Prince George has been recognized as a leader in the bioeconomy.
But wait – what is the bioeconomy? Simply put the bioeconomy refers to the parts of the economy that use renewable biological resources.
As part of the third annual Biomass North Forum 2018, which took place Thunder Bay, Ont. in October the city of Prince George received an award for municipal leadership in the bioeconomy.
The award acknowledged Prince George’s district energy system that pipes waste heat to the downtown core reducing costs and emissions.
“The district energy system that previous councils have the foresight to bring forward – it’s really contributed significantly to reducing greenhouse gas emissions for the city of Prince George,” said Coun. Garth Frizzell at the Dec. 10 regular council meeting, where the award was discussed. “I want to give kudos to the district energy system operators, well done.”
The award also acknowledged Prince George’s Canadian Bioeconomy Conference and Exhibition which takes place in the city every two years.
“The conference that takes place in Prince George is quite frankly world renowned we get a tremendous amount of interested from that,” said Mayor Lyn Hall.
“This is a huge feather in our hat to receive this award recognizing what we have done in the bioeconomy field.”
The Canadian Bioeconomy Conference, which started in 2004, is the largest and longest running event of its kind in Canada.
The conferences attract experts and industry leaders from across the country and around the while showcasing Prince George’s role in the Canadian bioecomonmy.
The 2018 conference focused on the diversification in the use of woody biomass, and the next conference is slated to take place in June 2020.
