Factor Analysis For Promoting Bioenergy: Lessons From International Experiences For Alberta

Abstract

Alberta is a resource abundant province and with more than 38 million hectares of forest land (more than 60% of the province land), it has a considerable potential of bioenergy resources. While the annual wood production capacity is 24 million cubic meters of wood, the province has imported more than 90% of its bioenergy consumption. This project seeks to identify the main factors that can help promoting bioenergy industry in Alberta. Econometrics and time series analysis are used to quantitatively measure the impacts of different factors in facilitating the penetration of bioenergy technologies within the energy system. Results of the modeling based on the advances in pioneering countries suggest that availability of bio-resources, structure of the energy sector and also price of energy are the most decisive factors that affect the penetration rate of bioenergy. Considering these dominant factors, the barriers for bioenergy production in Alberta are investigated.