Drum dryers present the risk of fires and explosions due to combustible dust, as well as conditions that can lead to the generation and accumulation of combustible gas. Join us for this online symposium as we explore best practices for safer operations of drum dryers. The Wood Pellet Association of Canada is hosting the online event on Thursday, April 4, 2024, from 9:00-11:00 am Pacific Time (1:00-3:00 am Atlantic Time). Both drum dryers and belt dryers are widely used in the wood pellet industry as well in other sectors, including oriented strand board, medium density fibreboard, grain, and minerals. The symposium will include presentations from producers and subject matter experts on learnings and experiences, the current state of and new approaches to drum dryer safety. …We encourage personnel at wood pellet facilities that operate drum dryers to attend the event.
Corporate Canada is moving a step closer to standardized sustainability reporting this week as an industry group charged with adapting international disclosure guidelines to the domestic economy finalizes its first drafts. The Canadian Sustainability Standards Board is expected to sign off on three documents that will guide climate-related disclosures. The documents will go out for a 90-day public comment period starting in March. These are international guidelines, tailored for the Canadian context, that could eventually be required by regulators such as the provincial securities commissions and the federal financial-industry watchdog, CSSB chair Charles-Antoine St-Jean said. …Financial experts, including those serving on the Sustainable Finance Action Council, have called for mandatory climate disclosure to be adopted quickly in Canada, saying it is a competitive imperative as the rest of the world proceeds with the standards. [to access the full story a Globe & Mail subscription is required]
Pique’s reporting on March 31, 2023, offered a glimmer of hope that the Cheakamus Community Forest’s Carbon Credit scheme “would not be exploited by large corporations for greenwashing.” The liquefied fossil gas plant being constructed in Squamish claims to achieve “net-zero” emissions by purchasing carbon credits from the Cheakamus Community Forest. This situation uses the growth of trees in Whistler to justify a fossil-fuel megaproject, with the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) directly supporting fracking and fossil-gas expansion. This stance is in stark contrast to the values of a community known for its natural beauty and commitment to conservation. …I urge the RMOW and the Cheakamus Community Forest to halt the sale of carbon credits to fossil gas projects and to publicly denounce a project that contradicts the environmental principles they profess to uphold.
Legislation currently pending in Washington state aims to require airport operators to make a minimum 10% blend of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) available to private jets owned by individuals or businesses once certain conditions are met. The bill, SB 6114, was introduced by Washington Sen. Marko Liias on Jan. 10 and cleared the Senate Transportation Committee on Feb. 5. According to the bill text, the requirement would kick in within 24 months of the Washington Department of Ecology verifying cumulative SAF production capacity of 20 MMgy. The bill also requires the department to complete a feasibility study for enforcing and carrying out the bill’s requirements by Nov. 1, 2027. Rules for the program would have to be adopted within 12 months of the completion of that feasibility study. 
The UK government can’t adequately show that biomass generators comply with sustainability requirements, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). The “lack of evaluation” of the effectiveness of generators — such as Drax Group — to burn wood pellets at power stations needs to be addressed, the agency said 
As the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services creates the newest iteration of the state’s Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP), it must acknowledge and include the key role that New Hampshire forests and forest products play in reducing carbon emissions. Forest-based strategies are notably absent from the draft Priority Measures. The 2009 PCAP rightly recognized forestry and wood heat as strategies to combat climate change in ways that also deliver important benefits for the New Hampshire economy and rural communities. It will be a huge oversight if the updated version fails to do the same. A critical tool that is already substantially mitigating the state’s emissions is literally all around us. …One of those strategies is modern wood heat. …Another forest strategy for carbon reduction is substituting mass timber for steel and concrete in our built environment, which generates three significant climate benefits.
Two of the five remaining wood-fired biomass energy plants in the Lower Peninsula may close in the coming months, raising questions about the energy source’s future as it attempts to compete with cheaper wind, solar and natural gas. The two plant owners and their primary customer, Consumers Energy, say the planned closures in Cadillac and the northeastern Lower Peninsula are a financial decision that will save ratepayers tens of millions of dollars. For its part, Consumers wants to replace the biomass contracts with solar. However, biomass supporters say a lack of policy support risks losing a useful baseload power source that acts as a hedge against intermittent renewables. The timber industry says shuttering biomass plants also jeopardizes forest management, increases the risk of wildfires and complicates habitat creation for the Kirtland’s warbler, which in 2019 was delisted after about 50 years as an endangered species.
Drax responds to National Audit Office report on government’s support for biomass. A Drax spokesperson said: “We welcome the National Audit Office’s (NAO) report which looks at the Government’s support for biomass. “The NAO acknowledges the important role that sustainably sourced biomass has to play in addressing the climate crisis and displacing fossil fuels in the production of dispatchable electricity. It’s essential that sustainability reporting and criteria are robust and fit for purpose. This was also recognised in the Government’s biomass strategy published last year, which outlined a review which has already begun. “We fully support that a review process should be carried out and look forward to playing our part and working with Government in this.
The government has been challenged by auditors to prove the UK’s controversial biomass industry meets sustainability rules. Biomass involves burning wood or plants to create heat, electricity or transport fuel, and the industry receives hundreds of millions of pounds in annual government support. But the National Audit Office (NAO) has now said the government “cannot demonstrate” that biomass companies are complying with sustainability rules, because it is not measuring them properly. …It comes as the government considers extending financial support for the industry, which its climate advisers have warned does not provide good value for money. However, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) also agrees that biomass will help the UK economy move away from fossil fuels. …The energy security department last summer committed to tightening up its sustainability rules. …Investment analysts at Barclays said there were “no surprises” in the NAO’s findings that “high standards are required for further support”.