The research and technology transfer has national implications that will support bioenergy facilities and rural and Indigenous communities across the country. The CWFC is continuing this work to increase our understanding and expand the safe and sustainable use of biomass for bioenergy.
The researchers suggest partial harvesting - in this case, thinning forests in 20-year increments during the natural pest disturbance periods. The result is a cost-effective and sustainable way to harvest trees and maintain resilient forests.
Forests make up nearly 35 per cent – 347 million hectares – of Canadian land. For the forest sector, that’s a lot of inventory to manage and monitor. To run any successful business, inventory needs to be monitored. That’s why researchers at the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC) are enhancing current inventory systems to improve how forest managers, provincial governments, and other communities across Canada manage forests.
Le Canada compte 347 millions d’hectares de forêt, ce qui correspond à près de 35 % de sa super cie. C’est beaucoup de stocks à gérer et surveiller pour le secteur forestier. Pour gérer avec succès une exploitation, une surveillance des stocks s’impose. C’est la raison pour laquelle les chercheurs du Centre canadien sur la bre de bois (CCFB) s’emploient à améliorer les systèmes d’inventaire actuels de manière à améliorer la façon dont les aménagistes forestiers, les gouvernements provinciaux et d’autres collectivités du Canada gèrent les forêts.
The FastTRAC project brought together scientists, foresters and economists from the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre, Laval University, FPInnovations, the Government of Québec, J.D. Irving, and the New Brunswick Tree Improvement Council. They demonstrated tree genomic-assisted selection at the operational scale and highlighted the economic benefits of FastTRAC technology.
Des chercheurs primés du Centre canadien sur la bre de bois du Service canadien des forêts (CCFB/SCF) mènent cette recherche génomique dans le cadre d’un projet appelé FastTRAC (Fast Tests for Rating and Amelioration of Conifers / Tests rapides pour l’amélioration des conifères). Ces travaux transforment les programmes traditionnels d’amélioration génétique des arbres, ils améliorent la sélection des arbres et ils dotent les producteurs de semences de recherches et d’outils essentiels.
La recherche sur les cultures intensives en courte rotation du CCFB fournit les connaissances et la technologie dont nous avons besoin pour atténuer les effets du changement climatique en améliorant la façon dont nous gérons les forêts et utilisons les produits ligneux récoltés.
Compared to slower growing trees like spruces, hybrid poplars and selected aspens grown in these plantations are ready for harvest in less than 20 years. The technology development specialists established this a mixed wood crop to evaluate how short-rotation or fast-growing tree crops (123 to 17 years to maturity) could sustain and expand the bioenergy sector. High-yield crops like these are crucial for the sector, which relies on woody biomass to produce clean energy.
Bioenergie La Tuque (BELT) has targeted the production of renewable liquid hydrocarbon fuels (mostly diesel and aviation fuel) from forestry residues. The production of this type of biofuel is an important and necessary factor enabling Canada to meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. Its importance rests on the potential inherent in the utilization of abundant and sustainable lignocellulosic feedstock, which does not compete with food as well as its complete compatibility with existing transportation fuel markets. BELT’s technology assessment team employed a systematic approach to identify mature technologies with the potential to meet the needs of BELT’s proposed biorefinery. A stepwise approach was used to sift through a wide range of biomass conversion technologies. The first fourteen (14) technologies were selected from a list of over 600 technologies by eliminating those that were not appropriate for the required conversion, lacked the necessary technological maturity, or were defunct.
This report presents the importance of best management practices for mitigating erosion from resource roads and preventing sediment from entering a watercourse. Key to achieving these goals is the understanding of erosion from the road surface and the level of connectivity from the delivery point of the sediment-laden water onto the forest floor and the watercourse. This report provides a list of best management practices that is specific to resource roads.
Midply shear wall, which was originally developed by researchers at Forintek Canada Corp. (predecessor of FPInnovations) and the University of British Columbia, is a high-capacity shear wall system that is suitable for high wind and seismic loadings. Its superior seismic performance was demonstrated in a full-scale earthquake simulation test of a 6-storey wood-frame building in Japan. In collaboration with APA–The Engineered Wood Association and the American Wood Council (AWC), a new framing arrangement was designed in this study to increase the vertical load resistance of midply shear walls and make it easier to accommodate electrical and plumbing services. In this study, a total of 12 midply shear wall specimens in four wall configurations with different sheathing thicknesses and nail spacing were tested under reversed cyclic loading. Test results showed that the modified midply shear walls have approximately twice the lateral load capacity of a comparable standard shear wall. The drift capacity and energy dissipation capability are also greater than comparable standard shear wall. Seismic equivalency to standard shear walls in accordance with ASTM D7989 was also conducted. Results show that an overstrength factor of 2.5 and can be used to assign allowable design strengths of midply shear walls with 7/16” and nail spacing at 4” or 3” on center. For midply shear walls with 19/32” OSB, a higher overstrength factor must be used to meet the ductility criteria. The information from this study will support code implementation of the midply shear walls in Canadian and US timber design standards, thereby providing more design options for light wood frame structures in North America.
n the first year of this project, literature reviews were conducted to identify the code requirements on MT components and to survey the available LLRSs used in the MT structures. Conceptual MT midply wall systems meeting structural, fire, and acoustical performance requirements were proposed. An advisory group meeting was held to evaluate the practicability of the proposed MT midply systems. In the next fiscal year, the proposed MT Midply will be optimised further according to the comments and suggestions from the advisory group. Analytical evaluation of the proposed MT Midply wall systems along with necessary tests will be conducted. Based on the evaluation, a go / no-go decision will be made as to whether the study should be continued for the proposed MT Midply.
