| This study investigates the feasibility of a wood fuelled district heating system in the remote native community of Wunnumin Lake from both an economic and environmental perspective. Located in northern Ontario, this community is not connected to either the electric or natural gas grids, consequently heating costs are significant. Residential buildings are heated with radiant woodstoves and electric space heaters, while non-residential buildings are heated with oil-fired furnaces. This method of heating costs approximately {dollar}82/MWh. The proposed district heating system is to be fuelled by woodchips produced from forests surrounding Wunnummin Lake. It was found that operation of the heating system would require 1 500 green tonnes of woodchips in the first year and 2 300 tonnes in the twentieth year. Within a twenty year time period, 78 ha of forest would need to be harvested, based on a productivity of 143 m{dollar} sp3{dollar}/ha, to meet the heating demands of the community. The 900 ha of forested land within 5 km of the community, on reserve land, could supply woodchips on a sustainable basis if regeneration occurs. In the initial year (1996) of implementing a district heating system it will cost {dollar}124/MWh to produce and distribute heat energy and by the twentieth year the cost decreases to {dollar}29.75/MWh. At this costing level, the conventional method of heating will exceed the cost of the proposed heating system during the year 2000. |
