April 1, 2009 Vol. XIII, No. 6

• New tool supports energy management in mining sector
• Lighting retrofit cuts energy consumption dramatically
• Energy session at annual PAPTAC conference draws crowds and hosts energy awards
• What's New
• Call for story ideas

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Articles

New tool supports energy management in mining sector

The “field test version” of the Energy and GHG Emissions Management Guidance Document, recently released by The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) intends to build on the success already achieved in reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada’s mining sector. Paul Stothart, Vice President, Economic Affairs, says, “I see the document becoming the bible in energy and GHG emissions management.”

With energy use representing a significant proportion of mining companies’ operating costs, efficient energy management is not only a timely environmental choice but also an advantageous economic one. The Canadian mining industry expends about 25 percent of its operating budget on energy, which is associated with over 95 percent of the GHG emissions produced by this sector.

“The turbulence in energy prices has heightened awareness among those responsible for energy management in mining companies,” Stothart adds. “The document will help them make their operations more energy efficient.”

The document details everything from leadership and accountability to carbon footprint calculations and supports the continued implementation of MAC’s initiative Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM). TSM offers many tools, including an assessment protocol designed to evaluate a company’s performance against six TSM indicators related to energy use and GHG emissions management performance.

The comprehensive document provides information on the application of the TSM protocol, including planning, setting targets and reporting. It also details how to do a basic inventory of GHG emissions, offers technical solutions for energy consumption, lists emerging production process technologies and includes such tools as the Energy Action Process Checklist and TSM Case Studies.

“MAC is organizing workshops to get the document out to industry,” notes Stothart. The first workshop, held in Toronto in early January, was a success, agree Stothart and Stephanie Meyer, Principal of Stratos, the company that produced the document and delivers the workshops. With 22 participants from nine major Canadian mining companies, the workshop delivered content on energy management systems and actions.

“The interest level was high,” says Meyer. She adds that participants indicated they would recommend the workshop to colleagues. In fact, due to the positive response, MAC is planning to translate the workshop’s supporting materials and the guidance document into French and to hold another workshop on Quebec’s north shore in spring 2009. Workshops in western Canada and elsewhere may also follow.

“The guidance document is an excellent road map for understanding and improving energy and GHG emissions management in the mining sector,” says Meyer. “The workshop is a unique tool that helps companies put those management principles into action.”

The document is available for download from MAC’s Web site: www.mining.ca/www/media_lib/Energy/2008/Guidance_Document.pdf

Lighting retrofit cuts energy consumption dramatically

“The energy savings were quickly evident,” says Marc Charbonneau, factory director at Cascades Groupe Papiers Fins inc., in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, of the lighting system retrofit completed at his facility in August 2008. He attributes an estimated $5,000 a month in savings to the retrofit, equating to approximately 4200 gigajoules (GJ) in electricity savings per year, or one quarter of the facility’s total annual electricity use.

The company, a paper transformation facility that operates 24 hours-a-day, year-round, employs 115 people in three-hour production shifts. The Saint-Jérôme facility, with consumption of about 16 000 GJ of electricity and 5 000 GJ of natural gas annually, had a combined energy bill of approximately $350,000. With opportunities in energy savings to be realized, Charbonneau took advantage of Natural Resources Canada’s ecoENERGY Retrofit Incentive for Industry coupled with a Hydro-Québec incentive to save 50 percent of the retrofit cost totalling $177,000.

Charbonneau explains that the retrofit contributed to Cascades’ company-wide policy of achieving a two percent reduction in energy consumption per year in each facility.

“It was also the right time for a retrofit, given that the 18 580-square-metre building was constructed in the 1970s with an equally dated lighting system,” he says. The retrofit included the replacement of 447 metal halide fixtures with energy-efficient fluorescent T-5 high bay fixtures, with occupancy sensors installed on 135 of them. The facility’s 263 four- and eight-foot T-12 fluorescent fixtures were also switched to energy-efficient T-8 lamps, reflectors and electronic ballasts. LED lamps replaced old exit signs.

An unexpected benefit of the lighting retrofit is increased productivity. Charbonneau explains that a 15- to 20-minute delay in functioning was standard after a power failure with the old halogen fixtures. “The new fluorescent fixtures light up right away.”

Five companies in the Saint-Jérôme region have already visited the Cascades facility to learn more about the retrofit; two are planning to follow suit. As for next steps, Charbonneau plans to reduce the number of air exchangers, thereby reducing heating costs, and replace older electrically powered equipment, such as sheeters and cutters, with more efficient models.

Energy session at annual PAPTAC conference draws crowds and hosts energy awards

With standing-room only, this year’s energy session at the Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada’s (PAPTAC’s) 95^th Annual Meeting and Exfor 2009 reflects the “growing interest in efficient energy management in the pulp and paper industry,” notes Les Kosiak, past chair of PAPTAC’s Energy Cost Savings Committee.

The 2009 conference, held February 3 to 5 in Montréal, drew thousands of attendees with its wide range of business and technical sessions. Delegates, including company CEOs, mill managers, superintendents, engineers and researchers from almost 40 countries, discussed the current business climate and learned about new technologies.

