Environmental
Stewardship
The team at our Port Alberni paper mill in British Columbia is exploring innovative solutions to reduce fossil fuel‑derived greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
About 90% of the mill’s total direct GHG emissions are from renewable biomass, its primary energy source. These emissions are biogenic and classified as carbon‑neutral per international GHG accounting frameworks. Biomass energy, also called hog fuel, is a byproduct of timber harvesting and lumber manufacturing; bark and sawdust are combusted in solid biomass boilers to generate steam, which is then run through a turbine to generate electricity. If not burned for energy recovery, these biomass residues would otherwise be left to pile up or decompose in the forest.
The remaining 10% of the mill’s emissions are from fossil fuels, which the mill relies on only when they are needed to support running the biomass boiler. To find out how to consume less, the mill is undertaking three studies.
The first two studies are exploring ways to improve woody biomass delivery to the biomass boiler in order to reduce fueling interruptions that trigger the use of natural gas. The third study is looking at ways to reduce fossil fuel energy use by recovering waste heat from the power boiler stack, potentially through the installation of a heat recovery system in the exhaust.
The pathways mapped out by these studies will help us meet the decarbonization targets we recently set as part of Domtar’s 2030 Sustainability Strategy.
Mills Advance Process Control to Support Decarbonization Efforts
Environmental Management
