Thank you.
I can't help but remark that it's quite charming to see so many carnations. Not since my high school prom have I seen so many people dressed like this. When I came in, I thought no one told me about the dance and you guys had all rushed in from some prom to do this.
Thank you for inviting us. The Forest Products Association of Canada represents the industry from coast to coast: lumber, wood, pulp and paper. I've come here to give you some good news, in fact some great news: that it is possible to generate green energy. It's possible to be environmentally responsible and it's possible to make a buck while doing it. Cogeneration in Canada's forest industry is the example of that good news.
We have switched our fuel usage to renewable biomass, sawdust, bark, chips, stuff that would otherwise have gone to landfill. When we did this, we reduced what goes to landfill by 40%, stuff that would have rotted in the ground.
We have reduced our greenhouse gases by 44%, not in intensity but an absolute reduction, and 54% in intensity. We've reduced our air pollution by 70% and we've improved our cost-effectiveness, because we are no longer dependent upon fossil fuels. Our fossil fuel use is down by 45%, and we're now at about 54% cogeneration.
So instead of bemoaning the price of fossil fuels, instead of polluting through the use of fossil fuels, we've switched to renewable biomass. We use what's at hand and we are now generating enough clean, green energy just in our mills to replace three nuclear reactors. We generate enough electricity just in our mills to power all of Ottawa-Gatineau, and we're not stopping there.
Our intention is to become energy self-sufficient. Our intention is to export green energy to the communities where we work. So instead of sending expensive energy through long grid lines from some coal or nuclear plant in southern Ontario or southern Quebec, our plan is to work to the point where our mills generate not only enough energy to run the mill, but also to run to the nearby town and thereby have a more sustainable, affordable, and environmentally responsible approach to energy generation.
All of this will be done through industry innovation, through business innovation. It's not through regulation, not through government intervention, but by business, by local communities finding solutions that work using materials at hand.
We can go further, of course, and faster if the policy climate favours us: if there's a robust trading regime for greenhouse gas credits so that we can use that to help finance new boilers; if all renewable energy, not just wind and solar, is recognized in government programs; and if the accelerated capital cost depreciation is extended from two to five years. All of these things would make it possible for us to speed up this good news revolution by retooling our mills still faster.
But even if government does nothing, we will continue down this road, because it makes sense and because we didn't wait for regulation to start and we're just going to do the right thing regardless.
Thank you so much for inviting us, and we're ready for questions.