As Kosiak explains, the energy session attracted increased attention with the recognition that energy savings can lead to greater competitiveness. The fact that only projects that had been applied and proven at mill sites were accepted for the session was a major draw for delegates. Presentations included the following:

• the use of data mining to extract knowledge from historical data to monitor, explain and optimize energy use and support energy decisions to increase energy performance at AbitibiBowater’s Kénogami, Quebec, mill
  
  
• the Energy Management Information System used by Cascades Inc. to identify opportunities and energy efficiency measures that resulted in energy savings of up to 10 percent in facilities where the system has been implemented
  
  
• the increased efficiency and decreased use of fossil fuels by AbitibiBowater’s Thunder Bay, Ontario, mill through improvement to the wood fuel handling equipment, the boiler bottom configuration modifications and a combustion control strategies upgrade

The energy session also hosted the Energy Conservation awards, which recognize innovative ideas in energy efficiency in Canadian pulp, paper or board mills. This year’s first-prize winner is the Energy Team from Alberta Newsprint Company (ANC) for improving heat recovery of a grit cleaner reject stream.

Surendra Singh, ANC’s Energy Manager, notes that heat recovery from the grit cleaner reject was the ideal project for award submission because it could be applied to other locations and the payback was only three months. The project’s annual savings of $335,000 in natural gas were high relative to the capital investment of $61,000. “Winning an award is always appreciated as a way to recognize our efforts in energy efficiency,” notes Singh. He adds that for ANC it is not only about reducing costs but also about reducing its carbon footprint, a corporate goal.

The second prize went to Marco Veilleux of Fraser Papers in Thurso, Quebec, for heat recovery from smelt-dissolving tank vent to pre-heat boiler water. The third prize went to Scott Shannon of Millar Western Forest Products Ltd. for synergies between low-energy refining and ultra-fine slotted screening that produce cost-effective, high-quality bleached chemi-thermo-mechanical pulp (BCTMP).

“All the winners represent current positive efforts at mills to reduce overall energy consumption and costs,” says Kosiak.

The Preprints of the Annual Meeting and Exfor 2009, featuring papers presented at the 95^th Annual Meeting, are available in either print or CD format at www.paptac.ca/index.php.

What’s New

Change to ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat

Natural Resources Canada has made a significant change to the maximum per-project payment allowed by the Commercial Deployment Incentive under ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat.

The program’s maximum payment for solar water projects has increased from $80,000 to $400,000. This will allow ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat to contribute to larger infrastructure projects while stimulating economic activity across all regions.

Now the incentive levels are as follows:

• maximum of $80,000 per solar air installation
• maximum of $400,000 per solar water installation
• $2-million corporate maximum incentive for multiple installations

This change came into effect on March 1, 2009, and is reflected in the Terms and Conditions of ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat.

For more information visit ecoaction.gc.ca/ECOENERGY-ECOENERGIE/heat-chauffage/index-eng.cfm or e-mail ecoenergyrhp@nrcan.gc.ca.

The SD Tech Fund^TM is accepting Statements of Interest until April 22, 2009

Sustainable Development Technology Canadas (SDTC’s) SD Tech Fund invests in late-stage development and pre-commercial demonstration of clean technologies by Canadian companies.

The Statement of Interest (SOI) is an application used for preliminary screening and is subject to a competitive review process by SDTC’s) SD and a panel of independent experts.

SOIs are evaluated on the basis of the fit with SDTC’s) SD’s mandate, selection criteria and the quality of technology, marketing and business capabilities.

A limited set of applicants who demonstrate the strongest fit will be invited to submit a full proposal for deeper evaluation.

To ensure a good fit prior to submitting an SOI

• review the SD Tech Fund information at sdtc.ca/en/SOIinfo.htm.
  
  
• view SDTC’s) SD Online SOI Workshop Webinar presentations (see below)
  
  
• discuss your proposed project with SDTC’s) SD’s Applications Manager to determine if you should submit an SOI and for feedback. Contact Sébastien Prince-Richard by telephone at 613-234-6313, ext. 232, or by e-mail at s.prince-richard@sdtc.ca.

STATEMENT OF INTEREST WEBINARS

The two-part Statement of Interest Webinar series helps entrepreneurs and clean technology developers better understand the SD Tech Fund and how the program can advance promising new innovations to market.

Part 1 allows potential applicants to determine if they should submit an SOI to SDTC’s) SD’s SD Tech Fund and how and when they should engage SDTC’s) SD to initiate the process.

Download SOI Webinar Presentation, part 1 (PowerPoint^® presentation)

Part 2 is targeted to those who have already reviewed Part 1 and have decided to submit an SOI to SDTC’s) SD. This session covers what is required to create a quality submission.

Download SOI Webinar Presentation, part 2 (PowerPoint presentation)

For complete information, visit sdtc.ca/en/SOIinfo.htm.

Completed Kiln Drying Planning Tool now available online

The Kiln Drying Planning Tool and user guide, first publicized in Heads Up CIPEC, December 1, 2008, issue, has been completed and is now available for free download from CanmetENERGY’s Web site cetc-varennes.nrcan.gc.ca/eng/industrial_processes/industrial_systems_optimization/
lumber/planning_tool.html.

Call for story ideas

Has your company implemented successful energy efficiency measures that you would like to share with Heads Up CIPEC readers? Please send your story ideas for consideration to Jocelyne Rouleau by e-mail at jocelyne.rouleau@nrcan.gc.ca.

If you require more information on an article or a program, contact Jocelyne Rouleau at the above e-mail address.

Dollars to $ense energy management workshops – spring 2009 schedule

Calendar of Events