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College opens bioenergy learning centre

Confederation College in Thunder Bay cut the ribbon Sept. 8 on its shiny new Ontario Power Generation-sponsored BioEnergy Learning and Research Centre.
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Confederation College in Thunder Bay cut the ribbon Sept. 8 on its shiny new Ontario Power Generation-sponsored BioEnergy Learning and Research Centre.

Confederation College in Thunder Bay cut the ribbon Sept. 8 on its shiny new Ontario Power Generation-sponsored BioEnergy Learning and Research Centre.

The facility will provide activity space for demonstration, training and applied research related to biomass energy from wood and agricultural sources to product heat and electricity. Some of those activities will include research into fuel quality, emission and combustion efficiency.

The centre, which features a modern Fröling biomass boilers, fuel handling and heating system, will provide 80 per cent of the total heat load for the Shuniah/REACH building on the northwestern Ontario campus this fall and winter.

Funding and other support for the centre came from the Ontario government, Ontario Power Generation, the Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE), Evergreen BioHeat, Biothermic Renewable Energy Systems, CEM Specialities and WSP Canada. Honeywell led the design and construction of the European-influenced centre.

CRIBE CEO Lorne Morrow said the centre will “provide hands-on training for students” in the bio-energy field and will be integral to the success for future mid-size biomass projects in the region.