Bioenergy Demonstration at UBC Loon Lake Research and Education Centre

The Malcolm Knapp Research Forest’s Loon Lake Research and Education Centre hosts 20,000 visitor-days per year and a bioenergy facility at Loon Lake would create opportunities for research, demonstration and training as well as provide new opportunities for the Centre to host educational retreats and conferences based on bioenergy conversion, installation, operation and maintenance. The project interns will complete a comprehensive study on the feasibility of altering the energy generation from propane and BC Hydro grid electricity to the energy generated from local biomass residue at the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. The feasibility analysis will be conducted using a three-pronged approach: a technology review, an economic and commercial viability assessment, and an integrated analysis which will employ a multi-criteria decision analysis to ensure that a sustainable energy solution is achieved. Ultimately, the feasibility analysis will provide decision-makers at the research forest with a clear outline of suitable technologies as well as the costs and benefits associated with those technologies, all of which will have been comprehensively assessed for sustainability.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Harry Nelson

Student:

Philip Grace & Mohammad S. Masnadi

Partner:

BC Bioenergy Network Green-Erg Technologies Ltd.

Discipline:

Resources and environmental management

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

University of British Columbia