Project to Commercialize Agricultural Biomass for Combustion Energy Steering Committee Meeting #2 - February 8, 2010

Steering Committee Members present:

• Nicolle Butcher (OPG) – Co-Chair
• Phil Reinert (OPG)
• Ling Mark (OMAFRA) – Co-Chair
• Aileen MacNeil (OMAFRA)
• Garry McKeever (Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure)
• Bill Deen (University of Guelph)
• Gord Surgeoner (Ontario Agri-Food Technologies)
• Barry Hill (First Nations Agri-Group & Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association/for Harold Rudy)
• David Armitage (Ontario Federation of Agriculture)
• Nathan Stevens (Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario)
• John Fitzgibbon (Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition)
• John Kelly (Erie Innovations & Commercialization)
• Bryan Gilvesy (Norfolk ALUS Pilot Project)
• Dave Buttenham (Ontario Agri Business Technologies)
• Khurshid Saharan (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

OPG and OMAFRA staff present:

• Gerry McKenna (OPG)
• Colleen Fitzgerald-Hubble (OMAFRA)
• David Cooper (OMAFRA)
• Helma Geerts (OMAFRA)
• Linda Pim (OMAFRA)
• Vivian Webb (OMAFRA)
• Meeting Chair – Nicolle Butcher, OPG

1. Approval of Agenda

• The agenda was approved with the addition of a brief discussion about Steering Committee membership. Khurshid Saharan from AAFC was welcomed to the committee and the Terms of Reference amended accordingly. Various members suggested that a biomass aggregator, a representative from the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) and a professor from the Centre for Sustainability at the Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, be added to the Steering Committee. After discussion, it was decided that since the focus of the Steering Committee is research gaps, a better fit in the future might be for such experts to participate in a research sub-committee or working group.

2. Approval of Minutes to Meeting of January 11, 2010

• The minutes were approved as drafted.

3. Review of Action Items from Meeting of January 11, 2010

1. OPG's study related to the Lambton Generating Station will be available electronically and added to the Steering Committee webpage.

2. John Fitzgibbon reported that the Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) group has met and will be looking further into potential adaptation of the EFP to include sustainability certification.

3. It was agreed that MOE would be engaged in forthcoming discussions on regulatory issues. Discussions are already underway between OMAFRA and MOE.

4. Phil Reinert reported that comments had been received on the agricultural residue study and that the RFP would be issued shortly.

5. Helma Geerts reported that links have been added to the research project table that will be posted on the Steering Committee webpage. The webpage will be live shortly.

6. The OFA funding application to the Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC) was discussed elsewhere on the agenda.

7. A summary of existing research was prepared for the OFA funding application.

8. While the OFA proposal was not ready to be circulated, the content was discussed in detail elsewhere on the agenda.

9. The Research Working Group will consider other research needs as the project progresses.

10. The workplan was discussed elsewhere on the agenda.

4. Administrative Reminders

• Committee members were reminded about the confidentiality and conflict of interest requirements in the Terms of Reference. All materials brought to the Steering Committee will be made public. Steering Committee members have an obligation to disclose personal or pecuniary interests that could raise a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest and refrain from discussing such matters in the course of their work on the Committee.

• Mileage forms are to be sent to OMAFRA directly (Irene Engell)

5. Report from working group on funding proposal to AAC

• Gord Surgeoner reported that the proposal working group, including the Steering Committee's Research Working Group, met on Jan. 22, 2010 to identify project priorities. OFA is leading proposal development and is the applicant. OSCIA will have a lead role in delivering the field component of the project, the focus of which is perennial energy crops (e.g. OSCIA will select the growers). The proposal is due at the end of Feb., with the AAC Board meeting on March 4. Gord stated that, as a board member of AAC, he will declare a conflict of interest when this project is discussed and remove himself from the discussion. The focus will be pre-commercialization research over a four-year period, building on research already completed or underway. It will involve the entire value chain (producer, aggregator, customer/end user). All deliverables from the project will be made public. The aggregator involved is Ian Moncrief from Canadian Biofuels. OFA will contract with Canadian Biofuels for aggregation research on the condition of a crop, drying requirements, die testing, pelletizing tests and costs. The option to involve other aggregators in the future will be built into the proposal (as many as 11 other aggregators are known to some Committee members). OPG is the major intended customer, but there is a need to 'de-risk' with respect to other potential customers (e.g. greenhouses, cement kilns).

• OPG staff confirmed that pellets are the required form of aggregated product in order to make use of the existing machinery at the OPG coal plants.

• Carbon sequestration will not be addressed in the field component of this study but will be covered in field trials led by the University of Guelph, OMAFRA and others.

• The Steering Committee confirmed its support for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture's proposal to the Agricultural Adaptation Council. The project will fill several of the key research gaps required to assess the feasibility of a commercial agricultural biomass industry in Ontario.

Action:

A. Khurshid Saharan to provide the article on corn ethanol to the Steering Committee.

6. Review of draft work plan

• Nicolle Butcher led a discussion on the workplan. Several items raised during the facilitated discussion at the Jan. 11, 2010 meeting were refined or consolidated.

Action:

B. Nicolle Butcher to update the work plan based on the discussion, for further consideration at the next Steering Committee meeting.

7. Communications with broader agricultural stakeholder group

• It was noted that there is a need to keep agricultural stakeholders who were involved in the OPG/OMAFRA workshop in August 2009 and others informed on what the Steering Committee is doing.

Action:

C. OMAFRA's Communications Branch staff to coordinate appropriate communication with the broader group of agricultural stakeholders.

8. Next steps

• Ling Mark noted that the Steering Committee could consider development of a "futures list" (speakers, presentations by other ministries, site visits, etc.)
• Next Steering Committee meeting & potential tour of Nanticoke Generating Station
  • The next meeting will take place around the first week of April at the Nanticoke Generating Station.
• Other Business
  • No other business was discussed.

Action:

D. Bryan Gilvesy to invite the professor with expertise in sustainability from the Richard Ivey School of Business, UWO, to the next meeting.

9. Adjournment

• The meeting was adjourned at approximately 12:15 p.m.