spring 2012 pellet mill magazine

INSIDE: UNDERSTANDING FOREST CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS

Spring 2012

www.biomassmagazine.com/pellets

Pine Beetle Plague

Removal of Ravaged Trees Creates Feedstock

4

Plus:Philippines Project Includes Community ImprovementPage 22

Pellet Industry is Ripe with New IdeasPage 28

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SPRING 2012 | PELLET MILL MAGAZINE 3

Contents »SPRING 2012 | VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 1

FEATURES

CONTRIBUTIONS

DEPARTMENTS04 EDITOR’S NOTE

Building on Success By Lisa Gibson

06 INDUSTRY EVENTS

07 STANDARDS STEWARDFracking Changes EverythingBy John Crouch

08 TESTING GROUNDSProceed, But be Informed and Have a Solid PlanBy Chris Wiberg

09 MAINE-LY PELLETS Government Assistance: Double-Edged Sword?By Bill Bell

10 INDUSTRIAL INSIGHT Industrial Wood Pellet Industry is Sustainable and Carbon NeutralBy M. Seth Ginther

12 BUSINESS BRIEFS

FEEDSTOCK Energy-Charged EpidemicMultiple factors have exacerbated the devastation caused by pine beetles in the Rocky Mountains, and some of the dead material needs to be removed. By Anna Austin

STANDARDS Forest Certifi cation: Opportunity and Challenge for the Wood Pellet IndustrySecuring woody biomass from sustainable sources is increasingly important, but navigating the forest certifi cation maze is no simple task. By Ron Lovaglio and Scott Berg

34

28

22

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INTERNATIONAL Pellets and Power for AllOne partnership’s vision for waste reduction in the Philippines could spread worldwide, providing pellets, power, jobs and homes. By Lisa Gibson

INNOVATIONObvious OriginalityThe wood pellet industry has made great strides and has no shortage of applications showcasing developers’ creativity and prowess. By Luke Geiver

Pellet Mill MagazineAdvertisers' Index

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31

40

11

39

6

12

5

13

26

36

37

27

30

25

20

2

32

33

38

19

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Airofl ex Equipment

ANBO Machining Ltd.

Andritz Feed & Biofuel A/s

B&W Mechanical Handling, Ltd.

BBI Consulting Services

BRUKS Rockwood

Buhler Inc.

CPM Roskamp Champion

CST Industries, Inc.

D&S Engineering, Inc.

Dieffenbacher

Fike Corporation

GreCon, Inc.

Industrial Bulk Lubricants

Intersystems

KEITH Manufacturing Company

Millard Maritime

Minnesota Valley Testing Laboratories

Olson Search International, Inc.

Pellet Fuels Institute

Scheuch GmbH

Timber Products Inspection/Biomass Energy Laboratories

Twin Ports Testing

Vecoplan Midwest, LLC

West Salem Machinery Co.

4 PELLET MILL MAGAZINE | SPRING 2012

Building on SuccessI’ve heard the term up-and-coming used to describe the wood pellet industry in the U.S., but from my

perspective, it’s already here. At this point, I would say it’s simply continuing to expand.Export markets and global demand that North American pellet mills are expected to satisfy seem to in-

crease a bit with each new study released. Development in the Southeast U.S. is explosive and port authorities are taking notice, expanding their own capabilities to accommodate the new opportunities afforded to them through the pellet industry’s growth.

While multiple producers are positioning themselves to take advantage of the massive foreign demand, even more are happy with the domestic market they supply here, mainly in residential heating applications. In the West, pellet mills are using wood that has fallen victim to the pine beetle infestation, helping to remove dead and dying material that could interfere with forest health. Read more about the epidemic and its causes in a feature article by Associate Editor Anna Austin beginning on page 14.

In the Northeast U.S., some state-level policies and reports are illustrating current and projected pel-let popularity. Both New Hampshire and Maine have added wood pellets to their fuel price reports, and a residential pellet boiler subsidy program in Berlin, N.H., has been extended indefi nitely. The program aims to assist with installations of residential boilers for homeowners switching to pellet fuel. Its organizers say interest in pellet heat is growing in the Northeast and the program can help more people save money on heating bills.

And pellets are in the spotlight even on the federal level. In March, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that wood pellet boilers will be classifi ed as a conventional, primary heat-ing source, and therefore will qualify for Federal Housing Authority funding, provided they meet the other guidelines. HUD offi cials admitted the agency was perhaps behind the times in recognizing pellet boilers as a qualifying technology and promised that the handbooks would be updated to refl ect the new classifi cation.

As the industry continues to evolve from its already-healthy position, there is no shortage of new ideas and ingenuity. Starting on page 28, Associate Editor Luke Geiver showcases some innovative pellet boiler installations that set themselves apart in areas ranging from feedstock handling to overall design and appear-ance.

The pellet industry has arrived and is continuing its U.S. growth in both the domestic and export mar-kets. Producers here are recognized as major players on the world stage.

And they’re prepared to provide millions of tons of pellets to keep that stage warm and bright.

In this month’s Maine-ly Pellets column, Bill Bell, executive director of the Maine Pellet Fuels Associa-tion, addresses the public perception of the pellet industry’s requests for government assistance, following failed projects in other renewable sectors that wasted federal funding. He explains how the proper, well-crafted request for helpful incentives can make all the difference.

Ron Lovaglio, president of Ron Lovaglio LLC, and Scott Berg, presi-dent of R.S. Berg & Associates, dive into the confusing and sometimes confl icting forest certifi cation sys-tems used around the world, outlin-ing common standards and answering frequently asked questions. They offer a simplifi ed overview of the certifi ca-tion process for pellet producers, and give helpful tips.

Lisa [email protected]

Bill BellScott Berg Ron Lovaglio

« Editor’s Note

For more news, information and perspective, visit www.biomassmagazine.com/pellets

Contributors


EditorialEDITOR

Lisa Gibson [email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITORSAnna Austin [email protected] Geiver [email protected]

COPY EDITOR Jan Tellmann [email protected]

ArtART DIRECTOR

Jaci Satterlund [email protected]

GRAPHIC DESIGNERElizabeth Burslie [email protected]

Publishing & SalesCHAIRMAN

Mike Bryan [email protected]

CEOJoe Bryan [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENTTom Bryan [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT, SALES & MARKETINGMatthew Spoor [email protected]

EXECUTIVE ACCOUNT MANAGERHoward Brockhouse [email protected]

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Jeremy Hanson [email protected]

ACCOUNT MANAGERSMarty Steen [email protected] Brown [email protected]

Andrea Anderson [email protected] Austin [email protected]

CIRCULATION MANAGER Jessica Beaudry [email protected]

ADVERTISING COORDINATORMarla DeFoe [email protected]

SENIOR MARKETING MANAGERJohn Nelson [email protected]

Subscriptions to Pellet Mill Magazine are free of charge—distributed twice a year—to Biomass Power & Thermal subscribers.To subscribe, visit www.BiomassMagazine.com or you can send your mailing address to Pellet Mill Magazine Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. You can also fax a subscription form to (701) 746-5367. Back Issues & Reprints Select back issues are available for $3.95 each, plus shipping. Article reprints are also available for a fee. For more information, contact us at (866) 746-8385 or [email protected]. Advertising Pellet Mill Magazine provides a specifi c topic delivered to a highly targeted audience. We are committed to editorial excellence and high-quality print production. To fi nd out more about Pellet Mill Magazine advertising opportunities, please contact us at (866) 746-8385 or [email protected]. Letters to the Editor We welcome letters to the editor. Send to Pellet Mill Magazine Letters to the Editor, 308 2nd Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203 or e-mail to [email protected]. Please include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity and/or space.

TM

Please recycle this magazine and removeinserts or samples before recycling

COPYRIGHT © 2012 by BBI International

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« Industry EventsRocky Mountain ForestRestoration & Bioenergy SummitAPRIL 16, 2012Colorado Convention CenterDenver, ColoradoThe Rocky Mountain Forest Restoration & Bioenergy Summit will bring together experts to share their diverse perspectives on forestry, bioenergy and public policy. This one-day, content-rich event will outline the current condition of the Rocky Mountain forests and detail how the health of these forests can be improved through col-laborative efforts with bioenergy producers. (866) 746-8385www.biomassconference.com

International BiomassConference & ExpoAPRIL 16-19, 2012Colorado Convention CenterDenver, ColoradoA New Era in Energy: The Future is GrowingOrganized by BBI International and coproduced by Bio-mass Power & Thermal and Biorefi ning Magazine, this event brings current and future producers of bioenergy and biobased products together with waste generators, energy crop growers, municipal leaders, utility execu-tives, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, project developers, investors and policy makers. Reg-ister today for the world’s premier educational and net-working junction for the biomass industry. (866) 746-8385www.biomassconference.com

International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & ExpoJUNE 4-7, 2012Minneapolis Convention CenterMinneapolis, MinnesotaEvolution Through InnovationNow in its 28th year, the FEW provides the ethanol industry with cutting-edge content and unparalleled networking opportunities in a dynamic business-to-business environment. As the largest, longest-running ethanol conference in the world, the FEW is renowned for its superb programming—powered by Ethanol Pro-ducer Magazine. Early bird registration rates expire April 23.(866) 746-8385www.fuelethanolworkshop.com

International Biorefi ning Conference & Trade ShowNOVEMBER 27-29, 2012Hilton Americas - HoustonHouston, TexasOrganized by BBI International and produced by Biore-fi ning Magazine, the International Biorefi ning Confer-ence & Trade Show brings together agricultural, forest-ry, waste, and petrochemical professionals to explore the value-added opportunities awaiting them and their organizations within the quickly maturing biorefi ning industry. Contact a knowledgeable account representa-tive to reserve booth space now.(866) 746-8385www.biorefi ningconference.com


A headwind is approaching the biomass energy sector, and it’s called cheap natural gas. Fracking has dramatically changed the supply outlook for natural gas in North America for the foreseeable future and biomass proponents who fail to factor it into their planning will regret it.

The impact on the econom-ics of proposed projects is obvi-ous, but I think the impact on the political process could be even more profound. The decrease in heating energy costs will predominantly impact our urban communities, and it may also widen the gulf between urban and rural energy costs in both the U.S. and Canada.

Although the rise in the price of oil is getting all the press, the wholesale price of natural gas has sharply declined in real terms over the past three years, as a direct result of fracking. Shale gas fracking is being explored all around the world. Just a few years ago, we were debat-ing the licensing of natural gas im-port terminals in the United States. In an amazingly short time, many of those applications have been resub-mitted as export terminals

Shipping and transport have never been a strong point for natu-ral gas. It is essentially a stranded fuel and is generally utilized on the continent in which it is produced, which has always benefi ted North American consumers. Oil and propane, on the other hand, are transportable, but that is a long-term weakness from a price volatil-ity standpoint, as they are world

commodities. Maine and Alaska are the U.S. states most dependent on heating oil, and most alarmed by the future prospects for the price of that fuel.

A future of declining real gas prices may have two important impacts on the biomass indus-try, specifi cally pellets. First, rural institutions and businesses must be weaned off heating oil, but will need signifi cant fi nancial assistance to support the installation of the hundreds of new boilers. The sec-ond potential impact is that NG is a cheap method to generate electricity, and this may change the dynamics of biomass electrical generation, or at least make it even more depen-dent on renewable energy credits and state renewable portfolio stan-dards. That may change the compe-tition for feedstock.

The fundamental challenge facing pellets will not be cheap gas, however, but its availability to a majority of homes, and the resul-tant impact on votes. According to the American Gas Association, more than 55 percent of American households heat with natural gas, which means that these households (voters) may not see much change in their energy bills this decade. Consequently, the majority of the electorate will not view home energy costs as an issue. Meanwhile, the rural minority will be “dying on the vine,” potentially strangled by increasing thermal energy costs that eviscerate budgets of households, school districts and rural hospitals.

And abundant natural gas

changes the political landscape for all alternatives. Most incentive programs could be imperiled by an electorate that is dominated by households using cheap gas. Our current successes in building politi-cal momentum for biomass thermal, and our hopes for much more, may not last, as the cost of heating fades as an issue for the majority of energy users. All of us who are committed to pellets and thermal biomass need to redouble our coop-erative efforts in the political arena right now.

The energy crisis may be over, at least for home heating in the ur-ban majority. That means the politi-cal window for incentive programs, sales tax exemptions, new loans, and grant programs is closing. Even the once unimaginable possibility of the roll back of state portfolio standards may rear its ugly head in the face of economic hard times and cheap natural gas. So for those of you who are sitting back, focused on your own projects, I encourage you to get involved at the state and national levels in existing initiatives supporting the biomass thermal industry. Once the electorate no longer sees a crisis, it moves on to other issues, and it could be a long, cold decade for folks who provide pellet fuel.

Author: John Crouch Director of Public Affairs

Pellet Fuels Institute(916) 536-2390

[email protected]

Fracking Changes Everything

Standards Steward »

BY JOHN CROUCH


In my last column, titled “The End of an Era,” I described a fun-damental shift that I observed over the past year pertaining to standard-ization of the pellet fuels industry. Essentially, the industry has gener-ally accepted that standardization is upon us and it is now time to implement programs that have long been in the works.

Since the last issue of Pellet Mill Magazine was published, the Pellet Fuels Institute and the American Lumber Standard Committee have fi nalized an agreement, and ALSC has accredited several auditing agencies and testing labs for the purpose of implementing the domestic residential/commercial densifi ed fuel standards program. The European Pellet Council con-tinues to add to its list of countries that are implementing the EN plus pellet certifi cation scheme on an international basis. In addition, the Industrial Wood Pellet Buyers initia-tive in Europe to develop standard specifi cation for industrial wood pellets has progressed by opening the door to U.S. pellet producer feedback through the U.S. Industrial Pellet Association. This provides collaboration critical in the imple-mentation of a mutually acceptable standard for international shipments to European utilities.

Along with standardization, we anticipate better consistency within our fuel streams, better performance for the combustion appliances and mechanical handling systems, and of course, happier customers. Un-fortunately, standardization is likely to result in some growing pains, as well. As an active participant in all

of these standards development ini-tiatives, I feel obligated to make you aware of a common theme that the industry as a whole needs to under-stand. These are new programs and will need to be refi ned as we identify shortcomings during their imple-mentation. I am not trying to imply that they have not been thoroughly researched. Quite the contrary, but I think we can all relate to two concepts: there is always room for improvement, and it doesn’t always work as well in practice as it did on paper. The implementation of standards is much like the scal-ing up of any new technology to commercialization. As you ramp up, you identify problems and then modify the design as necessary until it works the way it is intended. The difference is that when standards are specifi ed in contracts, they become legally binding. We need to be very careful that in an effort to grow consistency and reliability within the industry we don’t create a situation where producers are left holding the bag (or ship, literally) or worse yet, recalling it due to an unforeseen yet preventable issue. That is why it is essential for every fuel producer to fully understand any standard it intends to implement and to have a solid plan for implementation.

The best advice is to do your homework beforehand. All of these standards programs are well-defi ned. Take the time to read them carefully and relate them back to your process. Ask yourself if the standard is achievable for your facil-ity, and how confi dent you are tak-ing on the implementation. If you are not sure, then do more research

or ask for help. Also, do not be afraid to bring questions or con-cerns with any of these standards back to the standards developers. In all cases, I can assure you that they are eager for feedback and want to improve them.

You should also carefully con-sider your quality team. Make sure your quality manager knows this is a primary responsibility and not just an additional duty. Select people who know and understand quality management or who have suffi cient background and/or capabilities to be trained into the role. A meticu-lous mindset is very helpful here. In short, get the right people on your quality team. This also applies to your external support companies such as auditors, laboratories, logis-tics coordinators, and others. When in doubt, these entities should be able to answer your questions. If they cannot, you are probably work-ing with the wrong people.

In a perfect world, there would be a simple step-by-step guide that everyone could use to gain com-pliance with these new standards, but every facility is unique with its specifi c feedstock materials, equip-ment, people, intended markets, etc. Compliance will need to be achieved one production facility at a time, each with its own unique circum-stances. It’s a step toward strength-ening this industry through which we all will fi nd growth. Proceed, but be informed and have a solid plan.

Author: Chris WibergManager, Biomass Energy Laboratory

(218) [email protected]

Proceed, But be Informed and Have a Solid Plan

« Testing Grounds

BY CHRIS WIBERG


“Wood Pellet Producers Ask Federal Government for Help.” So read the unfortunate headline of the Bangor Daily News article describing a February meeting of Maine’s pellet industry leaders with USDA Rural Development Undersecretary Dallas Tonsager.

A predictable reader reaction in the comments blog accompanying the online version of the newspaper was “Great, another industry looking for a handout.” Of greater concern was the fact that of the 129 posted comments, this particular response was “liked” by 78 viewers, far more than the response to any other set of remarks.

Even allowing for the infantile nature of many commenters and their respondents, this reaction needs to be recognized for what it is. Our industry needs to adjust for the fact that federal energy assistance programs are now going to be “Solyndra-shy.” Add to this the fact that one of our biomass champions, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, has announced that she will not be seeking re-election. Add to all that the fossil fuel industry’s success in getting the “government shouldn’t pick winners and losers” mantra adopted in many circles.

We need to ask of government only that which clearly makes sense to virtually every consumer and voter.

In many states, common-sense concerns about the cost of construct-ing new electrical generating facilities has led to a very modest systems benefi t charge added to every electric bill. Those funds are then used to bring about signifi cant effi ciencies, and reductions in electricity consumption, to electricity consumers of all classes.

Concerned citizens, legislators, and public utility regulators in half of our states have used somewhat the same electricity-oriented approach to establish renewable portfolio stan-dards mandating that a percentage of the electricity delivered in those states come from renewable sources. In Maine, however, a yellow light has just fl icked on. The attempt by environmental groups to place on the November ballot an increase in the required renewables has fallen short of the required petition signatures, and is postponed for a year.

Public measures to promote pellet heat will succeed only if they are seen by the consumers as truly cost-saving. The best thing happening now, in terms of public support for fuel-switching, is the media advertising presently taking place in Maine by both stove retailers and a major pellet boiler fi rm, all stressing that pellets are half the price of oil. Once this simple claim becomes widely accepted as fact, argu-ments about climate change, economic benefi ts of keeping fuel dollars in-state, and increased employment in the forest products industry suddenly carry much more weight.

But let’s be careful what we wish for. Short-term subsidies such as the very successful Maine Forest Service grants to schools installing pellet heat are enduring only if they can inspire other school offi cials, architects, heat-ing consultants, and local taxpayers to make similar investments without grant assistance. Public fi nancing for wood heating systems will be success-ful if it is in the form not of outright taxpayer expenditures, but instead of loan guarantees such as those USDA

already provides for a myriad of rural development purposes.

Maine’s energy agencies are cur-rently considering a pilot project that will enable 500 clients of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to install pellet stoves, get-ting them off the ever-escalating oil treadmill. This has potentially great value both for our industry and for the community action agencies administer-ing the LIHEAP program. It will show taxpayer funds being channeled to purchase a local fuel and provide jobs to Maine workers, while helping needy persons get through the winter.

There is, of course, one request of public offi cials that generally en-genders strong public support: sensible regulation. In response to a strong request from Dutch Dresser, president of the Maine Pellet Fuels Association, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and the U.S. Secretary Housing and Urban Development announced March 2 that pellet heating systems are now to be accepted as a primary heating source for FHA fi nancing. “There are mo-ments when the federal government can be a little behind the cutting edge in terms of new technology,” HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan conceded. This recognition of pellet heat removes what has been a major roadblock for heating installers.

Government support: not a good request. Fair treatment for pellet heating customers: a popular goal. Go fi gure.

Author: Bill BellExecutive Director

Maine Pellet Fuels Association(207) 752-1392

[email protected]

Government Assistance: Double-Edged Sword?BY BILL BELL

Maine-ly Pellets »


« Industrial Insight

Wood resources for bioenergy, specifi cally industrial wood pel-lets, are carbon neutral. When used for energy, the release of carbon into the atmosphere never exceeds the amount of carbon that was absorbed during the life of the tree. In fact, trees in their growth phase absorb carbon at a faster rate than older, mature trees and this is particularly true for forests in the Southeastern U.S., where the climate is warm and conducive to faster growth. The U.S. Southeast is actually home to some of the most robust forests in the world, where many species naturally propagate multiple tree saplings for every one tree harvested, which means more carbon sequestration overall.

Well-managed forests that pro-vide raw materials for the industrial pellet industry and other forest products continue to have positive growth-to-drain ratios (greater than one) where forest growth exceeds harvests and carbon absorption

rates increase year after year. The practice of sustainable rotational harvesting means that there will be a continuous cycle of new growth in the forest. Moreover, trees in their growth phase absorb carbon at a faster rate than older, mature trees. Accordingly, the practice of sustain-able rotational harvesting means that there will be a continuous cycle of new growth of the forest.

Managed forests have trees of various ages and species, sequester more carbon than older growth stands, and continually accumu-late carbon and maintain stable carbon stocks. Indeed, the regular removal of woody biomass main-tains and improves a forest’s health. It improves wildlife habitat and biodiversity; it gives forest stands the light needed to not only survive, but thrive.

The majority of forestland in the Southeast U.S. is owned by small forest owners, who have owned their land for generations and live

on the revenue it generates. Strong timber markets ensure that these land owners will maintain their forests as forests and not sell or convert. If forest landowners see new markets (e.g. bioenergy from industrial wood pellets) for the trees they are growing, they will respond by growing more.

Finally, the wood pellet industry is one of the few growing industries in today’s challenged economy. It provides direct manufacturing jobs and indirect supply chain jobs in rural areas, an economic channel for forest/land owners, and wood pellet export is helping to rebalance the U.S. trade defi cit. The industry mod-el is founded on sound, sustainable forestry practices, without which the industry could not and would not succeed or survive.

Author: M. Seth GintherExecutive Director

U.S. Industrial Pellet Association(804) 771-9540

www.theusipa.org

Industrial Wood Pellet Industry is Sustainable and Carbon NeutralBY M. SETH GINTHER

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Vecoplan introduces new wood waste grinder

Vecoplan has added the VAZ 1300 to its selection of wood waste grinders. The system incorporates elements that improve performance, increase durability and decrease maintenance time.

Cardan shaft drives eliminate drive belts, lower maintenance costs and decrease overall machine base widths. Double sidewalls reduce wear, eliminate contamination of bearings, as well as heat transfer to bearings, and increase durabil-

ity. Reversible counter knives deliver twice the life, and hydraulic swing-up screen carriages provide quick and easy access to the rotor for cutter replacements, tramp metal removal, and other routine maintenance. Rotatable screens can be turned 180 degrees, increasing wear life by a factor of 1.5, and externally adjust-able counter knives allow the operator to maintain optimal cutting tolerances quickly and easily.

Alliance for Green Heat launches wood stove design challenge

The Alliance for Green Heat has publicly launched its Next Generation Wood Stove Design Challenge. The program will highlight and promote innovation in wood stoves.

Organizations supporting the chal-lenge include Popular Mechanics magazine, the

Washington State Department of Ecology, the New York State Energy Research & De-velopment Authority, and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

The deadline for initial applications is Dec. 20 and the fi nalists will bring their stoves to Washington for the Decathlon in November 2013. The winning design will re-ceive $25,000 and coverage in Popular Mechan-ics. Second place winners will share a $10,000 award. For rules and more information about the Wood Stove Design Challenge, visit www.forgreenheat.org/stovedesign.

Eucalyptus and pine log prices in Brazil neared all-time highs in 2011

Eucalyptus log prices in Brazil reached a peak in the third quarter of 2011, but fell almost 8 percent in the fourth quarter in U.S. dollar terms, according to Wood Resources International LLC.

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Prices for Eucalyptus pulpwood traded in the open market are high not only from a historical perspective, but also as compared to many other regions around the world. Only pulp mills in Eu-rope and Australia had higher hardwood fi ber costs than Brazil in late 2011, while North America, Chile, Russia and Indo-nesia all had lower hardwood log prices than Brazil, the world’s largest market pulp exporter, Wood Resources Interna-tional reported. Wood fi ber cost is by far the most important cost component for Brazilian pulpmills, more so than for most other pulp mills in the world.

Fecon celebrates 20 yearsFeb. 17 marked Fecon Inc.’s 20th

anniversary in the forestry mulching business. The company will host a Field Day/Open House on April 26 featuring

live demonstrations, machine displays, factory tours, a night out at the ballpark, and more.

Fecon started in 1992 to serve the growing needs of the organic resource recovery industry. Its fi rst Bull Hog was sold 20 years ago and is still running today with more than 20,000 hours on it. Today, with 107 employees, Fecon calls its 111,000-square-foot factory in Lebanon, Ohio, home.

For more information on the event, visit www.fecon.com/fi eld-day.

Jansen announces new senior consultant

Jansen Combustion and Boiler Tech-nologies Inc. has hired Roger Lawton as a senior consultant. Lawton began his work with the company Feb. 27 out of the Atlanta, Ga., area.

He brings to his position with Jansen more than 35 years of experience in the areas of chemical recovery and bio-mass boilers. Lawton holds a bachelor’s of science degree in civil engineering and a

master’s degree in business administration fi nance. He earned both from the Univer-sity of Connecticut.

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SHARE YOUR INDUSTRY NEWS: To be included in the Busi-ness Briefs, send information (including photos and logos, if available) to Industry Briefs, Pellet Mill Magazine, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. You may also e-mail information to [email protected]. Please include your name and telephone number in all correspondence.


« Feedstock

SEA OF GRAY: A pine tree forest north of Breckenridge, Colo., shows more signs of beetle damage than of forest health. PHOTO: HUSTVEDT, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS


An exploration of the mountain pine beetle infestation reveals its depth, possible ways to combat it, and uses for millions of acres of dead woodBY ANNA AUSTIN

Feedstock »

Energy-Charged Epidemic


Letting nature take its course has histori-cally been one of the most effective ways to deal with natural disasters, as oftentimes these matters are out of the hands of man-kind. Occasionally, however, there are ways to miti-gate these occurrences while drawing value from them.

The great pine beetle outbreak of the Rocky Moun-tain West is a good example. The epidemic has swept across the forests of Colorado and Wyoming, devouring more than 3.5 million acres of forests, and it stretches all the way from Mexico to British Columbia, where more than 40 million acres are infested.

While there’s been no way to stop the epidemic, the worst in recorded history, huge efforts are being made to manage the affected forests to prevent forest fi res. The harvested beetle-killed wood is being used for a variety of applications, including unique furniture, wood chips and wood pellets for heat and power production

Daniel Tinker, forest ecologist for the University of Wyoming, says there are three main reasons for such a rampant epidemic, and while some of the materials should be removed and used for bioenergy and other purposes, some should be left alone.

Beetle BasicsFour primary species of bark beetle are active in the

Rocky Mountain West, according to Tinker. “They are all specifi c on different trees, so pretty much all trees have a bark beetle attacking them right now,” he says.

Adult pine beetles, precisely the size of a grain of rice, enter the trees during the summer and dig birthing galleries, where they lay their eggs. This happens just un-derneath the bark in the layer of the tree called the phlo-em, where nutrient transport takes place, Tinker explains. Once the eggs hatch into larvae, they feed on the phloem

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PATHS OF PESTS: The destruction pine beetles cause can be clearly seen on tree trunks.

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layer, essentially interrupting the transport of nutrients up and down the tree. “More importantly, the beetle introduces a fun-gus into the tree,” he says. “It’s a symbiotic fungus that relies on the bark beetle, and the larvae feed on the spores of that fungus during the winter.”

Blue stain fungus is its common name, and it clogs up the water conducting fi eld, or xylem. Within about 60 days, the tree is dying of thirst and can’t transport water from the roots to the leaves, so it dies.

So what’s the reason for an epidemic of such a caliber? “Conventional wisdom is that there are three reasons, and one is that we don’t have as cold of winter temperatures as we have had historically,” Tinker says. “If the winter tempera-tures get cold enough at the right times of the year, in early November or late April, and stay cold for several days, it can kill the larvae. We don’t have those temperatures as frequently anymore.”

The second reason is the fact that the West is coming out of about 10 years of drought, so the trees are already stressed. “A lot of the time they can fi ght the beetle off, if they’re healthy and have plenty of resources and water,” Tin-ker says. “As the beetles drill in, they’ll produce a lot of pitch and sap and (they pitch) the beetle right back out of the hole, but they can’t do that when they are drought stressed.”

Last, many of the trees across the West are just the right age and size and in the right kind of forest structure to sup-port this kind of an epidemic. From Tinker’s perspective, there’s really nothing that can be done to stop it, but the state of the forests should begin improving. “It’s kind of running it’s course now,” he says. “The beetles are running out of re-sources and we’re having some wetter winters and springs, so the trees’ health is improving a little. I’m not sure we can pre-vent it from happening again—beetles come in about 30-year cycles—but we haven’t seen one to this extent in recorded history.”

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FALLEN FORESTS: A large swath of trees topples from pine beetle attacks.

DOTTED DEVASTATION: Dead trees in the affected areas often turn purple or red from the damage.

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Many people believe the pine bee-tle problem can be resolved by inten-tionally managing the forests so they are not as dense. Tinker says that isn’t necessarily true. “Forests kind of do that on their own,” he says. “And some papers have printed that we’ll lose the lodge pole pine in North America, but that’s just not true.”

Moving it Out There’s a good mixture of trees

left in the wake of the pine beetle epi-demic, as some are tall, old trees and many are young. “So we’ll have a nice mix of ages and species, though some areas will shift to a dominant species,” Tinker says. “In my opinion ecologi-cally, it’s been catastrophic in some ways, but it’s a big natural thinning event that probably needed to hap-pen.”

A lot of the forest material is dead, however, and in some places it needs to be removed, especially hazard areas. “I don’t think we need to go in and clear all the dead wood out to try to prevent fi res,” Tinker says. “A lot of

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PELLET PILES: Confl uence Energy uses pine beetle-killed trees to make wood pellets.

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times fi res are inevitable, and some dead wood is important to the ground and small animals. But, there is an opportunity to get it out in a lot of places and make use out of it, including bioenergy purposes.”

Mike Eckhoff, a forest scientist at Colorado State University, points out that biomass is the one renewable energy source that can hurt people if it’s not used. “Colorado has been at the forefront in

using the material for bioenergy,” he says. “We see a lot of push towards biomass electricity, but for Colorado, thermal makes sense. With the cold weather and rural communities, it’s a critical point that needs to be made.”

Managing for an epidemic that is now 3.3 million acres in size—or just slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut—is signifi cant, particu-larly from a public health standpoint and in light of the energy crunch we’re facing, from Eckhoff ’s perspective. “If there is a way to address both, by using that material to burn in pellet stoves or something else, it makes a lot of sense.”

Confl uence Energy, a pellet manufacturer outside of Kremmling, Colo., is one company do-ing just that.

Pine Beetle Pellets Confl uence Energy is one of a few pellet

plants in the state using exclusively pine beetle-killed wood, and has been since 2008. CEO Mark Mathis says that while the sentiment may be that there is an excess supply of free or cheap pine

beetle-killed wood for the taking, that’s not the case.“There was a bit of a misnomer out there. People came into

[some projects] thinking that there’s so much of it that it must be free, but that’s just not true,” he says. “We actually had a bit of a shortfall of wood last fall when they started pulling fi rewood. Part of it’s an infra-

SPREADING SICKNESS: Dead and dying trees surround a patch of forest still green and growing.

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structure issue, and since the material is often small diameter and cracked, the yields on the saw end of things aren’t very high because there are limitations on what you can do with it for higher value. The pellet side is the low-value utilization.”

So is there ever a point where the wood is so damaged it can’t be used for pellets? “The nice thing is that a lot of it stays standing vertical, and as long as it does that, it’s suit-able for pellets for about fi ve years,” Mathis says.

Confl uence Energy is able to contract about 35 to 40 percent of its feedstock, and the rest is paid ac-cording to market price fl ow, Mathis says. And while the pellet business is rumored to be lucrative, he says right now there’s an over-capacity in Colorado, roughly 200,000-plus tons, while the whole residential market demand is about 70,000 tons. “When the pellet mills began in Colorado a few years ago it was great times, but as the cost of energy went up and more people entered the fi eld, even-tually there was this glut,” Mathis says. “It’s been kind of a boom-and-bust cycle, and the warmer winters certainly aren’t helping. The trick is learning where your markets are and adapting to those conditions. Pellets

make sense from an energy perspec-tive and public perspective, but there are other uses for this material that compliment the energy perspective, and they should be included.”

For some, vast opportunity may lie in exporting their pellets to over-seas customers, but Mathis says that concept isn’t equal across the board, at least not for those located in states like Colorado. “One can only trans-port pellets so far, and because we’re landlocked, exporting into Europe where the market is big is not really viable,” he explains. “We may have a little cheaper feedstock, but that’s cancelled out trying to get closer to a port. Here, pellets aren’t a viable ex-port market, and there’s only so much residential application. It’s a seasonal business, and it’s tough to run a plant 40 percent of the time and make any money.”

Along with building a pellet or bioenergy industry based on that material in Colorado come concerns about a temporary feedstock run-ning out. “There has always been the sentiment that if you build a biomass energy industry, eventually you’re feeding the beast, but that hasn’t ma-terialized as of yet,” Eckhoff says.

In fact, there is actually too much material being left in the woods, ac-

SUITABLE STOCK: Damaged wood that remains upright is still usable for pellet production.

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cording to Joe Duda, deputy state forester at Colorado State Forest Service.

Accessibility and More “One important thing to know is that

the total U.S. Forest Service landownership is about 10 million forest acres, and generally only about 2.8 million are used for harvest-ing,” Duda says. “In all reality, the vast ma-jority of the mountain pine beetle-affected timber is in some form of landownership where it probably won’t be harvested. If we were extremely optimistic, we’d say maybe 20 percent will get treated, but it’s probably close to half of that.”

That can be attributed to a number of factors, including land allocation, wilderness, lack of roads, steep slopes, and unstable soil. Overall, about one-third of the state is forest-ed, and about three out of four of those acres are publicly owned and federally managed, ac-cording to Eckhoff. “So about 75 percent of the epidemic is on public lands,” he says.

And as Duda mentioned, Eckhoff says there are many factors that affect retrieval of the wood, factors that make utilizing it un-economical. “There are supplies being made available, but we’ve had a number of contracts go no-bid because while the material there is relatively inexpensive, accessing, harvesting and bringing it back for manufacture and dis-tribution is prohibitively expensive, especially

with rising fuel prices,” he says. Typically you’ll fi nd the material is so low value, doing anything with it beyond a 15-mile radius is problematic.”

In Duda’s professional opinion, there needs to be much more action than there has been on the lands that are avail-able. “That’s whether they are private or federal, because we can make a differ-ence,” he says.

And if the pine beetle-affected states really want to be effective in cre-ating a market for the wood, harnessing all possible value, that means making a broad array of products, everything from bioenergy to higher value use, Duda adds. “We just need to capture all the value we can.”

Author:Anna Austin

Associate Editor, Pellet Mill Magazine (701) 751-2756

[email protected] SAD SCENERY: Beetle-killed trees are common in Colorado's Rocky Mountains.

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POWER PRODUCTS: A project in San Fernando, Philippines, is making pellets from MSW for gasifi cation and power production. PHOTO: TRUE GREEN ENERGY GROUP


A novel and intricate project model will bring housing, jobs and clean energy to communities around the worldBY LISA GIBSON

International »

Pellets and

Cecilia Huapaya has a vision of a clean planet where everyone has access to a good job that affords sturdy housing in a healthy, interlaced community. With the help of several companies and people who share her vision, she is working to make it a reality.

Huapaya is the president of CJ Consortium, a group of 26 companies, including equipment and other product manufacturers, that has helped de-velop a business model to build homes and produce pellets for gasifi cation and subsequent power gen-eration, as well as bunker oil, carbon black, fertilizer, and polyzonic acids. But these pellets and co-prod-ucts won’t come from wood or agricultural biomass. They will come from landfi lls and the municipal sol-id waste (MSW) that rots there. Whatever isn’t used for those products will be recycled to allow 98 to 99 percent cleanup of pollutant-emitting landfi lls in the world, according to Lucas Delorraine, vice president of international relations for True Green Energy Group. TGEG recently partnered with CJ Consor-tium to bring the project model to the Philippines. “Nothing goes to waste,” Delorraine says.

The structure includes the construction of low-cost, energy-saving homes that can be purchased with low-interest mortgages by residents who will be working at the plants. For areas such as the Philip-pines with overfl owing, decomposing landfi lls and electricity shortages, it could be the all-inclusive an-swer.

“Our concept is very different from everybody else,” Delorraine says.

AllPower Power for


Powering the PhilippinesTGEG began work on its pellet

production and gasifi cation project in San Fernando, Philippines, about fi ve years ago, Delorraine says. CEO Ron-ald Flynn wanted to clean up landfi lls, while powering off-grid sites. Most areas in the country use oil, but con-stant power supply is a luxury afforded almost exclusively to larger municipali-ties. The shortage is particularly clear in the Mindanao grid, where brown-outs have been frequent since the be-ginning of January, according to the Philippines Department of Energy.

“By doing this, we’ll be able to provide better quality of life,” Delor-raine says. “Even if the place that we are putting the gasifi er doesn’t have enough waste to produce pellets, we can ship the pellets and the gasifi er can produce 24/7 electricity for the island.”

The gasifi cation system that will be used for the projects was developed by Beltran Technologies and can use ei-ther pellets or shredded MSW. TGEG produces pellets because the mill was already set up when the company chose Beltran's system. The project site in San Fernando is already producing test batches of pellets and is awaiting installation of its gasifi er, which should be operational in September. The process begins with the deposit of garbage into a large bin, where it is sprayed with a disinfecting enzyme and left overnight, Delorraine says. The next morning, the garbage heads to a manual separation line where roughly 50 employ-ees pick out contaminants and recyclables. The remaining material,

mostly plastics and organics, is shredded, mixed with limestone, and fed into a dryer that reaches 150 degrees Celsius and continues the limestone mixing step. The high drying temperature and limestone mixing, which traps heavy metals and removes contaminants, are the secret to the innovative project model, Delorraine says. They help produce a material with merely 8 percent moisture that can then be transformed into a squared pellet-type product sized some-where between traditional pellets and briquettes.

“At this point, we don’t call it MSW anymore,” he says. “It is RDF (refuse-derived fuel). The pellets come out really, really good.”

« International

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HELPING HANDS: The manual separation line employs up to 50 people.

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International »

The properties of the resulting densifi ed products are currently be-ing tested, but Delorraine expects they’ll have a calorifi c value of between 25 and 30 percent. “If the pellets come up with a high calorifi c value, then we have an almost perfect pellet. Not only can this pellet now be used by us, it can be used by a lot of other in-dustries.”

The San Fernando site will have more pellets than it will need for its gasifi er, so the excess will be sold, and numerous companies have expressed interest in purchasing, Delorraine says. Currently, the operation processes 400 metric tons (440 tons) of MSW per day,

and the gasifi er will require 25 metric tons per day of feedstock. By July, the San Fernando mill will produce 1,000 metric tons of pellets per day.

The syngas from gasifying a prod-uct made from garbage can’t be ex-pected to come out clean, but Beltran’s process utilizes a fi ber fi lter, electro-static precipitator, and a scrubber to convert the dirty, red syngas into a gas that emits a clean blue fl ame when burned, Delorraine explains. “What you get out is just steam. No pollution at all.” The project, and each identical system installed around the world, will be able to produce 2 megawatt hours of power for local communities.

The Philippines does have emis-sions regulations, but not as strict as those in other countries. Delorraine isn’t concerned, however, comforted by the fact that a Beltran gasifi er in England sits next to a college dormi-tory. “England is really, really regulated and if it works for England, I believe it will work anywhere.” He adds that the

system would pass even U.S. emissions requirements. The San Fernando operation has made pellets from industrial,

residential and separated qualifi ed waste, but for now, most areas employing the system will provide more residential waste than oth-er types.

The idea is a perfect fi t for integration with CJ Consortium’s home-building strategy, benefi ting both organizations, as well as local communities. “We’re pretty much the answer for them, and they’re pretty much the answer for us,” Delorraine says.

AMASSING MSW: Before the pelletizing process, feedstock is put into a bin and sprayed with a disinfecting enzyme.

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Putting it All Together“We have made a joint venture

with TGEG and we are now looking for a solution to the problem of waste in the world,” Cecilia Huapaya says. Speaking in Spanish with a translator, Al Serrano, executive sales director for CJ Consortium, Huapaya explains how delighted she was when she fi rst met with TGEG’s Ronald Flynn and discov-ered they shared the same passion for cleaning up waste and simultaneously advancing humanity’s existence. “I was happy to fi nd when I reached the Phil-ippines that Ronald Flynn had the same interest in taking to all the Third World countries the latest technology,” she says. “All countries have huge problems with landfi lls polluting the Earth.”

Each project site around the world will be located near a landfi ll and will provide housing for any homeless people who count on them to survive. “These houses will be sold because these people that are living around there, like beggers and peasants, they’re living off the garbage; they’re eating the garbage,”

« International

FULL-FLEDGED FACTORY: The gasifi cation system should be fully operational and ready to take pellets in September.

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International »

Serrano says, adding that the strategy will modernize those poverty-ridden areas. “They will have a good job, they will have health care and they will have an opportunity to own their own homes, so they’ll be proud.”

Serrano is clear in pointing out that the housing and job creation will bring prosperity for the residents and for the countries they in-habit. CJ Consortium is fi nancing the projects as they develop, with the help of many local governments and banks offering 30- to 40-year mortgages with interest as low as 1 percent. “So these people can afford to have a much better quality of life,” Serrano says. “We’re going to give them work, we’re going to give them education, and we’re going to give them decent housing.”

In addition, the project partners will give a percentage of rev-enue back to the communities, depending on the amount of revenue each project brings in. Serrano emphasizes that the money can be used to build schools, parks, libraries and fi re stations.

For the Future San Fernando is expected to host the fi rst fully operational inte-

grated project, but negotiations are ongoing with the Philippine city of Manila. “We are going to clean up the Smokey Mountain landfi ll in Manila,” Delorraine excitedly shares. The enormous landfi ll causes numerous problems, including for the health of surrounding citizens. “So the government is very interested in our project,” he says.

“Defi nitely there is potential for waste-to-energy projects,” says Romeo Marcos Galamgam, senior science research specialist in the Philippines DOE Biomass Energy Management Division. “It was

pegged that .3 [kilograms] of MSW per person per day is being gen-erated. In Metro Manila alone, it can generate 6,200 metric tons of MSW per day.” He adds that the Philippines’ National Solid Waste Management Commission is pushing waste-to-energy technologies similar to the one developing in San Fernando to address the quickly fi lling landfi lls. The San Fernando project has been confi rmed by the DOE, but not yet registered, he adds.

And national-level offi cials and groups aren’t the only ones of-fering support. “All the local governments in the project areas are joining us in the struggle to maintain a green planet and conserve our resources,” Serrano says.

Outside the Philippines, Huapaya is working on two contracts in Brazil, as well as others in Peru, the Dominican Republic and several countries in Africa. “We have people waiting in line, but we can only go at a certain pace,” Serrano explains, adding that the project model can be implemented anywhere and will soon be employed in the U.S., also. “We intend to start in South Caroline and Virginia.”

Although the pellet production aspect of the San Fernando project is the only one completed and hasn’t been scaled up, excite-ment among the developers is palpable. “This company, within fi ve years, will have 20 to 25 plants worldwide,” Delorraine says.

“I’ve been in the oil industry a long time,” he adds. “To be quite honest, this is a beautiful project. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”

Author: Lisa GibsonEditor, Pellet Mill Magazine

[email protected](701) 738-4952


« Innovation

DOME DESIGN: Enviva LP's Port of Chesapeake pellet storage facility is a giant white dome that can withstand earthquakes and hurricane force winds.PHOTO: ENVIVA LP


The pellet industry is not lacking in creativity, evidenced by a number of novel project strategiesBY LUKE GEIVER

Obvious Obvious OriginalityOriginality

Innovation »


« Innovation

The Windsor Village Elderly Housing facility in Windsor, Vt., occupies what used to be the state’s oldest prison, and had all of the old basement jail cells in-tact until recently. With the installa-tion of a biomass boiler, a few changes had to be made.

The housing facility allowed its ten-ants to use the basement cells as secure storage units, but now the converted build-ing, dating back to 1808, is almost jail cell-free. “We commandeered two groups of fi ve (cells),” David Frank, co-founder of Vermont-based biomass project integrator and developer SunWood Biomass, says of his team’s work in transforming the his-toric building. He and his workers knocked down the walls between the cells with a jack hammer to create a long trough that would eventually feature a V-bottom interior stor-age design for wood pellets.

