FPAC’s BIO-FUTURE STUDY
The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) released a study last week that shows how the forest products industry can emerge from the current recession as “an engine of growth” in the bio-economy.
“The study, The Future Bio-pathways Project, focuses on the triple bottom line: clean energy, high employment and economic recovery,” says Avrim Lazar, President and CEO of FPAC. “The results are clear – integrating the production of bio-products and bio-energy into the existing industry is a winner on all fronts.”
According to an FPAC news release, the project is “one of the first and most exhaustive studies in the world to examine a wide range of options for renewal of the Canadian forest products industry.” The project included participation by 65 top Canadian experts in fields as diverse as bio-technology, investment banking and carbon pricing.
“This study produced a blueprint for change that is both surprising and welcome,” says Lazar. “It places traditional products, especially lumber and pulp, at the heart of a new, green business model that has the potential to make the forest products industry a pivotal force in Canada’s effort to become a clean energy super-power. If we follow this new model we will be able to produce power on the scale of nine nuclear reactors, enough to meet the energy needs of 2.5 million homes, or one out of every five homes across Canada.”
In terms of employment numbers, the research shows that an integrated mill – one that produces wood, pulp or paper as well as bio-energy and bio-materials - provides five times as many jobs as a stand-alone bio-operation. It also shows that the industry’s 270,000 jobs will be best sustained by following this integrated road to recovery.
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