Session: Energy

A Streamlined Life Cycle Analysis of Canadian Wood Pellets
Francesca Magelli,   Department of Chemical and Mineral Engineering (DICMA), University of Bologna, Italy
H. Tony Bi,^*   Clean Energy Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

There have been increased interests on exporting wood pellets from Canada to Europe to meet the increased demand on biofuels in European countries. The wood pellets industry in Canada, especially in the west coastal region, has grown at a rate of more than 20% averaged over last 5 years due to the steady supply of wood residues. This paper is aimed at analyzing the fuel consumption and air emissions associated with the wood pellets production in British Columbia and export to Sweden based on a streamlined life cycle analysis, starting from tree harvesting for wood residue production to the shipping of wood pellets from Vancouver to Stockholm in Sweden. The results showed that about 8 GJ energy is consumed for each metric tonne wood pellets produced in Canada and then shipped to Europe, representing about 43% of the total energy content of the wood pellets. Among those energies consumed, about 3GJ is associated with long distance ocean transportation. The fossil fuel content for exported wood pellets ranged from 27 to 43%, depending on whether natural gas or wood residues are used for the drying operation during the wood pellet production stage. To reduce the fossil fuel content, wood residues should be used in the drying operation and, if possible, local market should be explored to reduce the energy consumption associated with wood pellet transportation over long distances.

The analysis on environmental and health impact based on smog formation, acid rain formation and health toxicity potential indices showed that most air pollutant emissions and impacts are associated with the ocean transportation of wood pellets, while the raw material acquisition and processing are responsible for the impacts on smog formation. To reduce fuel consumption and wood pellets cost, the energy efficiency for wood pellet processing and transportation needs to be improved in the future. Improvement of the raw material harvesting, pellet production and the transportation is equally important in reducing the environmental and health impacts associated with wood pellets production and export.

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