Bioenergy

The University of Northern British Columbia will be hosting an announcement on campus this Friday, May 14, concerning its bioenergy project. The event will begin at 1pm on the construction site and include two components:

• The awarding of a 5-year contract for the fuel supply
• An update on construction. Many of the key components of the biomass gasification system have now been installed and are clearly visible prior to the walls and roof being constructed.

Among the attendees will be local MLAs Shirley Bond and Pat Bell, UNBC President George Iwama, incoming UNBC Chancellor John MacDonald, and members of the Northern Bioenergy Partnership.

The UNBC bioenergy program is an ambitious project aimed at reducing UNBC’s carbon footprint while serving as a platform for applied research and public education. To that end, free public tours of the construction will be offered on Saturday, May 15 from 11am – 1pm. Visitors will get a unique view of the facility’s inner workings, which won’t be easily visible when the building is complete and operating.

Visitors will be able to park in Parking Lot C and access the construction site via the I.K. Barber Enhanced Forestry Lab. No one under the age of 16 is permitted on the site and visitors must dress appropriately for a working construction site.

The UNBC bioenergy program is currently comprised of a wood pellet facility at the Enhanced Forestry Lab and the gasification system that is now under construction. Funding for both projects has been provided by the Governments of BC and Canada through the Knowledge Infrastructure Program, the Innovative Clean Energy Fund, the Public Sector Energy Conservation Agreement, and the Community Economic Diversification Initiative. Along with upgrades to the campus heating and cooling distribution system, the total value is just over $20 million.

Northern Medical Program

The third Northern Medical Program graduation will be held Saturday, starting at 1:30pm in the Bentley Centre. A total of 23 students will be graduating, including Saelle Bradwell, Susan Butow, Erin Carlson, Keith Martin, Sarah Roberts, and Megan Thwaites of Prince George. Bill Schlamp of Vanderhoof is also graduating.

Speakers will include David Snadden of the Northern Medical Program and Northern Health Board Chair Charles Jago. Susan Butow will provide remarks on behalf of the graduating class.

With this year’s graduation, 70 students have graduated from the Northern Medical Program. The NMP is the result of collaboration involving UNBC, the UBC Faculty of Medicine and Northern Health.

June 22 of this year marks the ten-year anniversary of the health care rally in Prince George that led to the creation of the medical program and other health science-related expansions at UNBC and throughout the North. UNBC is planning a celebration to be held on campus that day to mark the anniversary and illustrate the achievements in northern/rural health education and research over the past decade.