David Dubois, Project Coordinator for the Wood Waste to Rural Heat project, addressed committee members of the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen’s Environment and Infrastructure Committee on August 15.
Dubois was invited to speak to the committee by Area “G” Director Angelique Wood, who was exploring potential opportunities to use the technology in rural communities such as Hedley or Olalla.
Dubois described the Wood Waste to Rural Heat project as bio mass heating, using waste wood chips that could be easily sourced locally.
“Wood chips are half the price of natural gas and a local energy source,” Dubois told the committee, adding that the process was 90 per cent efficient, supported wildfire mitigation in small communities and resulted in greenhouse gas emissions. Dubois said his organization provided technical assistance, information and could help to determine a business model.
“Unfortunately, the technology doesn’t lend itself to residential use,” Wood said after the presentation, “but it is something that institutions, such as schools or recreation centres might be able to use.
I thought it might be a way of utilizing waste from community forest projects, rather than slash burning,” she added, “it’s a system that doesn’t require much to do a lot, and there are plenty of small fuel sources readily available in the Similkameen.”
More information can be found at:
http://www.woodwaste2ruralheat.ca