Mercer Peace River (MPR), a pulp mill and cogeneration facility located in Northern Alberta, is undertaking a capital investment project to transform its fibre procurement process, improving environmental performance and creating a more sustainable business model.
This transformative process improvement optimizes forestry operations, allowing for enhanced natural GHG sinks, novel fuel switching from fossil fuels to biomass and increased low-emitting electricity generation. The project entails the building of a state-of-the-art debarking and chipping facility, as well as investing in a fleet of high-efficiency 10-axle log trucks.
By way of this investment, MPR will significantly lower its carbon footprint. This being achieved by:
- replacing diesel-powered debarkers/chippers with electrical machines powered by the mill’s biogenic green energy,
- implementing a more efficient transportation system,
- decreasing fibre handling, and
- improving hog fuel quality to reduce natural gas consumption.
As an organization committed to sustainable technology and with climate change being a global challenge, the positive environmental impacts of this project are significant. It is projected that through this investment, by 2050, MPR will have reduced fossil fuel emissions by over 900,000 tonnes of CO2e and sequester 2.6 million tonnes of CO2e through forest conservation; thus, creating an innovative solution to make significant, cost-effective greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions