Wood Pellet Periodical

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A Call for Transparency in Dutch Sustainability Rulemaking

Seth Ginther says transparency is key to effective policymaking when developing sustainability criteria for solid biomass. The Netherlands began this process behind closed doors, initiating an industry call to open the process to the public.

  By Seth Ginther | January 13, 2015

The industrial wood pellet industry has spent the past several years working closely with policymakers at the European Union level and within its member states on developing sustainability criteria for solid biomass.  Transparency in these processes is key to effective policymaking.  In fact, the World Trade Organization agrees with that concept, and one of the tenets of its Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement is that the signatory countries to the TBT will undertake any regulatory standards making process, including sustainability criteria, in an open and transparent manner with public consultation and input. 

In that vein, when the United Kingdom, a signatory to the TBT, developed its sustainability criteria for solid biomass, it did so by involving all stakeholders, keeping the process open to the public. The U.K. government went about its work in a very public manner issuing a number of consultations through the U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change.  The public was provided with drafts of various proposals and was given time to provide comment on those proposals.  That process culminated with the most robust set of sustainability criteria on solid biomass ever enacted, and those criteria ensure delivery of a sustainable product, while also being reasonable and workable within North American forest products markets. 

Let's contrast that process and its result with earlier this year, when the Netherlands began its process of creating sustainability criteria for solid biomass.  Unlike the U.K. government, Netherlands, which is also a signatory to the TBT and therefore legally required to have a transparent rulemaking process, decided to establish its sustainability criteria for solid biomass through a closed and secretive process that does not allow for any stakeholder consultation or public engagement or comment.  The Dutch government has failed to publish any form of public stakeholder consultation at any point over the past several months, nor has it released an official draft of any proposal, making it impossible for civil society to comment on those drafts. 

Instead, civil society has been forced to rely upon a secretive expert group on sustainability to try to reach an agreement on criteria. As of this writing, that secretive expert group has failed to reach an agreement and we understand that Minister Henk Kamp, the Dutch Minister for Economic Affairs will have to make some decisions on his own. We now call on Minister Kamp to do what he should have done all along—abide by the binding obligations of the TBT and open up the process for establishing sustainability criteria for solid biomass. 

We call upon the Netherlands to open the process to all stakeholders and the public. We stand ready to work closely with the Netherlands on developing sustainability criteria that satisfies both environmental and economic considerations. To move forward with the current closed process only harms the credibility of the Dutch government in the global marketplace and hinders the ability of the Netherlands to meet its EU-mandated renewable energy targets.

Author: Seth Ginther

Executive Director

U.S. Industrial Pellet Association

original article found here - http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/11412/a-call-for-transparency-in-dutch-sustainability-rulemaking

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Context is critical in telling the biomass story.

What I Learned from Danny Fortson

By Tim Portz

October 21, 2014

  Editor’s Note: In June, I participated in a media tour organized by Drax to have a look at the pellet facilities it is building, its pellet handling facility in Port Allen, Louisiana, and some of the working forests that will supply the pellet facilities with their requisite fiber. The other writer joining the tour was Danny Fortson, who at the time was a senior business reporter for The Sunday Times in London. Danny was there to write a piece for the Sunday Times about Drax’s biomass journey which reaches all the way back to the loblolly forests of Louisiana and Mississippi. Danny was joined by a photojournalist named Jez Coulson. The two of them are professionals in every sense of the word. Danny and Jez saw everything I saw. They met the same people. They walked the same streets in Gloster that I did and they flew in a helicopter over the same tracts of forest that I did. How then did Danny produce a story, illustrated with Jez’s photographs, that was so different than my own? I’ve read and re-read Danny’s story (the bulk of Danny’s story sits behind a pay-wall. The monthly subscription fee is less than $2, however)  and think Danny’s piece really illuminates the challenge this industry faces as it tries to gain credibility and acceptance with the general public.

 1. Images are as capable of conveying misinformation as information. While I don’t know where the image ended up in the print version of the story, the first image in the online story is one we have all seen before. A worker stands in front of a large pile of recently felled logs. The photograph is a strong composition and the logs seem to glow with a light of their own. The gentleman in the lower left hand side of the picture serves to establish scale. The problem I have with the photograph is it perpetuates a common misconception about the kinds of trees and fiber that end up in pellet mills. Coulson took this photograph at Rex Lumber near Brookhaven, Mississippi. These trees will never see the inside of a pellet mill. Instead they will be converted into the high-value dimensional lumber and sheeted materials that drive the entire forest products industry. These trees are far more valuable than the trees that will ultimately become wood pellets. 

2. Words carry emotion. All writers know this simple fact. Word choice is determined by the writer and possibly/probably that writer’s editor. The words used are directly connected to the emotion the writer and his or her editor wants you to feel. The subhead (the phrase immediately below the headline in a story) in Danny’s story reads, “Britain’s most toxic power station, Drax in North Yorkshire, is going green – by burning trees ripped from the forests of Mississippi. Is this eco-madness?” Toxic. Ripped. Eco-madness. Danny’s subhead would read very differently by simply replacing those three words. With those three words swapped out, the headline could read, “Britain’s largest power station, Drax in North Yorkshire is going green – by burning trees harvested from the forests of Mississippi. Is this sustainable?” The latter delivers the reader to a very different emotional place than the former. 

3. Context is crucial. I’ve spent nearly two years covering the story of the Drax conversion. There isn’t a week that goes by when I don’t read, write or talk about the pellet industry generally and Drax’s conversion story specifically. After two years, I feel like I’m just starting to get a sense of how Drax’s conversion fits into the larger stories of the forest products industry, climate change mitigation, global trade, government policy and even local economic development. Simply stated, Danny hasn’t and his piece just doesn’t offer much context to his readers. The sentence that I first underlined in Danny’s piece was, “Is it really “green” to chop down hundreds of thousands of trees and ship them 4,000 miles across the Atlantic so they can be incinerated in Britain?” I suppose the question is fair, but its answer is complicated. What is missing from this sentence is context. Drax’s demand for wood pellets did not give rise to the movement of wood fiber across the Atlantic. It may sound more dramatic to allow a reader to come to that conclusion, but it just isn’t factually accurate. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations maintains a very good website full of information about global movement of agricultural and forestry commodities. It allows a user to look at import quantities and values of all manner of grown and harvested goods. Avocadoes to Wood Pellets. A snapshot of forest products imported by the UK during 2013 shows that wood pellets are just a portion of a massive movement of wood fiber into the UK across a broad swath of product categories. One of the largest categories of imported wood fiber in the UK? Newsprint. Nearly 6 million tons of product code 1876 “Paper and Paperboard” were imported into the United Kingdom, far more than the 3.3 million tons of pellets they imported in the same year. If we are comfortable moving fiber from the United States to the UK for Sunday papers, why do we wince when we move fiber to the UK to power the presses that print those newspapers? Danny closes out one of his paragraphs saying, “It claims that Britain could soon be burning “six times as much wood as all our forests currently produce each year.” Again, this statement is missing context. The UK cannot meet its fiber needs with UK forest inventories. It can’t. The pellet industry and Drax’s conversion to wood pellets didn’t cause fiber demand in the UK and if Drax reverted to coal tomorrow, the UK would still be a very, very large importer of American wood fiber. Context.

4. Deciding who pays the bill for a transition to a low carbon economy will be tough. The portion of Danny’s story that I thought was most thought provoking were the questions he raised about the household economics of how the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change expects to pay for its move toward less carbon intensive energy questions. Fortson reports that nearly 2.3 million households in the UK have fallen into “fuel poverty” which Fortson describes as households whose income falls below the poverty line when power bills are taken out. I’m fascinated by the bigger question. The overwhelming majority of scientists suggest that climate change is being caused in part by man’s reliance on fossil fuels loaded with geologic carbon. To slow the rate of change, we have to drive this geologic carbon out of our energy mix. That said, as the incumbent it is very difficult to compete with fossil fuels on price. If the UK wants cheap power, it should absolutely stick with coal. But the UK has decided on a different energy future, an energy future with lower carbon energy. For now, this will cost more. The tough part for everyone in renewables is convincing everyone that the cost of NOT transitioning away from fossil fuels and geologic carbon will have to be paid by someone, somewhere. 