“We almost lost that project because of the historical preservation folks,” Frank says. Those folks, he explains, did not want

the grounds outside the two-century-old building to feature a storage silo for the pellet feedstock. So SunWood got creative.

The team adapted a run of pneumatic piping into six fi lling ports that opened into the jail cell trough. Roughly 100 feet separated the fi lling ports from the pellet delivery location. The piping is traditionally used in the food industry to move product between storage and processing because it offers the least amount of friction and re-sistance.

SunWood had to determine what air volumes and pressures were required to send the pellets from the truck to the six ports, Frank explains. “We used a couple of suppliers to help us run the test in a warehouse to see if it could be done and if the pellets wouldn’t be damaged.” They proved it was possible, and the pellets weren’t damaged, making the hidden proj-ect a success without any impact on the old facility’s character.

Today, SunWood Biomass is work-ing on six other historic preservation sites

HISTORICAL HOUSE: A red schoolhouse at Vermont Technical College is equipped with a pellet boiler and basement feedstock storage to avoid impact on the historic building's appearance.

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where silos cannot be used. Project de-velopers like Frank have plenty of similar stories about projects in the wood pellet industry. It’s an industry with a surplus of ingenuity, creativity and innovation.

Equipment Ingenuity Averill Cook of Massachusetts-based

Biomass Commodities, is in Serbia helping Michelin Tire develop an effective practice to pelletize its tires. Cook knows all about the impact creative thinking can have on a diffi cult project, having already completed roughly 25 pellet boiler installation jobs with his team. “I think that the industry is getting more installations and being more recognized, and the concept is growing,” he says.

The availability of biomass boilers in the U.S. is indeed growing and that is where Cook sees the most innovation in the indus-try. Cook and his team are working with an engineering fi rm to install a boiler system at a community college in the Northeast. He hopes the project will start a new market.

“The system is unique because it pulverizes the pellets into dust and sprays them in,” he explains. Although this type of boiler has been around for some time, Cook says clients looking for district heating applica-tions could benefi t from employing it. The technology can be more easily retrofi tted into existing boilers than a standard pellet system, and is more versatile and effi cient because it is dual fuel, he explains. Opera-tors can play the market by running differ-ent types of fuel or pellets.

Tom Miles, founder of T.R. Miles Technical Consultants Inc., shares Cook’s sentiments about the evolving landscape of biomass boilers.

“One thing that is kind of striking or compelling is the success of what they have been calling in places like Alaska the boiler in the box,” he says. The set-up utilizes a boiler placed in a durable container and in-stalled over a poured slab roughly 15 feet by 20 feet. The simple installation can be done effi ciently and economically, Miles says, cit-ing an application at an airport in Oregon.

Innovation »

CLEVER CONCEPTION: An artifi cial hose drying tower disguises pellet storage at the East Montpelier, Vt., fi re hall.

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« Innovation

The boiler-in-a-box option saves mon-ey because it doesn’t require a developer to build a separate building for a boiler, or to shoehorn one next to an existing heating ap-pliance, Miles says. “I think that these kinds of easy-to-install, lower-cost pellet boilers are probably a good bulk market expansion strategy for these pellet producers.”

Miles hopes further innovations in boiler set-ups can correlate to the use of lower-grade fuel pellets. “The reality is, to be practical and economical, we need to be able to handle pellets that don’t necessar-ily meet the residential standard,” he says. “If boilers were designed with staged com-bustion and staged gasifi cation that would handle higher ash fuel…you could open up potentially lower-cost fuel markets.”

Miles, Frank and Cook all believe ac-cess to boilers manufactured in the U.S. of-fer their clients more options for projects in North America. And they all agree that in-novation plays a huge role in biomass boiler development and conveyor system designs, whether they’re for a jail cell or underneath a parking lot.

Like boilers, pellet conveyor and deliv-ery system installations can also use a little ingenuity. Cook has completed a project that required moving pellets on a convey-or belt underground, below a parking lot. Biomass Commodities also has a number of projects where storage silos are more than 200 feet from the boiler room. Such challenges can be overcome, but the most diffi culty comes when engineers and archi-tects don’t understand fuel pellet handlings. “When they do a drawing with a right angle on a fuel conveyor, you have to tell them, ‘That is not going to work,’” Cook says.

‘The initial adoption curve was very steep, but now it is becoming fairly prolifi c in terms of acceptance, and engineers are even suggesting planning [pellet boilers] into a project.’

—David Frank, SunWood Biomass co-founder

SHROUDED STORAGE: The hollow tower hides pellet feedstock from view and keeps the fi re hall silo-free.

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People are TalkingCook says such ingenuity in the pellet

industry is drumming up more discussion. “The culture is starting to turn and with the higher oil prices people are going to start looking more at this,” he says. That means school districts looking to save money, new hospitals looking to secure future heating costs at a stable price, or the engineers who help design the projects. “The engineering fi rms keep on coming back,” he adds. “They are excited about [pellet projects] and they are very proud of it. They start to tell more people about it and the snowball is getting big.” And with oil prices rising, that snow-ball is only going to roll faster.

Frank would agree. “The initial adop-tion curve was very steep, but now it is be-coming fairly prolifi c in terms of acceptance, and engineers are even suggesting planning [pellet boilers] into a project.” He attributes that turn of events, in part, to the fact that the necessary equipment already exists, even though each job will bring new project plan-ning and implementation strategies. And with further innovation still coming down the pike, the job will only get easier, and busier.

Author: Luke GeiverAssociate Editor, Pellet Mill Magazine


Innovation »

Frank and Cook are always discover-ing innovative ways to move pellets and fortunately, pellet delivery trucks in the Northeast U.S. have evolved. When Frank fi rst started helping clients bring in pellets, the norm was to use grain delivery trucks that featured a conventional airlock system. Today he uses trucks developed in Europe specifi cally for pellets that reduce breakage during delivery.

Enviva LP is yet another leader in pel-let industry revolution. Its Port of Chesa-peake, Va., storage silo dome, 157 feet tall and 175 feet wide, can withstand hurricane force winds and earthquakes, while main-taining a controlled temperature for opti-mal pellet quality. It allows storage of up to 50,000 metric tons of wood pellets. “It is critical for us to have a storage system that is designed specifi cally for wood pel-lets,” says Elizabeth Woodworth, the com-pany’s director of marketing, communica-tions and sustainability. The system, she says, includes more than 100 temperature sensors that allow an operator to monitor the temperature of the stored pellets at any time via computer screen. That operator, she adds, can control the temperature of the dome by switching a ventilation system on or off. Woodworth says there is virtually no chance of fi re or sparks because Enviva is currently installing an injection system to put out any sparks. Of all the elements that make the system innovative and unique, Woodworth says safety is the number one aspect the company was focused on when it designed the dome.

Clearly, pellet use today is a combina-tion of creative thought and remarkable implementation skills. In the Northeast alone, Frank and Cook have completed installations at churches, garages, schools, old prisons, and fi rehouses. Frank also has projects in Utah, Alaska and elsewhere. “We completed a project with a fi re department where they didn’t want the sight of a silo outside a brand new modern-looking build-ing,” Frank says. So he and his team crafted an artifi cial tower, similar to those used for hose drying, for pellet storage.


Forest Certification: Opportunity and Challenge for the Wood Pellet IndustryForest certification standards are increasingly important in the pellet industry, but can be confusing to producers and customers alikeBY SCOTT BERG AND RON LOVAGLIO

The surge in energy costs, the new direction toward renewable energy sources, and European initiatives to limit carbon emissions all have created a tremendous opportunity for North American wood pellets.

