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YG: More Biomass Production Needed in Territory

Wednesday, 24 April 2019 11:46

The Burwash Landing District Heating System was one of the biomass facilities toured after the conference (Photo courtesy of Yukon Government)

Follow an event in Anchorage, the Yukon Government is looking to implement more biomass technologies in the territory.

Yukon Government Senior Energy Planner Ryan Hennessey says he and other Yukon First Nation representatives learned a lot from the recent Alaska-Yukon Wood Energy Conference last week in Anchorage.

Henessey says the event covered all aspects of biomass and its potential to create a more competitive and sustainable economy in remote Yukon First Nation and northern communities.

"We covered off various aspects of the biomass industry. There are a lot of moving parts... including fuel and where do you get feedstock, some of it is technology and what systems you purchase and how do you install them.. and some of it is community capacity and community experience."

In Yukon terms, biomass is the process in which wood is burned to create heat or electricity.

Hennessey says it's the first major biomass event the Yukon has participated in in Alaska.

"The Alaskans are around 20 years ahead of us. We've been learning from them for years and they're kind of like an older brother to the Yukon. It's the same sort of communities, the same sort of environment and the same sort of challenges. They've been having these events for ten years... it was the first Alaska-Yukon energy conference."

Henessey says Yukon communities have a lot to learn to learn from Alaskans in terms of implementing more biomass technology.

"They adopted it earlier on.We in the Yukon have had the luxury of hydro power, cheap oil... the Alaskans less so. Their communities are a lot bigger, and much more remote than ours. We have the opportunity now to learn from them. "

After the event, representatives toured key biomass facilities in action, including Yukon Garden's waste wood heated greenhouse in Whitehorse and a biomass heating system in Burwash Landing.

The Canadian and Yukon governments have invested a combined total of $1.04 million towards nine different biomass projects over the next three years in the territory. 

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