I’ll conclude by suggesting that you read Danny’s article. Find a copy. Pay to get beyond the pay wall. Do whatever you’ve got to do, because as a participant in this industry it is vital that we all think about how our story is being told. Finally, I enjoyed spending time with Danny and Jez. They aren't out to get this industry. They did their best to tell a story. My intent here today was to illuminate how difficult that very simple goal can be.

Original article found here - http://www.biomassmagazine.com/blog/article/2014/10/what-i-learned-from-danny-fortson

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The White House “gets it” on the carbon benefits of working forests. Now it's EPA's turn.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Earlier this week the White House unveiled its Climate and Natural Resources Priority Agenda (Agenda) laying out specific actions and policies supporting President Obama's Climate Action Plan.  Forest owners welcomed the Administration's recognition of the significant contributions forests and forest products make toward our nation's climate solution.  The Agenda effectively knits together the established carbon benefits of wood construction and biomass energy markets with tax and data collection policies that, combined, sustain the economic viability of working forests and the substantial climate benefits they provide.  In short, it shows the Administration "gets it" - working forests work for the climate.

Yet, lurking behind the positive announcement from the White House is the lingering uncertainty about how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will treat working forests in forthcoming policies.  

Although the White House’s Agenda is the latest in a series of government positions endorsing the climate benefits of forest biomass, EPA has yet to resolve the uncertainty it created a few years ago on how the Agency will treat biomass in its rules and permits.  EPA cannot delay any further.  In parallel to the White House Agenda, EPA is moving forward to respond quickly to a recent Supreme Court decision that begs the biomass question to be answered.  EPA is also moving quickly on regulations for existing power plants that put the biomass issue front and center. EPA cannot delay a final decision any further, and must act now with certainty given these pending decisions.  

Simply put, a biomass misstep on either of these decisions would impede progress on the White House's Agenda.  As long as the EPA biomass question remains unanswered, the efficacy of the rest of the Administration's forest carbon agenda is in doubt. EPA is the agency that creates the binding rules implementing the Administration’s policy.

EPA has assembled a significant administrative record over the past four years clearly establishing the science, policy and legal underpinnings for declaring the carbon benefits of biomass energy and working forests.  Over the next several weeks the agency should seize this significant opportunity to put an exclamation point on the White House Agenda by declaring once and for all that biomass energy is carbon beneficial and part of the climate solution in each of the agency's pending policies.

In order for EPA to do this, it must keep its policies clear and simple.  They must clearly state the carbon benefits of biomass and working forests without equivocation.  They must also use simple approaches to measure and apply those benefits.  Anything short of this will perpetuate the pall the agency cast over working forests four years ago when it declared in error that biomass should be treated the same as fossil fuels.

Forest owners are hopeful that EPA will do the right thing.  Administrator McCarthy has indicated repeatedly her support for biomass and working forests.  The White House has given the EPA both clear direction that working forests are a critical part of the climate change solution and a signal to remove the biomass question mark once and for all.  It's time for the agency to step on the accelerator and demonstrate that it also "gets it" by quickly bringing its policies into full alignment with the rest of the Administration.

Dave Tenny, NAFO President and CEO

Original blog post found here - http://www.nafoalliance.org/media-room/nafo-blog/469-the-white-house-gets-it-on-the-carbon-benefits-of-working-forests-now-it-s-epa-s-turn

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Miami Advice: The Hottest Topics at USIPA's 4th Annual Exporting Pellets Conference

Tim Portz's candid assessment of the hottest topics at this year's U.S. Industrial Pellet Association Exporting Pellets Conference.

