Reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and shifting to emissions-free electricity to propel our cars, heat our me homes and run our factories will require doubling, or possibly tripling, the amount of power we make now.
According to the Public Policy Forum’s Project of the Century: A Blueprint for Growing Canada’s Clean Energy Supply-And Fast, Canada must build more electricity generation in the next 25 years than it has over the last century to support a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.
Powering the shift from fossil fuels to clean, renewable and responsible energy will require new innovations and solutions. Biomass and wood pellets have a critical role to play in the transition to a greener and brighter future.
In 2012, Sweden reached their target of 50% renewable energy eight years ahead of schedule on their 2024 goal of 100% fossil-free renewable electricity production. They achieved this by leveraging their natural assets in combination with wind, bioenergy, and solar. Like Canada, Sweden has a rich supply of moving water and biomass, which contributes to the country’s high share of renewable energy. The largest source of bioenergy in Sweden is the forest.
The Swedes have proven what many of us have long believed: bioenergy isn’t just good for our bottom lines; it’s also good for our forests. In Sweden, 37 per cent of its energy is from biomass and since 1990 they have doubled their bioenergy consumption while increasing their standing timber volume by 40 per cent; resulting in a 70-per-cent reduction in GHG emissions. Imagine the potential for bioenergy in Canada with 367 million hectares of forests compared to Sweden’s 28 million hectares. This combined with the fact that we still leave tens of millions cubic metres of forest residuals on the ground following harvesting or natural disturbances – residuals that could go towards bioenergy, keep communities safer and reduce carbon emissions from fires.
