Stephenville -
It's been an up and down summer thus far for the peat production pilot plant in Stephenville, but it appears to be ending on the upswing.
The production for Peat Resources Ltd., an Ontario-based company, has been back and forth between some downtime to deal with mechanical issues. Peter Telford, president and chief executive officer for the company, said the necessary modifications are done and a high quality peat pellet is now being manufactured at the local, small scale plant.
The inventory is starting to pile up, so he said it is now time to find a buyer for the alternative fuel source.
It was hoped that Corner Brook Pulp and Paper would be the company to utilize the local product, but industry problems have at least put a hold on discussions.
"We knew they were looking for a cleaner and cheaper fuel, and we think our peat pellets would work very well in their system," Telford said. "We are still hopeful they can get through the current economic difficulties they are having and we will get back to talking to them."
Meanwhile, peat pellets are being used by Starfish Oyster Bar and Grill in downtown Toronto and it is intended to utilize the pellets at The Ceili Cottage in Toronto's Leslieville district. While local opportunities such as these haven't been aggressively pursued by Peat Resources, Telford said it could be a possibility.
He said a Quebec-based company that supplies biomass fuels to smaller institutionalized facilities like hospitals, schools and greenhouses are interested.
"I think that would be the sort of thing that could work in Newfoundland as well, people looking for local fuel resources to provide heating systems," he said. "We haven't looked extensively for those sorts of applications in Newfoundland, but if there were people interested in trying out some of our peat pellets in situations like that, we would certainly be interested."
He said people locally have been asking whether peat would be an appropriate alternative to wood pellets in house stoves. The company president said people have done that, and they burn well, but it doesn't have the same appearance as wood pellets.
While the marketing of peat as an alternative fuel source continues to be a major challenge, Telford said major strides are being made, especially throughout the United States.
"It is always a struggle because it is something that is new and different to many people here in North America," he said. "People are so used to oil, coal and gas, those traditional fuels, that there hasn't been the historical tradition of using peat as a large scale industrial fuel in North America, not like it is in Europe."
However, as that market grows, he expects the operation in Stephenville to expand with it. With that growth will come additional mining of peat fields on the island. Telford said the company has the rights to other properties in the Gander area and on the east coast, which would require additional evaluation. He hopes to do that in the next year.
He has big plans for their production in Newfoundland "The resources are good there, the location is great, and everyone is friendly. What could be better?"