By Tim Portz 

October 06, 2014

The U.S. Industrial Pellet Association’s 4th Annual Exporting Pellets conference wrapped on Friday after three consecutive sweltering days that drove evening receptions inside, making the Fontainebleau’s stunning ocean views available only to those willing to withstand the heat. Few did. 

The conference’s agenda unfolded similarly to last year’s, with the opening panel populated by European utilities and closed with a panel of North American pellet producers. Between these two now-traditional bookends were panels on market outlooks, sustainability, finance, supply chain, policy and an overview of dust control hazards. 

Largely, the panel discussions were well attended and each took a deep dive into their respective topics, but for me, the conference hinged on four recurrent themes.

1. The debate over the future size of the global pellet market is ongoing and increasingly contentious. Without question, the takeaway from the day-one panel was that almost universally, the European utilities feel that near- and long-term market projections are overblown. The opening panel’s most vocal critic of recent market forecasts was Drax’s Matthew Rivers, who called a recent report authored by RISI economist Seth Walker a “forecast without foundation.”  Walker’s forecast calls for a global pellet market in 2024 of 50 million tons. Rivers was candid about his frustration with the report and suggested that these kinds of rosy forecasts lead to “economic inefficiency” with projects entering the development funnel that will likely never make it to groundbreaking. Rivers was also candid about his belief that continued discussion of a rapidly growing pellet market did more harm than good drawing more and more nongovernmental organizations into the debate. Interestingly, the event’s keynote, Nigel Adams, a member of parliament from Selby reported that over 60 percent of British citizens support the notion of biomass repowering, and only 7 percent reporting opposition. I asked Rivers to comment on what I thought was a discrepancy, and he replied that the size of the opposition had little to do with their ability to cause the industry problems. That said, as a someone who spends time covering the American biofuels space, I stand by my notion that 7 percent opposition rates are enviable. RISI’s Seth Walker would have his opportunity to retort before the conference was over. Walker was the first speaker on the day 2 “New Markets Roundtable” and opened his remarks by defending his market forecast and suggesting that actually his 50 million tons number was among the more conservative market forecasts he had seen. The discrepancy between the various forecasts was the conference’s biggest networking break talker, and Rivers' bearish comments certainly got producers talking. That said, the most conservative forecast offered at the event (by Rivers and Hawkins Wright’s John Bingham) suggest the industry will continue to enjoy solid growth and is likely to grow to over 30 to 32 million tons per annum. Walker stood his ground and a Poyry graph showed up later in the event that aligned with Walker’s 50 million-ton forecast.

2. Europeans continue to wonder about the overall sustainability of North American forestry. The ongoing debate about sustainability finished a close second to debates about market projections. Time after time European speakers expressed that European policy makers, thought leaders, editorial teams and citizens were wary of a biomass solution that could lead to deforestation, lack of biodiversity, water quality issues and other environmental maladies. At every turn, those closest to the North American forest complex pointed to a century-long tradition of serving forest products markets while maintaining and even increasing forest inventories. This, I think, is the industry’s most interesting conversation because of the many variables that go into the discussion. There are facets of the conversation that hinge on the differences between European and North American notions of land ownership; discussions about why forests are grown in the first place; how strong markets correlate with increased reinvestment in forests; the relative value offered to the forestry segment by the growing pellet market (pellet producers can’t compete with pulp and paper buyers on price); and finally I think it is fair to say that the incredible size of the resource is lost on most European citizens.  Wikipedia offers that Canada and the U.S. have forested areas of roughly 3 million square kilometers each. The closest European country to those incredible numbers? Sweden, at one-tenth that size. The vastness of the North American forest resource boggles the European mind. While forest landowners welcome a new market for lower-value pulpwood, they find assertions that demand from pellet markets will place an unmanageable burden on forests dubious to say the least. Finally, it is clear that while larger timber owners like TIMOs and REITs are prepared to invest in certification and annual audits, landowners with smaller tracts see these as an expensive confirmation of practices they are already bound to federal and state laws as well as their own interests. 

