Page 71 - InvestinAlberta-EDA-2024-2

Photo courtesy of Mercer Peace River
“OUR GOAL AT MERCER PEACE RIVER IS TO REDUCE OUR CARBON INTENSITY PER TONNE OF PULP PRODUCED BY 50 PERCENT BY 2030”
— CAL DAKIN,
DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION AND WOODLANDS AT MERCER PEACE RIVER
room from a relic of its past to the engine of its future. That revitaliza- tion process included rebuilding the wood room and equipping it with the largest rotary debarker on Earth. And instead of relying on diesel-driven debarking, the chipping process
now operates using electrical energy generated by the mill itself.
“Our goal at Mercer Peace River is to reduce our carbon intensity per tonne of pulp produced by 50 per cent by 2030,” says Cal Dakin, director of Innovation and Woodlands at Mercer Peace River.
“The wood room is the anchor project to enable that. So many of
our other projects to move towards decarbonization require us to have access to the biomass that was otherwise being left in the bush [by the portable wood chippers]. But now that we have that waste material
on site, we can do a whole bunch of other things to reduce the amount of natural gas that we’re using on site.”
The project has also seen Mercer Peace River adopt innovations in its transport processes, with the mill switching to more fuel-efficient 10-axle trucks designed to carry logs rather than chips. The move is part of a suite of green solutions welcomed by some of the forestry industry’s most prominent stakeholders.
“We’re seeing a lot of our members really embrace this type
of innovative technology to use green energy in order to reduce their carbon footprint,” says Jason Krips, CEO of the Alberta Forest Products Association. “This investment [by Mercer] is projected to reduce emissions to the equivalent of over 900,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide
by 2050. To put that into context, that will save emissions roughly the equivalent of 20,000 cars over a 10 year time span.”
The Alberta Forest Products Association’s most recent report showed that, on an annual basis, $90 million is being spent by the industry in research, development and inno- vation. Over 100 million seedlings have been planted. So, as consumers and investors stress the need for “green” industry, sustainability and stewardship have become keywords in the industry.
For Krips, the efforts by Mercer are also indicative of the kinds of innovations needed to bring about greener futures.
“There is no path to net zero by 2050 without the forest industry being an active participant,” he adds. “I’m optimistic that as long as we are allowed a working landscape, we will be a part of that solution.”
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Photo courtesy of Mercer Peace River