Wood shortage hits Boralex

[phantom power]

The weak U.S. housing market has taken its toll on an unlikely sector - the Canadian renewable power industry.

Boralex Power Income Fund said this week that it is temporarily closing a second power plant in Quebec because it can't get enough wood residue to fuel its operations. \

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080912.RBORALEX12/TPStory/Business

[mainegreen]

1. Wood shortage in Canada, eh?

While logically, I can see this situation happening, it does seem wildly absurd on the surface, doesn't it?
I mean, a wood shortage in Canada, land of trees o' plenty.

[phantom power]

2. Here's the nut of it:

they use waste wood. But the less wood we use, the less waste we make. You can't harvest very much energy from wood at a sustainable rate. As I've mentioned before, I'm worried that peak fossil is going to trigger a decimation of the world's remaining forests, as people try to replace some of that energy with wood.

[mainegreen]

3. I think the worst part of that is that...

most of the worst damage to the worlds forests will come in places where the people are least able to deal with the consequences. Canada and Russia probably won't suffer deforestation. Southeast Asia, Eastern Africa, the Caribbean are probably in a heap of trouble.

[jdlh8894]

4. Watch the cost of Paper go UP! N/T