3. The South Korean market is here and growing. The conference was barely five minutes old before South Korea got its first mention. Seth Ginther suggested there were some tired eyes in the audience as a number of the attendees had spent the previous week in South Korea for the Biomass Pellets Trade & Power conference. South Korean generators have opted for co-firing instead of the conversions that are being pursued in the United Kingdom and deliveries are showing strong growth over the last two quarters. There was a great graph shared with attendees that showed the classic “hockey-stick” moment that the industry expected has arrived. Once published on the USIPA conference website I’ll circle back and link to it. This new market is not without challenges, nor competitors. So far, the demand is being satisfied by producers in the region including pellet producers in Vietnam. FutureMetrics economics Bill Strauss advised caution and reported that South Korean generator’s are “ruthless on price.” Still, other panelists suggested that South Korean demand buoyed summertime pellet prices. Eve3n RWE’s Henry Pease, who shares Rivers’ more measured market attitudes said, “It is now a living breathing market.” Finally, South Korean pellet handling infrastructure is nonexistent and those that attended that South Korean conference reported seeing pellet deliveries sitting quayside covered only by a simple tarp.

4. The line between the heating market and power market is beginning to blur. Conference attendees universally swooned over the heating market,and I expect interest from Ginther’s members to continue to grow over the next year. The heating market is “subsidy independent” a catch phrase introduced into the conference lexicon by Ginther and echoed throughout the venue. Eckman’s Arnold Dale reported that the heating market for pellets is growing at a rate of nearly 1.5 million tons per annum. Interestingly, Dale opined that both Germany and Austria were likely to become net pellet importers within five years. The quality requirements required for producers to serve this market are certainly steeper than the quality required by power buyers. 60 percent of the pellets purchased by European customers buying pellets to produce heat are ENplus certified and interest in ENplus certification by North American producers offered the conferences second “hockey stick” with 640,000 tons of production capacity now ENplus certified.

Honorable Mentions: Other items getting multiple mentions and discussion in no particular order.

- The 3.5 million-ton pellet market in the Netherlands.

- Commissioning of Zilkha’s first commercial-scale, steam exploded pellet productions facility.

- Pellets produced from agricultural residues.

- Drax and Ontario Power Generation as proof of concept for more North American coal power stations. 

Original article found here - http://www.biomassmagazine.com/blog/article/2014/10/miami-advice

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USIPA Conference Wraps With Impassioned Producer Panel

By Tim Portz

October 03, 2014

The 2014 Export Pellets Conference concluded with a panel comprised of a selection of the producer members of the U.S. Industrial Pellet Association, moderated by the organization’s executive director, Seth Ginther.

 The session began with brief updates from each of the producers about their accomplishments and activities from the previous year. Joining the panel for the first time and introducing himself to the conference delegation was E-Pellets Group CEO Doug Albrecht. E-Pellets recently acquired the formally boarded up Louisiana Pacific OSB mill in Athens, Georgia, to convert it into a wood pellet production facility. The facility is expected to produce 450,000 metric tons annually by August 2015.  

Most notable during this introductory segment was an announcement from Zilkha Biomass CEO Jack Holmes that Zilkha’s first commercial-scale facility producing the much anticipated steam exploded pellets would be operational in January and expected to deliver its first shipment of pellets to Europe in March of 2015.

The bulk of the remaining discussion revolved around the continuing struggle producers are having placing their industry within the broader framework of North American forestry for skeptical foreign media outlets, nongovernmental organizations and policymakers. While earlier in the conference it was established that over 60 percent of British citizens support the use of biomass for power production, pellet producers are wary of a vocal and well organized minority adamantly opposed to the use of woody biomass as a coal replacement.

A Sept. 28 story published in the London Sunday times was referenced during the Q&A session, in which the author of the article, Danny Fortson described the regulation of North American forestry as “notoriously lax.”

Mike Williams of Westervelt Renewable Energy reacted to the quote and said, “We are more highly regulated than most people realize.” He cited the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Environmental Protection Agency as federal regulations that impact the activities of all forestry practices. He continued by citing the company’s voluntary certification programs and said, “I would invite him [Fotrson] to participate in our Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Forest Stewardship Council and Best Management Practice audits.

