In Nanaimo BC, I know Vancouver Island Health has been working to reduce energy use and lower carbon emissions in a number of ways. Recently, the City was approached to discuss the feasibility of replacing the existing oil fired boilers at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) with a co-generation plant using bio-mass and natural gas as a backup.
They felt that biomass provides an opportunity to help stimulate local employment on the island as well as lower carbon emissions by switching fuels from oil to wood, which can be considered as a more carbon neutral choice, as long as the reforestation is done sustainably. While we have not yet engaged the public to discuss this yet, I know our council and Mayor had an immediate negative reaction toward the thought of the hospitable burning wood.
Despite the assurances about how clean the technology is for wood burning, there is a strong negative reaction toward going this way in the City. Like many communities, Nanaimo has allot of homes with wood stoves, which have caused localized air quality issues in past winters. I think this has helped set this kind of tone.
Recent proposals about rezoning industrial land to accept garbage from the lower mainland to be used in a proposed biomass incinerator also met a strong negative public reaction.
