Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Bioheat Opportunities for Rural and Remote Communities Workshop Notebook Cambridge, Ontario Friday, November 4, 2016 Page 1
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Notebook Content Agenda... 4 Speakers Loni Pierce: Bio-heat 101: Forestry and Agriculture... 6 Ian D. McDonald: Bio-heat 101: Forestry and Agriculture... 7 Sarah Marchionda: Community Energy Planning Introduction... 8 Brent Gilmour: Community Energy Mapping Exercise... 9 Scott Abercrombie: On-Farm Biomass Production and Processing... 10 David Roewade: Region of Waterloo and Community Energy Planning... 11 Charlie Forman: Connecting the Dots... 12 David Mackett and Craig Toset: Whitesand First Nation & The Community Sustainability Initiative... 13 Chris Walton: Bio-heat in Ontario: Overview of Regulatory Permitting... 14 Andreas Wintzer: Heating with Wood Biomass in Ontario... 15 Additional Notes:... 16 Contact Information... 17 Resources... 18 Page 3
Agenda 8:45 am Coffee and Registration Dorset and Norfolk Rooms 9:00 am Opening Remarks Dorset and Norfolk Rooms Housekeeping Opening Ceremony Loni Pierce, A/Program Specialist Forest Bioeconomy, MNRF Paul General, Six Nations of the Grand River 9:30 am Bio-heat and Community Energy Planning Session Discussion on history and current situation of bio-heat in Ontario and an introduction to Community Energy Planning, followed by group Community Energy Mapping exercise. 10:15 am Bio-heat 101: Forestry and Agriculture Community Energy Planning Introduction Refreshments and Networking Community Energy Mapping Exercise Loni Pierce, A/Program Specialist, Forest Bioeconomy, MNRF Ian D. McDonald, Applied Research Coordinator Field Crops Unit, OMAFRA Sarah Marchionda, Manager, Research & Strategic Initiatives, QUEST Dorset and Norfolk Rooms Brent Gilmour, Executive Director, QUEST 12:00 pm Lunch Dorset and Norfolk Rooms 1:00 pm Lessons Learned Panel: Successes and Challenges from Ontario Moderator and Panel Introduction On-Farm Biomass Production and Processing Jason Koivisto, Manager, Forestry Innovation and Market Development Section, MNRF Scott Abercrombie, President, Gildale Farms Page 4
Region of Waterloo and Community Energy Planning Connecting the Dots Whitesand First Nation & The Community Sustainability Initiative Audience Q&A 2:30 pm Bio-heat Survey 2:45 pm 3:00 pm Refreshments and Networking David Roewade, Sustainability Specialist Community Planning, Region of Waterloo, Planning, Development and Legislative Services Charlie Forman, Partner, Switchgreen Inc. David Mackett, Community Development, Community Sustainability Initiative, Whitesand First Nation Craig Toset, Business Development, Community Sustainability Initiative, Whitesand First Nation All Panel Participants Dorset and Norfolk Rooms Bio-heat Practicalities Discussion on systems and permitting Bio-heat in Ontario: Overview of Regulatory Permitting Heating with Wood Biomass in Ontario Chris Walton, President and Principal Consultant, Arbora Management Services Inc. Andreas Wintzer, Biomass and Commercial System Manager, Viessmann Canada 3:45 pm Closing Remarks Dorset and Norfolk Rooms Wrap up and closing remarks Jason Koivisto, Manager, Forestry Innovation and Market Development Section, MNRF Page 5
Loni Pierce: Bio-heat 101: Forestry and Agriculture After graduating from Vancouver Island University s Forest Resources Technology program, Loni moved across the country for an internship at the Canadian Institute of Forestry s national office in Mattawa, Ontario. Since then she has worked in both field and research capacities on various bioeconomy-related projects for the provincial and federal governments. Loni is the acting Program Specialist Forest Bioeconomy at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. There she provides the Forest Industry Division with research, program, and policy support to identify new and emerging opportunities for the development of a new forest bioeconomy. Page 6
Ian D. McDonald: Bio-heat 101: Forestry and Agriculture Ian McDonald has been the Applied Research Coordinator for the Field Crops Unit of Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) since 2000. Before this he spent 15 years in the agriculture industry as a researcher on new pesticides with Hoechst and Dupont. Since July of 2016 he has been assigned the role of Crop Innovation Specialist with the unit. Ian holds a PhD. in Agriculture Environmental Science from the University of Guelph. He is involved in the coordination of research and demonstration activities within the OMAFRA Agriculture Development Branch (ADB) Field Crops unit and is involved in scientific review, protocol and project development, data analysis, and reporting among other functions within ADB. He works with colleagues and partner organizations to find technology tools to enhance producer and advisor knowledge and access to information through research projects, collaborations with academic and farmer partners, online resources and other outreach opportunities. He is co-chair of the FarmSmart franchise of events. He has a special interest in sustainable agriculture production systems and having the farm sector meet more of society s needs and expectations. Page 7
Sarah Marchionda: Community Energy Planning Introduction Sarah is the Manager of Research & Strategic Initiatives at Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow (QUEST) where she is working to advance research related to community energy planning, infrastructure and energy system resiliency, and best practices with respect to engagement, governance and other aspects of energy project implementation. Prior to joining QUEST Sarah was involved in one of Ontario s first electric car charging demonstration projects with Better Place Inc. and was engaged in energy policy research at the Centre for Urban Energy at Ryerson University. Sarah holds a post-bachelor degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Ryerson University (2014) and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University (2010). Page 8
Brent Gilmour: Community Energy Mapping Exercise As Executive Director of QUEST - Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow, Brent Gilmour is responsible for the overall coordination of QUEST s research, engagement, and advocacy activities to advance Smart Energy Communities in Canada. Brent also oversees QUEST s eight provincial and regional Caucuses and the Smart Energy Leaders Dialogue. Brent was involved with the initial launch of QUEST in 2007 in his previous role with the Canadian Urban Institute's (CUI) in the capacity of Vice President, Urban Solutions. Prior to joining the CUI, Brent was the Strategic Coordinator responsible for the establishment of the University of Toronto's Sustainability Office (USO) and was an independent research consultant specializing in community energy innovation. Brent is a registered professional planner with 12+ years of specialized knowledge in the areas of integrated community energy, transportation and land-use planning; downtown revitalization; and, public infrastructure investment. Brent holds a Masters of Science in Planning from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Toronto and is an alumnus of Massey College. Page 9
Scott Abercrombie: On-Farm Biomass Production and Processing Scott Abercrombie is the president of Gildale Farms, which operates near St. Marys, Ontario. In 2006, after several years of working in controls and automation engineering, he returned to the family farm, Gildale Farms, to pursue an opportunity in producing and marketing biomass fuel pellets. Currently Gildale Farms operates an on-farm pellet mill and produces and distributes wood and biomass fuel pellets in southwestern Ontario. Gildale Farms also grows 100 acres of purpose grown biomass crops including switchgrass and miscanthus. Scott is a director of Ontario Biomass Producers Co-op and is active in pursuing different end applications for biomass crops and agricultural crop residues. Page 10
David Roewade: Region of Waterloo and Community Energy Planning David Roewade comes from a business development and marketing background. He branched into the environmental field approximately 25 years ago. His undergraduate degree was in environmental resource management and his Master s degree focused on community economic development and climate change. David operated an environmental consulting business for several years. Clients included the federal government, industry associations, post-secondary schools and community groups. David joined the Region of Waterloo s Public Health department in 2001 working on health hazard investigation. Beginning in 2007 he moved onto developing and implementing their Sustainability Strategy. Currently, he is responsible for the Region s corporate and community Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Action Plans and is working with local partners to develop a Community Energy Investment Strategy as well as a Climate Adaptation Plan. Page 11
Charlie Forman: Connecting the Dots Charlie Forman started his working career in his family s wholesale hardware business, W.B. Daltons Wholesale Hardware in Kingston, Ontario. He was also a weekend and evening farmer. He decided his passion was farming so he purchased a 255 acre dairy farm. It has grown into a diversified operation that serves agriculture and horticulture. Charlie now operates 2000 acres of crop land and several service businesses. This acreage includes crop growing, a greenhouse, vegetable production for farmers markets, and annual and perrenial bedding plants. He also delivers grain and runs a pelleting operation called SwitchGreen. Page 12
David Mackett and Craig Toset: Whitesand First Nation & The Community Sustainability Initiative David Mackett has led Community Development initiatives for Whitesand First Nation since 2009 including the design, development and implementation of the Community Sustainability Initiative. He has worked exclusively with First Nations since 1991 within various land use planning and resource development projects. His work with Whitesand is to build a stronger and happier community through better communication and relationships with governments and industry. David s mandate is to align Whitesand s priorities and opportunities with partners, and together achieve community sustainability. Craig Toset is member of Whitesand First Nation, who has represented the community within many roles including Band Manager. Currently Craig is the Business Development Advisor for the community and is responsible for the sourcing, analysis, acquisition and management of economic opportunities and ventures. Craig initially began the development of Whitesand s biomass energy project in 2009. Craig is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys fishing and hunting with family and friends throughout the traditional territory. Page 13
Chris Walton: Bio-heat in Ontario: Overview of Regulatory Permitting Chris Walton is the President and Principal Consultant of Arbora Management Services Inc., which is a Thunder Bay-based management consulting firm. Chris has 20 years of management experience in government relations, policy, environmental and sustainability management, with a primary focus on the forest products and bio-energy sectors. Page 14
Andreas Wintzer: Heating with Wood Biomass in Ontario Andreas is the Biomass and Commercial System Manager for Viessmann Canada. Appointed to this role in 2010, Andreas is responsible for the overall strategic direction for Commercial Biomass Systems, and manages customer support services for pre- and postsales of biomass and pre-commercial sales products. Prior to joining Viessmann, Andreas held a variety of positions within sales and engineering with Baxi Group in Germany and North America. He is a certified technician (Staatlichgeprüfter Techniker HLK), Meister im Heizungsbau, Techniker Schule Osnabrück. Page 15
Additional Notes: Page 16
Contact Information The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry supports the development of Ontario s bioeconomy. We envision Ontario having a competitive, sustainable, and dynamic bioeconomy that takes full advantage of Ontario s forest resources. Using solid biomass for heat is one aspect of Ontario s bioeconomy that we are actively supporting. We hope you have found this workshop informative. If your community is interested in pursuing a related project, we would look forward to working with you. Please contact us if you have questions: Loni Pierce A/Program Specialist Forest Bioeconomy Loni.Pierce@ontario.ca 1-705-945-5843 Joe Maure Forest Innovation Team Lead Joe.Maure@ontario.ca 1-705-945-5892 Karen Jackson Policy Analyst Forest Economy Karen.Jackson@ontario 1-705-945-6754 Ralph Spaans Secondary Wood Products Specialist Ralph.Spaans@ontario.ca 1-705-945-6784 Page 17
Resources Advancing Integrated Community Energy Planning in Ontario: A Primer Exploring why and how to integrate community energy planning www.questcanada.org/files/download/be7955f1d8ff501 Aboriginal Energy Partnerships Program Funding to initiate or update a community energy plan for Aboriginal communities http://aboriginalenergy.ca/aboriginal-community-energy-plans Ontario s Municipal Energy Plan Program Funding to initiate or update a community energy plan for municipalities www.energy.gov.on.ca/en/municipal-energy/ Community Energy Association of British Columbia Toolkits, resources, best practices, templates, case studies http://communityenergy.bc.ca/ List of Aboriginal Communities developing community energy plans http://aboriginalenergy.ca/sites/default/files/ieso%20- %20List%20of%20Approved%20ACEP%20Communities.pdf Ontario s Long Term Energy Plan Consultation www.ontario.ca/energytalks Solid Biofuels Bulletins www.nrcan.gc.ca/node/19069 Page 18
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