Morten Neraas, president and CEO from Green Circle added, “Often times people get on a crusade and begin to conveniently ignore the facts.” Ginther continued the conversation and recounted a meeting that he and USIPA Chairman Harold Arnold had with members of Greenpeace in England earlier this summer. “They simply had not taken a deep dive into how forestry worked,” said Ginther. Arnold followed Ginther and said, “I want to believe that these organizations have noble goals,” but then pivoted and called NGO practices “sensationalism” deployed largely to motivate the organization’s supporters to contribute more money to NGO coffers.

Despite the frustration, the panel was unanimous in their understanding that if they hoped to enjoy a long-term market opportunity in the U.K., this was a conversation they were going to have to continue to engage in. “The utilities are telling us to give them what they need to prove that what they are doing is sustainable and legal, and we need to be able to do that,” said Williams.

As the panel drew to a close, producers were asked to imagine what the pellet market would like in 2027 as the subsidies that support their use in British power plants expire that year. Ginther suggested that the industry would need to begin thinking and strategizing about how to become “subsidy independent” and others on the panel referred to the end of subsidies as a “cliff” that was now just over a decade away. Production and transportation efficiencies were all mentioned and progress in those categories were expected and cited, but no panelist thought these improvements and savings would be enough. “The cost of the fuel will never drive all of the cost reductions needed,” said Arnold.  While power stations in the U.S. and Canada were mentioned as potential candidates for future market growth, the panel cited a strong coal lobby and low shale gas prices as a barrier to the growth of that market.

Before the panel wrapped, Williams returned to the question of the industry’s overall sustainability and wondered aloud, “I just don’t understand how people would think we would destroy the resource that we rely on for our business.”

  Original artical found here- http://www.biomassmagazine.com/articles/11027/usipa-conference-wraps-with-impassioned-producer-panel

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USIPA Conference Opens with Blend of Optimism and Caution

USIPA conference opens with blend of optimism and caution

By Tim Portz 

October 02, 2014

The fourth annual Exporting Pellets Conference, hosted and produced by the U.S. Industrial Pellet Association, opened on the afternoon of Oct. 1 in Miami, with a blend of reported progress and urged caution. 

USIPA Executive Director Seth Ginther began by reporting that the 62 member companies that comprise USIPA are producing pellets for a market with “more certainty now than there was twelve months ago.” Ginther went on to draw attention to a handful of the world’s most nascent pellet markets including the Netherlands and South Korea. “You might see some folks in this room that look a little tired, as many of them spent some time in South Korea last week,” said Ginther.

Ginther then welcomed Nigel Adams, a member of the British Parliament from Selby, which boasts nearly 10 percent of the United Kingdom’s power production capacity. Adams offered that public support for the use of biomass continues to be strong in the U.K. with 63 percent of British citizens reporting they are in favor of the use of biomass for power production. “Biomass is recognized as the lowest cost, flexible dispatchable form of renewable energy,” he said. Adams continued saying, “Biomass is doing quite well among regulators and politicians.” 

Adams then transitioned into a more cautious tone and urged the audience to recognize that the U.K.’s appetite for pellets is not limitless and that the government’s financial support for renewables has limits. “The coal-to-biomass conversions that you already know about are likely to be it,” he reported.  One of the reasons that no new coal conversion capacity should be expected is that the financial support that is critical to making conversions pencil out is being directed to other renewable technologies. Noting this reality, Adams said, “It is a tragedy that so much of the U.K.’s support for renewables has been spent on technologies that are for more expensive and far less reliable than biomass.”

The event’s opening stanza concluded with a now traditional panel of USIPA’s principal buyers, European power companies including representatives from RWE, GDF Suez, Drax, Dong and Vatenfall. Moderated by Thomas Meth, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Enviva, the panel echoed Adams’ blended tone of cautious optimism.