This study focuses on measuring the wood moisture content (MC), temperature, and relative humidity (RH) (and the corresponding vapour pressure gradients) through each wall assembly to assess its hygrothermal performance. Controlled moisture loads, in the form of vapour
(achieved by maintaining a relatively high indoor RH) and liquid water (achieved by periodically injecting water to the wetting pads installed on the wood panels) are employed to stress these walls for investigating their moisture-related behaviour. After the wall panels and most instruments were installed but with the CLT directly exposed to the interior environment, a high indoor RH in range of 70-80% was maintained, starting mid-December 2020 inside the test hut to condition the wood to achieve comparable moisture gradients among the eight CLT panels. The test walls were closed in with interior framing (and interior insulation of walls No. 1 and No. 2) and drywall installed, followed with interior finishing in late January 2021. The indoor RH was afterwards set to be around 50%. Water injection is planned to start in the summer of 2021. Test results and performance of these walls will be presented and discussed in future reports.
Computer modelling is an essential part in the analysis and design of mid- and high-rise residential and commercial buildings as well as long-span structures. It is also a valuable tool in the optimisation of wood-based products, connections, and systems. An FPInnovations’ survey shows that practicing engineers are unfamiliar with timber structure modelling, and researchers generally lack resources for advanced modelling of timber systems. Furthermore, wood analysis and design modules currently implemented in a few structural analysis software are usually not suitable for complex or hybrid timber structures. This does not bode well given that performance-based design which is the future direction of building codes and material standards will rely even more on demonstrating the structural performance through computer modelling. In this project, a modelling guide for timber structures is being developed by FPInnovations with a global collaborative effort involving experts in various areas, with the aim of (a) assisting practicing engineers apply computer modelling to timber structures; (b) enriching researchers’ resources for advanced computer modelling of timber systems; and (c) assisting software companies to identify the gaps and upgrade their programs accordingly to accommodate advanced computer modelling of timber structures.
Forest fuel treatments are applied across a broad range of ecosites in Alberta and Canada, with an overarching goal of managing hazardous fuel buildup to mitigate wildfire. These treatments use various manual and mechanical processes to achieve fuel treatment objectives. Planning and application of a specific forest fuel treatment technique is often shaped by several factors, including objectives of the fuel treatment, availability of resources (personnel and equipment), and commitment to using local resources (socio-economics). In addition, site conditions in certain ecosites will favour the application of some treatment techniques over others.
With the broad nature of numerous fuel treatment techniques applied over a wide range of environmental conditions, it is difficult to document all treatments and develop comparative productivity and cost evaluations. This summary of fuel treatment studies accesses current research to present relevant findings and identify knowledge gaps in research on stand-level fuel treatment productivity.
Through the Forestry 4.0 program, FPInnovations is investigating and testing telecommunication technologies for the forestry industry, this includes the application of TV White Space (TVWS) technology. TVWS radios operate in the frequency spectrum between 450 to 698 MHz and the majority of this spectrum is unlicensed and not acquired through federal government auctions. A short-term field trial was conducted in Central Québec forest operations in December 2020.
Cost-effective connectivity will bridge the gap between the forest and the rest of the supply chain. Operational efficiency, flexibility and worker safety will be improved by enabling instant communication with currently isolated logging operations. This report summarizes the findings and results obtained in this first operational trial aimed at quantifying the scope of mobile connectivity through this new technology.
Par l’initiative Foresterie 4.0, FPInnovations trouve et met à l’essai des technologies de télécommunication pour l’industrie forestière tel que la technologie TV White Space (TVWS). Les radios TVWS opèrent dans le spectre de fréquence de 450 à 698 MHz et la majorité de ce spectre est non-licencié et pas acquis par l’entremise des enchères du gouvernement fédéral. Un essai sur le terrain à court terme a été réalisé dans une exploitation forestière du centre du Québec en décembre 2020.
Une connectivité rentable comblera la division entre la forêt et le reste de la chaîne d'approvisionnement. L'efficacité opérationnelle, la flexibilité et la sécurité des travailleurs seront améliorées en permettant une communication instantanée avec les opérations d'exploitation forestière actuellement isolées. Ce rapport résume les constats et résultats obtenus lors de ce premier essai opérationnel visant à quantifier la portée d’une connectivité mobile grâce à cette nouvelle technologie.
Modified oxygen consumption calorimetry was used to track the seasonal flammability of black spruce and tamarack. Age class related samples were collected for both species from May to September at research site in central Alberta. These samples were assessed for their differential heat release using test equipment at the Protective Clothing and Equipment Research Facility (PCERF) at the University of Alberta.
The test method was able to successfully quantify the differences in seasonal flammability between black spruce and tamarack. Data showed the age-related flammability differences were less pronounced, with the exception of new growth samples early in the season.
Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s (AAF) Wildfire Management Branch recently contracted two Sikorsky S-61N heavy helicopters. Both helicopters are equipped with an external tank (max. volume 1000 U.S. gallons) and have on-board injection systems that are capable of mixing class A foams and water-enhancers.
Currently, there is limited data on comparative drop footprints of foam and water-enhancers (suppressants) for these heavy helicopters. To fill this knowledge gap, AAF has asked FPInnovations to conduct drop tests in different wildland fuel environments. This study focuses on mapping the drop footprints of water, foam, and water-enhancers in black spruce stands at specific flight parameters.
Reduced surface evaporation rates are marketed as a competitive advantage by water-enhancer manufacturers. In this report, a new test method is developed and applied to quantify the evaporation rates of various commercially available water-enhancer products in a controlled environment. These quantified evaporation rates were then compared to the evaporation rate of water which served as the benchmark.
