The picture is. The story doesn't reference it other than to say a plant in Maine. The writer got the picture from Turboden.
heres a better article..... Pellet Mill Magazine - September/October 2016 who is that sexy devil on the cover?!
I was impressed that pellet production is still increasing. Is that true in the US or just in other parts of the world where energy cost so much more?
Larry, yes, for industrial use - according to Pellet Mill & Biomass magazines: as countries in Europe and Asia attempt to reduce their reliance on / use of coal for clean air targets, they are retrofitting existing coal-fired boilers to co-fire woody biomass, or constructing new/replacement biomass firing units & hooking up to existing infrastructure. There is also governments that are installing new Combined Heat & Power (aka CHP) units, at the district/local levels. Shipping distance is a big factor: Eastern US enjoys short-trip times to the UK / Europe, Western Canada has a big advantage for East Asia / Japan.. The bigger the shipment, and the less round-trip time it takes to deliver = shipping cost advantage. Countries local to each area have also realized production growth: particularly Vietnam in Asia, and the Caucus states of the former USSR for Europe, for both residential & industrial pellet supply. Countries that produce "alternate" woody biomass products, e.g.: derived from sugar cane, palm seed kernel, etc. suitable for standalone burning, or co-firing w/ coal are also in increased demand. Japan's efforts to reduce reliance on Nuclear and Petroleum product-based power generation ( following the earthquakes in 2011 ) appears to be the most recent large effort to woody biomass sector. The government has created a Feed In Tariff (aka FIT) pricing structure that pays a premium for biomass electricity generated -> sold to the grid per kWh, to incentify new biomass plant development and construction. As more countries in Europe, and Asia (particularly Japan) continue to build and bring additional woody biomass plants online, industrial pellet production will continue to grow, to meet demand. Hope this gives some insight to the global picture.
How do you think this global demand will impact domestic prices? In effect, is supply adequate? I have hard time believing residual wood byproduct is producing the pellet industry. Surely wood must now be being harvested with the sole benefit of making biomass fuel, no?
Since I'm not in the 'industry' dotman17 , I can only give my personal thoughts on that, which may not be as well informed as those who actively process wood / are in the industry .. Lumber is considered a 'commodity', so it is actively traded on the market. There are many factors at work that determine the value of wood. Current general economic health, projected (residential) growth vs. market supply, speculation of the direction of these are the 'driving forces' for trading, like any other commodity. In regards to industrial pellet production, and residential pellet production as a sub-set, there are an established set of 'sustainability rules' that each producer must follow, and document, from source to delivery to establish best-practices are followed: the Wood Pellet Association of Canada, Executive Director Gordon Murray in particular, has been instrumental in establishing the practices set in conjunction with the regulatory bodies of the UK and EU in particular, and other governments in Europe and Asia. The program developed by the Association / Mr. Murray in conjunction with the importer countries (UK/EU), The Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) is a unified program that allows Forest Certification in the producer country, to comply with the regulatory requirements of the destination country of use. It's important to know the above, because Forest Certification dictates the availability of product that may be used for wood pellet ( and wood chip ) production suitable for export to the UK / EU / Asia markets. In North America, Canada is the market-leader in wood pellet production. The US follows with roughly 1/2 the Forest Certification (as of 2013 data) suitable for industrial wood pellet export. US producer companies in recent years have adopted the SBP protocols internally, and have met (or exceeded) the forest sourcing / sustainability data tracking requirements needed. For both industrial and residential pellets, there are various production standards that must be followed. The EU standard is ENplus, the Canadian standard is CANplus, the US standard is PFI body certification. -- Concerning the timber industry, the "genesis" of wood pellets (to the best of my knowledge) was born as a method to utilize otherwise wasted material, in the production of mill quality wood product. The amount of forest floor 'residue' generated to harvest a tree that will produce marketable wood product can be considerable. Trees of the same species that would otherwise not be suitable for milling / left on the forest floor, can now be debarked / used for wood pellet production. Further, in a harvested tree, there may be portions that are not suitable for mill product that would otherwise be wasted: those can also be debarked / used for wood pellet production. So, with all the above stated: Until wood pellets become a separate Commodity, I believe the effect will be minimal to no impact. I believe residual supply for wood pellet production is adequate. The percentage of forest floor 'residuals' cut in order to obtain mill quality timber, even from re-planted forest stands, is not trivial. There are also other factors at work concerning forest tract / wood sourcing, such as insect kill, in the market. Yes, per above. But not as the -primary- harvest: mill-value wood product, which can be used in building or industry, is always the most desired product, in any timber taken. Biomass, (or Energy) wood from the timber (to the best of my knowledge) is considered to have the -lowest- value commercially. Again, trees that need to be removed to get to mill-quality timber, that would otherwise be wasted, can now be used for wood pellet production. -- I think other timber-related 'market forces' will affect Lumber Commodity pricing way before wood pellet production (industrial or residential) does: an example of this would be that several years back, due to the boom of shale drilling / oil fracking: the construction industry created a large demand on construction tie log timber, which affected other segments of the wood industry. * I remembered reading about this, but do not have a specific source to site to verify. Regarding sustainability: as more countries in the EU convert from Coal to wood Biomass plants to satisfy carbon reduction targets, in conjunction with the new plants being built in Japan, it remains to be seen (what) the impact, if any, will be for domestic wood product prices (Lumber, Pulp, wood pellets) here in North America. Comments, corrections welcome.