Drax’s Matthew Rivers expressed increasing concern over a level of activity in the sector that he suggested outstripped the actual opportunity. Rivers pointed to a recently publishedmarket forecast by RISI that reported the global pellet market could grow to 50 million tons by 2024, saying it offered, “future expectations without foundation.” Rivers suggested that this bullish market optimism was drawing increased scrutiny to the sector. “The sector depends upon the license to operate,” he said. Rivers continued by pointing to the pressure that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are putting on policymakers as the wood pellet industry continues to gain momentum. 

Unwanted fervor and scrutiny or not, biomass continues to be a strategy power producers will deploy as they work to drive carbon out of their production portfolios. “What biomass allows us to do is to give aging coal facilities another life,” said Jens Price Wolf, director of thermal power asset management and development at DONG Energy. 

The panel concluded with a robust discussion about some of the key messages the broader biomass-to-energy industry needed to bolster in the coming year. Two themes emerged. First, panelists urged the industry to continue in its efforts to demonstrate that its fiber sources are sustainable. Second, nearly every panelist suggested that there was a tremendous opportunity to educate policymakers about the advantages that biomass has over other forms of renewable energy. In a policy environment where financial support is not unlimited, the panelists stressed that the dispatchable, low-cost, base load qualities of biomass needed to be communicated again and again.

Despite the cautionary tone taken by Rivers and others, the panel was unanimous in confirming that the industry had enviable near-term growth opportunities. The panel pointed to a heating market in Europe that already creates a larger market for pellets than power production and is growing at a million-ton-per-year clip. And while panelists may take issue with some of the more aggressive market forecasts, they all agree that the market for wood pellets will continue to steadily rise over the next few years. Finishing off the panel on a high note, Vattenfall’s Jason Woods stated, “we should all be excited to be in a market that is set to double.”

The 4th annual Exporting Pellets Conference is taking place at the Fontainebleau in Miami and concludes on Oct. 3. 

Original article found here - http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/11015/usipa-conference-opens-with-blend-of-optimism-and-caution/

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Positive Horizons for US Pellets Around the Globe

September 15, 2014 Look across the horizon for the industrial-grade wood pellet market, and you will see many positive developments for the industry. Not only is the industry achieving policy certainty and government support for biomass across the European Union, but also new markets are beginning to emerge in Asia. There are also opportunities opening up here at home in the U.S., and within the robust residential heat market in Europe. The southeastern U.S. has spent the past decade developing the necessary infrastructure and supply chain to bring wood pellets to the world. Over the past several years, the U.S. has become the No. 1 exporter of wood pellets to Europe, exporting over 2.7 million tons of wood pellets in 2013 alone. Industrial-grade wood pellets in the U.S. are harvested from forest products residues, such as sawdust, tree tops and limbs, and other fiber unusable for saw logs. Providing a market for this low-value fiber keeps the forest healthy by removing debris that would otherwise be left to rot or burn, and by allowing more space for replanting. This industry also gives a small financial boost to the forest products market overall, which encourages private landowners to keep their land well-managed and forested, rather than converting to other uses such as agriculture or commercial development. All this results in a product that is good for the forest, good for the economy and good for the environment. Biomass is currently the only renewable energy than can provide low-carbon, low-cost power that can balance the energy grid. The European Union is leading the world in reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change, and the wood pellet industry is poised and ready to play a large role in these efforts. As EU member states analyze their current energy portfolios, many are seeing the benefits of using woody biomass to reach their renewable energy goals. The demand for industrial wood pellets for biomass conversions has been growing steadily in the U.K., Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. There are dozens of projects in the supply chain, each of which will require a continuous and ever-increasing wood pellet supply. The market in Asia is also promising. South Korea will need to rely heavily on imports for wood pellet supply because of the lack of domestic forest resources. It is estimated that 75 to 80 percent of its supply will need to be imported by 2020. Japan also has made commitments to reducing the use of fossil fuels and has ramped up both importation and domestic production of wood pellets. The residential heat market in Western Europe will also offer some trading opportunities for producers, as Europe has predicted that its domestic supply will not be able to meet demand in the coming years. Additionally, with the recent commitment from President Obama to reduce carbon emissions 30 percent by 2030, we expect to see growth in the biomass market domestically as well. As we look out across the market place, we see industrial wood pellets playing a large role in mitigating climate change both here at home and around the world, and the U.S. stands ready to continue to provide a steady, sustainable supply to meet this growing demand. ---------- Seth Ginther Executive Director U.S. Industrial Pellet Association Original article found here - http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/10919/positive-horizons-for-us-pellets-around-the-globe