In the wood products industry, how-ever, you can’t go very far without hearing the word green. Customers are demanding assurances that the wood products they buy are from legal and sustainable sources. And they often purchase with a preference or

requirement for wood products that are in-dependently certifi ed to a recognized forest certifi cation standard.

But forest certifi cation is an alphabet soup of standards, claims and labels, all of which can be confusing and overwhelming to those in the pellet industry who have other demands on their time. Thankfully, help is available from standard-setting or-ganizations, trade associations and consul-tants.

Demand for PelletsRISI projects that by 2014, demand for

North American wood resources for pellet production will grow to around 30 million green tons.

In 2008, more than 80 percent of U.S. pellets were used domestically, while 90 per-cent of Canadian pellets were exported to Europe, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Interest in North American pellets continues to grow because of constrained wood sup-plies in Europe and regulatory mandates to

The claims and statements made in this article belong exclusively to the author(s) and do not necessarily refl ect the views of Pellet Mill Magazine or its advertisers. All questions pertaining to this article should be directed to the author(s).

« Standards

CONTRIBUTION


increase the use of renewable fuels. Because wood pellets are cheaper than solar and wind power, demand for them is expected to ex-plode.

The use of wood for pellets, however, is causing concern among environmental ac-tivists, government agencies and competing sectors of the forest and paper industries. A study by a team of environmental organiza-tions, including the National Wildlife Federa-tion and the Southern Environmental Law Center, says the atmospheric impact of bio-mass production, at least in the short term, is not carbon neutral. But a number of studies argue otherwise.

While early domestic pellet demand was mostly bags for fi replace inserts and free-standing stoves, bulk delivery is increasing with greater demand for industrial boiler feedstock. In Europe, bulk deliveries to elec-tric power plants are common, as power gen-erators are under pressure to increase their use of renewable fuels by up to 20 percent.

Pellets are an excellent supplement to coal in power plants and can reduce carbon emissions by about 15 percent without dis-rupting current power plants and industrial processes, according to the February study “Biomass Supply and Carbon Account-ing for Southeastern Forests.” With about half of the electricity in the U.S. produced by coal plants, a domestic switch to wood pellets represents another huge market op-portunity.

Certifi cationAs with any fuel source, customers

want to know where the feedstock comes from and if it is sustainable. Third-party cer-tifi cation is a valuable tool to reassure them that pellets come from sustainably managed forests, eliminating the need to continually justify that the resource is renewable. It is a growing criterion for export to Europe, where numerous policies mandate renew-able energy production.

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative, American Tree Farm System, Forest Stew-ardship Council, and Program for the En-dorsement of Forest Certifi cation are the largest forest certifi cation standard organi-zations and systems in the world. SFI and FSC are recognized in the U.S., while FSC and PEFC have solid reputations in Eu-rope. Moreover, PEFC recognizes the SFI and American Tree Farm Standards as crite-rion for its Chain of Custody program.

All major certifi cation programs in-clude chain-of-custody standards and land management standards. The latter require protection of water, wildlife, visual quality, special sites and other important resources. Chain-of-custody standards allow consum-ing mills to track wood inputs back to in-dependently certifi ed forests. All programs mandate compliance with national laws and regulations, as well as different balances be-tween social, environmental and economic considerations.

Standards »

Includes wood use among projects with confi rmed start dates.

SOURCE: RISI WOOD BIOMASS MARKET REPORT

North American Wood Biomass Demand


« Standards

About 19 percent of U.S. commer-cial forestland is certifi ed to three major U.S. standards, but certifi ed lands are not evenly distributed. Most are located in the lake states, in the midst of large state and county public ownerships, while the major-ity of forestlands in the south are owned by small private family owners and are not widely certifi ed. The challenge for the U.S. in general is the roughly 10 million fi ercely independent family forest owners who own 60 percent of the forest land.

SFI incorporates a third approach to its standards: the certifi ed sourcing claim, by which consuming mills that procure wood can also be third-party certifi ed to use the SFI claim and label. While not a chain-of-custody certifi cation, the certifi ed sourcing procurement standard requires promotion of sustainable forestry with those that own the forests, but does not require that land-owners undergo separate third-party audits of their forests.

To make a chain-of-custody claim where certifi ed and uncertifi ed wood is mixed together, the uncertifi ed portion of the wood supply must be from sources that meet the respective FSC controlled wood and/or the SFI and PEFC noncontrover-sial criteria.

The FSC controlled wood standard dic-tates fi ve categories that must be avoided: il-legally harvested wood; wood harvested in violation of traditional or civil rights; wood harvested in forests where high conserva-tion values are threatened by management activities; wood harvested in forests being converted to plantations or non-forest use; and wood harvested from forests that con-tain genetically modifi ed trees.

Claims and LabelsThe home or bagged pellet market of-

fers a real opportunity to prominently affi x an on-product label to packages. That cre-ates, in theory, demand pull where discrimi-

nating consumers look for the certifi ed pellets the next time they shop. The most common on-product labels are attractive and help communicate certifi cation efforts to the customer. Each standard has rules for the use of its trademarks and labels.

Wood products customers have adopt-ed procurement policies seeking to weed out wood that is not legally sourced or from sustainably managed forests. The European Commission recently adopted a regulation that will require operators, including im-porters, to exercise due diligence to assure legality.

“Certifi cation has been one of the tools to encourage the sustainability of for-est management and allow consumers to discriminate positively in favor of wood products originating from sustainably man-aged forests,” reads a statement from the European Commission.

But some customers do not understand the different and often competing certifi ca-

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Standards »

tion standards. It is also understandable that pellet manufacturers don’t know where to start and are equally confused by the array of standards, claims and labels. Many pro-curement policies support major certifi ca-tion schemes to ensure maximum availabil-ity of certifi ed wood inputs.

Companies in other sectors of the wood and paper industry can attest that without substantial assistance, they would not be able to achieve certifi cation in a timely and effi cient manner. Because pellet manufacturers are in the middle of the sup-ply chain between their customers and the wood supply base, it is critical to understand which certifi cation standards are the best.

So, what’s a pellet company to do to satisfy its customer base and ensure mar-ket access? Clearly, pellet producers need to take steps to address the new market real-ties dictated by the increasing demand for renewable, certifi ed products.

Certifi cation ProcessPellet producers interested in certi-

fi cation should fi rst conduct an internal gap analysis addressing demand for certi-fi ed product, type of certifi cation needed (chain-of-custody or certifi ed sourcing), availability of certifi ed wood inputs, market opportunity to label product, and whether customers are willing to pay a premium for certifi ed wood pellets.

Next, producers need to compare their situation to the standards in order to deter-mine which certifi cation protocol best fi ts their objectives. Discussions with the stan-dard-setting bodies, trade associations and specialized, experienced consultants can simplify the process.

The U.S. wood pellet industry is no longer below the radar. While hurdles such as wood supply, transportation and markets still linger, certifi cation removes consumer and environmental group concerns, per-haps before they even develop, and favor-

ably positions the pellet industry squarely in the renewable clean fuel camp.

Those pellet producers who get ahead of the learning curve have a better chance at being successful. Those who do not ad-dress customer concerns about the sustain-ability of the forest could face a number of jarring speed bumps along the way.

Producers should ensure that they know more about forest certifi cation issues and applicable standards, claims and labels than their customers do, and that they are prepared to assure customers that their wood pellets are legally and sustainably sourced.

Authors: Scott BergR.S. Berg & Associates, Inc.


Ron LovaglioRon Lovaglio, LLC


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