MillWatch

Reach for Unbleached is encouraged to see Norske's energy conservation measures. This goal, along with demand side management and emergency curtailment, also promised in the Norske proposal, were key recommendations given to the Province's Energy Policy Task Force by Reach for Unbleached in January 2002. If one assumes a round number of 20 pulp mills in BC, each one saving 25 MW would free up enough power to supply electricity to almost 50,000 homes.

One recommendation not evident in the current proposal is requiring some sort of energy balance targets in mill permits. The average kraft mill in Finland produces a tonne of pulp with about 700 kilowatts (kW) of power; a rough estimate for Canadian mills is 1100-1200 kW/tonne (Neil McCubbin, personal communication, March 2003).

Despite some apparent benefits to the Noske plan (made in conjunction with Terasen) there are considerable issues that should be examined. A few of the key concerns:

• The project still relies on gas-burning energy and the environmental impacts ought to be examined. Because of the small capacity of the individual mill projects, they may avoid Environmental Assessments.
• The Norske proposal is vulnerable to long term strategic issues with diminishing gas supply. Recent studies emphasize that gas supply is at or near a peak and heading downward (See "Running Out of Gas," p. 3). The question of what fuel source will supply the Norske power system becomes relevant. The Norske mill in Elk Falls has just been granted a limited permit to burn coal in one power boiler and the mills in Port Alberni and Powell River are burning chipped tires. These are not the fuels of a green energy plan.
• This project would tie our source of electricity to pulp mills. The sector is cyclical and has seen a steady downward trend in North America as Asian, Eastern European and South American producers become competitive. Norske said in a recent Proxy Circular to investors, "For the balance of the year, we view any meaningful recovery in paper and pulp markets as being largely dependent on a sustainable increase in consumption." This is not a position we could support to ensure Vancouver Island's energy supply, and not one that is reliable for a company's long term operation. The possibility that the taxpayers could still end up on the hook for these power generation deals in the long run is very real.
• The economic benefits ascribed to the Norske proposal may not be reliable. Russell Horner, CEO of Norske, told the Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce that BC communities tax rates are 50 to 75 percent higher than similar mill rates in Eastern Canada and the US and called this, "One of the most crippling costs of doing business in BC." At the same time, his company is promoting the maintenance of the local tax base as one of the benefits of their project.

The project does appear to have some benefits but requires further examination. Ultimately, this is still a power plan based on natural gas and possibly other fossil fuels. At least two of Norske's Board of Directors also sit on the boards of pipeline-based energy companies and their interests may not lie in truly renewable resources.

On the positive side, adopting plans like this one could give other, truly greener projects, time to come to fruition before major pieces of infrastructure like the Vancouver Island Generation Project or Georgia Strait Pipeline Crossing become permanent realities.

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There's Gold in Them Thar Hills

So hopes Green Island Energy. The consortium, which includes the pop singer Jewel and a foundation run by her mother, is hoping to turn the power boiler from the defunct Gold River pulp mill into an independent green power producer.

Most other people just seem to wish there were some solid details to the plan.

The green claim is based on the fact that the proposed facility will burn wood-waste, which is exempted from Kyoto Protocol penalties based on the assumption that wood emits carbon dioxide whether burned or allowed to decay naturally, thus creating no net greenhouse gas increase. This assumption has been critiqued by environmental organisations involved in climate change negotiations, but is accepted under Kyoto.

Company releases indicate an unspecified long term supply of wood waste fuel. But wood chips are not plentiful in the region. Arthur Anderson did a financial viability review of the late pulp mill and listed wood supply as a major obstacle.

A recent local business circular noted that Quinsam Coal wants to double its production of coal for electrical generation. The lack of real information on the project has some locals worried that coal could be in Green Island's future.

Green Island hopes to convert the site, in stages, to a 250-megawatt generating facility. They plan to build capacity in small instalments, under the 50 megawatt (MW) threshold that triggers an Environmental Assessment (EA). Questions remain as to whether a full project of 250MW, built in 50MW stages, is subject to EA requirements, or not.

The new project would require pollution discharge permits from the province. Roger Dunlop, Fisheries Officer for the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation says that neither they nor the Nuuchalnuth Tribal Council have been approached for legally mandated "meaningful consultation" regarding the project. The original mill site was leased from the band. Eventually, the pollution forced them to move and they had to agree never to try and inhabit the site again.

Gold River Council meets again on July 2nd. Hopefully, more details of this good news story will be presented there, or at a public meeting soon after. Until then, very little can be said for certain about this project's environmental, energy, or economic impacts.

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Harry Potter Walks the Talk - He Uses Better Paper

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