Manitoba’s Biomass Fuel: Protecting our environment and saving us money

The policy brief highlights Manitoba's potential to utilize over 5 million tonnes of available annual biomass from agriculture, forestry, and ecological sources like cattails to replace fossil fuels. It notes that current demand for biomass fuel exceeds the capacity of existing processing facilities and calls for government investment in infrastructure, research, and water management to enable a high-value bioeconomy.

• Manitoba possesses significant biomass resources, with over 5 million tonnes available annually from sources including forestry residue, agriculture, marginal lands, and roadside ditches.
• The biomass market in Manitoba is currently constrained by a lack of infrastructure and coordination, with existing processing facilities unable to meet an annual demand of 50,000 tonnes.
• Harvesting ecological biomass, specifically cattails from roadside ditches and water retention sites, can improve lake health by removing phosphorus; removing 25% of harvestable cattail and 22% of crop residue could remove 2,000 to 5,000 tonnes of phosphorus.
• To develop a high-value bioeconomy, the Government of Manitoba is urged to provide financial support for pellet processing and new technologies, invest in 'Green Infrastructure' for water management, and research higher-value bioproducts such as biogas.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2018). Manitoba’s Biomass Fuel: Protecting our environment and saving us money. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/manitoba-biomass-fuel-protecting-environment-saving-money.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Manitoba’s Biomass Fuel: Protecting our environment and saving us money. 2018. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/manitoba-biomass-fuel-protecting-environment-saving-money.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Manitoba’s Biomass Fuel: Protecting our environment and saving us money |date=2018 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/manitoba-biomass-fuel-protecting-environment-saving-money.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2018manitobas, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Manitoba’s Biomass Fuel: Protecting our environment and saving us money}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2018}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/manitoba-biomass-fuel-protecting-environment-saving-money.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }