Frederic Serre
The Advocate

A Gatineau mill specializing in pulp and paper products has received a grant from the Quebec government worth $5 million to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The announcement was made last month by Mathieu Lévesque, MNA for Chapleau and Deputy House Leader, on behalf of Benoit Charette, Minister of the Environment, Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks and Minister responsible for the Laurentians region.

The financing, announced Sept. 20, will enable Resolute Forest Products to switch the movable grate on its biomass-fired boiler, thus replacing totally or partially, fossil fuels.

The renovation project will reduce natural gas consumption by more than 7.3 million square metres per year. This will result in an annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of just more than 13,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, or approximately the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions of 3,800 cars, said Resolute spokesman Richard Tremblay.

“Thanks to better-adapted equipment, we will reduce our use of natural gas and eliminate 13,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. This project is part of our commitment to analyze and reduce our GHG emissions on a group-wide scale,” Tremblay said.

Charette said his government “has equipped itself with the necessary means to support local businesses so that they can contribute fully to Quebec’s climate and energy transition.”

“It’s with projects like the Gatineau plant that we are transforming our economy in a sustainable way and getting closer to our climate objectives more quickly,” he added.