assist in meeting an increased demand for dimensional lumber and other wood products,” said Ontario Forest Industries Association CEO Ian Dunn.