Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Dec 21/01) - Fort Simpson Mayor Tom Wilson can see the forest for the trees.

Biomass projects, those involving wood as a source of energy, could employ a significant number of people to cut and haul trees, Wilson said. Manufacturing wood pellets may also viable, he said.

"There are many people in the territories that would love to get wood pellets, as long as they were guaranteed a relatively stable price and stable delivery," he said.

Wilson was among several Deh Cho community leaders and businesspeople who attended a biomass workshop in Fort Simpson last Thursday.

He said the Department of Resources is being consulted to determine the sustainable cut of local forests.

"A forest will keep on replenishing itself if it's done properly, and that's what we're looking at," he said.

If a project as ambitious as a biomass plant were built to produce power, it wouldn't necessarily mean the NWT Power Corp. would be out of the picture, according to Wilson. The power could be sold to NTPC, which would still distribute it, he suggested. He said there is federal funding available for pilot projects of this sort too, which is looked upon favourably because it is a relatively cheap means of producing power and it produces low carbon emissions.

"It just means we might be able to get off of diesel fuel and have lower costs," he said.

Liidlii Kue Chief Rita Cli, who attended the workshop for a brief time, couldn't be reached for comment.

Alternative energy

Dennis Bevington, special advisor for the territorial government's Energy Secretariat, said biomass plants or co-generation schemes are generally found in areas where large-scale logging takes place. He also said the ongoing land claims process in the Deh Cho must be respected and forestry is within that framework.

He said Fort Simpson residents already use wood for approximately 35 per cent of the community's heat. Because diesel fuel is so expensive and contains toxic contaminants, residents could strive to use a greater percentage of wood and could convert to more energy efficient wood stoves, he said. The local commercial and institutional market may also look at alternatives to expensive fuel oil, he said. There are a number of options from wood to solar-thermal to small hydro. Fuel cells are continuing to evolve too, Bevington said. But converting energy systems usually takes several years, he said.

Pietro di Bastiani, senior policy analyst for the Energy Secretariat, said, "It won't be one solution, it will be a combination of all of them."