CBC
Summary
Nova Scotia is directing the province's main electricity producer to ramp up biomass use, starting immediately and continuing for the next two years.
The Houston government made a regulatory change this week that requires Nova Scotia Power to use 160 gigawatt hours of biomass each year until 2027.
"Nova Scotia has an abundance of forestry residuals. We need opportunities to use that resource," Todd Burgess, executive director of Forest Nova Scotia, told CBC News in an email.
Insufficient demand for low-grade wood has been an ongoing issue for the industry since the 2020 closure of the Northern Pulp mill, which was a major buyer of woodchips.
Burgess said Nova Scotia needs new markets in order to manage forests following ecological forestry objectives. He said increasing Nova Scotia Power's biomass use will help woodlot owners do that.
He said the new regulation is "a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done."
"We have opportunities to make our electricity grid more reliable with specifically designed combined heat and power plants attached to district heating networks," Burgess said.
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