2012- In northern British Columbia, natural gas distribution networks follow the main transportation corridors of Highway 97 and Highway 16. Due to the vast geography of the region, many northern communities are not within economical range of the natural gas network and are unable to access the resource to support local community and economic development. As a result, these communities rely on costly oil, propane, or electricity as a source of heat energy for commercial and institutional buildings. The inability of many rural and remote northern BC communities to access natural gas, combined with local access to wood fibre provides a natural market development opportunity for green heat technologies.
The Community Futures Development Corporation in the North Cariboo launched the Green Heat Initiative in 2009 to undertake a study that examines the viability of developing rural and remote community green heat systems. From this study, an initiative has been developed that allows communities to fully understand the costs of green heating programs.
Funding from Northern Development supported coordination, contracting, and management of the initiative, which will facilitate benefits to communities that cannot feasibly access the conventional natural gas or electricity grid within the region.
The Green Heat Initiative encourages those that are interested in this project to download the project’s Phase 1 Final Report to learn how far the project has come since launch in helping northern and rural communities become more energy efficient.
