Abstract
Remote and Indigenous communities in Canada have a unique opportunity to mobilize the vast amount of wood-based biomass to meet their energy needs, while supporting a local economy, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study realized in collaboration with five remote and Indigenous communities across Canada investigates the main barriers and potential solutions to developing stable and sustainable wood-based bioenergy systems. Our results highlight that despite the differences in available biomass and geographical context, these communities face common policy, economic, operational, cultural, social, and environmental risks and barriers to developing bioenergy. The communities identified and ranked the biggest barriers as follows; the high initial investment of bioenergy projects, the logistical and operational challenges of developing a sustainable wood supply chain in remote locations, and the limited opportunities for community leadership of bioenergy projects. Environmental risks have been ranked as the least important by all the communities, except for the communities in Manitoba, which ranked it as the second most important risk. However, all the communities agreed that climate change is the main environmental driver disturbing the wood-based bioenergy supply chain. To de-risk the wood-based bioenergy system, we suggest that stable and sustainable supply chains can be implemented by restoring community-based resources management supported by local knowledge and workforce. Using local knowledge can also help reduce the impacts caused by biomass harvesting on the ecosystem and avoid competition with traditional land uses. Including positive externalities to cost benefit analysis, when comparing bioenergy systems to existing energy installation, will likely make bioenergy projects more attractive for the community financially. Alternatively, supporting co-learning between partners and among communities can improve knowledge and innovation sharing.
Highlights
Biomass makes up 10% of the world’s energy supply [1]
All andthe communities have reported that high initial investments and energy market competition Tadoule are the main barriers in developing cost efficient bioenergy supply chains
All the communities have reported that high initial investments and energy market result, all of the communities in this study depend on federal and provincial funding to start and manage their bioenergy project
Summary
Biomass makes up 10% of the world’s energy supply [1]. Biofuels and wastes account for approximately 50% of the global total primary energy supply of renewable sources [2].Global biomass utilization is projected to increase substantially over the 10 years largely due to new policies with the objective of increasing energy security and reducing greenhouse gas emissions [3].Canada has the largest amount of biomass per capita in the world [4], and approximately 6.5% of the world’s bioenergy potential [5], with 9% of the world’s forests. Biomass makes up 10% of the world’s energy supply [1]. Biofuels and wastes account for approximately 50% of the global total primary energy supply of renewable sources [2]. 4% of Canada’s total energy supply was produced by biofuels and waste in 2018 [2]. Remote and Indigenous communities in Canada are often surrounded by large, forested areas and are well positioned to tap into this vast biomass resource to meet their energy needs [7]. According to the Remote Communities Energy Database [8] the number of remote Indigenous communities in Canada is 169 with an approximate population of 113,439, for a total of 276 remote communities with a population of ~196,138 across Canada with many of these inhabitants living in or around the boreal forest. Remote and off-grid communities are defined as communities with 10 or more dwellings that are not connected to the North
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