Industry at heart

FPInnovations has always worked to promote the healthy and sustainable development of the Canadian forest industry and the competitive positioning of its members, and the last few months have been no exception.

Again this year, our teams worked with heart and determination to provide the cutting-edge tools and technologies that will help companies in the sector continue to operate successfully, as part of the enhanced model of collaboration and exchange on ongoing projects.

Resolutely focused on our objectives

We know that Canada’s forest industry is going through a period of great transformation. After the last few years marked by natural challenges, the consequences are being felt on the availability and cost of fibre in several regions. The current geopolitical dynamics are also influencing the sector and its competitiveness.

Faced with this reality, FPInnovations is making the shift by deploying its teams to accelerate transformation and contributing to developments in key areas, including new digital technologies, the electrification of operations, measures to combat climate change, and many others.

Significant progress

Several important advances have been made this year to help our members address major industry challenges. Here is an overview:

Labour shortage
Projects related to forest transportation, where the shortage of truck drivers is a major issue, have reached important milestones during the fiscal year. This is particularly the case with the platooning initiative, where field tests in pre-winter conditions were successfully carried out last autumn. The validation of several parameters will allow the continuation of the development.

The project to automate log measurement has also made interesting progress. Still carried out manually and subject to human error, the process will benefit from greater volume accuracy and better detection of wood defects. As well, it is expected to reduce handling and improve the work environment.

Decarbonization
Promising tests in terms of fuel savings and reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been carried out on a trailer equipped with an electric propulsion system. The next phase of development of trucks with various trailer configurations will continue in multiple regions and road conditions over the next few months.

We also continued work on the decarbonization of lime kilns, which aims to facilitate the use of local forest residues as a replacement for the fossil fuels currently used to power these kilns. This approach, in addition to significantly reducing GHG emissions produced by kraft pulp mills, will ensure the maximum use of the forest supply.

Combating climate change
As part of a government program, FPInnovations will provide hands-on training to facilitate the use of biomass-based heat and power cogeneration systems in Indigenous communities. The technology converts the energy naturally stored in forest biomass into wood gas, which can then be transformed into heat and energy.

FPInnovations’ expertise was also leveraged to conduct a test bed and operational follow-up on Class 8 battery-electric trucks as part of Transport Canada’s Clean Energy Adoption in Trucking project.

Process optimization
In order to help the forest industry make the shift to digital technologies, FPInnovations has launched various components of a digital transformation offensive to support forestry entrepreneurs in their transition to modern connectivity solutions with a comprehensive on-the-ground support service.

Projects using woody substitutes have also made great progress. This is the case for lignin as a substitute for bitumen used in asphalt, which has now reached its commercialization phase. Other projects such as the production of translucent films from cellulose filaments, a reinforcing agent extracted from wood fibre, also offer good prospects.

Advances in construction
The mass timber construction sector also shone thanks to the Woodrise 2023 international conference in Bordeaux, where it was announced that FPInnovations will host Woodrise 2025 in Vancouver. FPInnovations’ library of wood construction trade publications has also been expanded with new publications to assist in the deployment of wood construction projects and to advance building codes across Canada.

Our firm commitment to the future

To ensure that our members maintain a competitive position, we remain committed to serving the industry as an impartial research institute, offering accurate and unbiased results on projects previously selected by our members.

We also reiterate our commitment to putting members and industry at the centre of our concerns through open dialogues with stakeholders, in order to maximize the potential of projects that can help them in their growth.

However, all of these efforts would not be possible without the extraordinary support of our members, partners, and staff, and we sincerely thank each and every one of you. Together, we work to promote and transform our industry.