Nova Scotia’s forestry sector turns over a new leaf

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): In a province that is largely carpeted with forests, it is no surprise that timber production has long been a mainstay of Nova Scotia’s economy.

Yet recent years have not been kind to the sector. Several major pulp mills have ceased production: the closure of the Northern Pulp mill in Pictou County in January 2020 cost at least 300 direct jobs, and far more in the mill’s supply chain. Lumber production in the province declined by 2.9 per cent last year compared with 2024, according to Statistics Canada. Worsening trade relations with the US have created further headwinds.

Yet out of the apparent demise of traditional lumber, some see the opportunity for Nova Scotia to find better ways to use its forest resources.

“Cheap, low-grade pulp was the key to the past,” says Royden Trainor, executive director at the Greenspring Bioinnovation Hub, a public-private partnership working to promote the low-carbon bioeconomy in Nova Scotia. The way forward, he says, is to focus on opportunities where value can be added to forest raw materials.

This involves looking beyond traditional wood products, and towards the fibres that can be used to produce chemical products and advanced materials. Trainor highlights how residues from pulp mills or food processing plants can be used to produce biofuels, biochar and biochemicals.  

“We don’t have to be the biggest,” says Trainor. “We’re not going to compete on massive volume pieces. But we think we can move up that value chain.”

Fuelling growth

Perhaps the most promising opportunity for Nova Scotia is to use biomass to produce green fuels.

Nova Sustainable Fuels, which was acquired by UK-based Octopus Energy Generation last year, plans to use woody biomass in its production of sustainable aviation fuel at Goldboro in Nova Scotia.

The venture was established by an Irish company, Simply Blue, which “looked all over the world” in search of a suitable location, according to Andrew Parsons, project director at Nova Sustainable Fuels.

One reason why Nova Scotia stood out, he says, is because of the availability of the carbon feedstock needed for jet fuels. “With contractions in the forest sector, particularly pulp and paper, that capacity to deliver underutilised biomass was here.”

The 750,000 tonnes of biomass required annually for the project will need to meet strict sustainability criteria so the SAF can be exported to the EU market. “EU regulations are very, very strict,” says Parsons. He adds that the company will provide a chain of custody to demonstrate that it is using either waste products or residues from forestry operations as its carbon feedstock, rather than using biomass that could have been used in lumber, for example.

There is, of course, no guarantee of success. Many other SAF projects around the world have faltered or failed. But if companies like Nova Sustainable Fuels can succeed in the province, it will provide an opportunity for Nova Scotia’s forestry sector to enter a new phase of growth.

 Courtesy: www.fdiintelligence.com