Biomass Steam Generation

In addition to natural gas, the Cochrane and Kirkland Lake facilities burn biomass (mainly wood waste such as bark and sawdust) in boilers to create steam that is fed into steam turbines to produce electricity. This technology is attractive because it uses a totally renewable fuel source. Also, the fuel is often waste from the forestry and wood-processing industries that would otherwise have been discarded to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contaminants into the ground water. Eliminating these harmful effects further increases the environmental benefits of the process.