Fire in the woods or fire in the boiler: Implementing rural district heating to reduce wildfire risks in the forest–urban interface |
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| Institution: | 1. Dep. Forest Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z4, Canada;2. Wood Waste to Rural Heat Project, c/o Community Futures East Kootenay, 110A Slater Road NW, Cranbrook, BC V1C 5C8, Canada;3. Community Energy Association, University of British Columbia, 3324-2260 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z4, Canada;4. Collaborative for Advances Landscape Planning, Centre for Interactive Research & Sustainability, University of British Columbia, 2321-2260 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z4, Canada;1. Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit, Lincoln University, New Zealand;2. Landcare Research – Manaaki Whenua, Lincoln, New Zealand;1. Centre de recherche sur les materiaux renouvelables, Departement des sciences du bois et de la foret, Universite Laval, 2405 rue de la Terrasse, Quebec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada;2. School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, United States;3. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, Quebec, QC, Canada;1. Institute for Energy Systems, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, The King''s Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JL, United Kingdom;2. Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Surrey, United Kingdom;3. Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, United Kingdom;4. Sustinium Ltd., United Kingdom;1. Department of Chemical & Environmental Engineering/Sustainable Process Engineering Research Centre (SPERC), Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia;2. Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia;3. Fuel Cell Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia;4. The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Dep. Chemical & Environmental Engineering, Jalan Broga, Semenyih, 43500, Selangor, Malaysia;5. Department of Management and Humanities, Centre for Sustainable Resources, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar, 32610, Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia;6. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Bath, Claverton Down, BA2 7AY, United Kingdom;7. Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo, Mexico City, 07750, Mexico |
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| Abstract: | Many rural communities in British Columbia (western Canada) are at risk from wildfire. This risk will increase over time as a result of climate change because of higher average temperatures, longer growing seasons, and more intense droughts. On the other hand, these communities are also faced with rising fuel costs and a growing demand for heat as suburban population increases. The fact these communities are surrounded by forests presents an opportunity to combine community wildfire risk abatement with bioenergy development. Additional co-benefits include: (1) reduced community energy expenditures; (2) the creation of local jobs; (3) climate change mitigation; and (4) increased community energy security. Here, we present results from three pilot rural communities (Burns Lake, Invermere, and Sicamous, all of them in British Columbia) designed to evaluate the feasibility of wildfire risk abatement in conjunction with bioenergy production. Maps were created showing each community's forest–urban interface area with quantified estimates of its sustainable woody biomass resource potential under different management scenarios while monitoring ecosystem and soil health. The results and experience gained through this work has been synthesized in a calculator tool to help other communities make their own screening-level assessments. This calculator is a freely available on-line tool: FIRST Heat. |
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| Keywords: | Woody biomass Ecological model Sustainable energy Green economy Sustainable forest management Climate change mitigation FIRST Heat |
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