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Society of American Foresters Releases Report on Carbon Accounting for Bioenergy

New Research Shows Markets and Timing Matter When Accounting for Biogenic Carbon Bethesda, MD, September 9 The Society of American Foresters (SAF) has published “Forest Carbon Accounting Considerations in US Bioenergy Policy” in the Journal of Forestry. The article, which was authored by an SAF-sponsored team comprised of some of the US’s leading forest carbon experts, identifies and examines scientific-based insights essential to understanding forest bioenergy and “carbon debts.” As noted by Reid Miner, the lead author and chair of the SAF team, the article’s insights, which are built on a comprehensive review of the most current literature, illustrate why quantifying the full spectrum of forest-based activities is critical when accounting for biogenic carbon and carbon dioxide, and why policymakers should consider that:  Even while the greenhouse-gas benefits of sustainable forest biomass energy are sometimes delayed, it is well established that these benefits are substantial over the long term. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has reported that peak global temperature is likely to be determined by long-term cumulative CO2 emissions, and that forest-based energy and products help limit cumulative CO2 emissions. An accurate comparison of the carbon impacts of forest biomass energy with those of other energy sources requires the use of consistent timeframes in the comparison. Landowner responses to increased wood demand can have a significant influence on the carbon impacts of forest biomass energy. The release of this article comes as a number of groups await the Environmental Protection Agency’s Carbon Accounting Framework for Biogenic Carbon Emissions, following a three-year deferral to examine the issue. Roger Sedjo, a member of both the SAF team and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) said, “I was concerned about the complexity of the SAB recommendations that resulted from our discussions, and was also uncertain whether the SAB process captured the importance of market dynamics, including the effects of markets on forest investment levels. The magnitude and timing of benefits from use of forest bioenergy depends upon availability of markets for wood products. This article clearly shows how influential markets are as we consider how forest biomass factors into our energy future.” Sedjo also noted that timing of carbon benefits is often misrepresented in current literature—something that is also addressed in this article. University of Washington scientist Elaine Oneil added, “In the West, reducing forest biomass density is an effective means of stemming the threat of large-scale intensive wildfires. Generally, the non-merchantable residues from thinning projects are burned on site to reduce fire risk and improve forest health. Utilizing residues to produce biomass energy, instead of burning them in the forest, returns carbon to the atmosphere at the same time as burning residues on site without energy recovery, so the net impact of energy production on biogenic carbon emissions is essentially zero and the benefits from using residues for energy are immediate. However, these benefits are not possible without markets for these residues.” North Carolina State Professor Robert Abt was impressed by the SAF team’s work, which represents different disciplines and regions of the country. “The study provides a comprehensive review of the science surrounding wood bioenergy and carbon emissions. Unlike many discussions, it recognizes the economic relationships among wood bioenergy uses, forest harvests, and forest investments by providing a review of both the theoretical rationale and the empirical evidence of the effect of an increase in wood demand on forest carbon. The literature demonstrates that increased demand for wood bioenergy can lead not only to increased harvests, but also to increased forest investments, which provide offsetting forest growth and associated offsetting increases in forest carbon.” SAF President Dave Walters, a Certified Forester (CF), expressed his satisfaction with the work of the team, saying, “SAF is dedicated to fostering scientific understanding informed by practice. I am proud that SAF was able to attract leaders in the fields of forest economics, substitution effects, and biogenic carbon accounting to inform the discussion of the treatment of biogenic carbon emissions.” SAF, chartered in 1900 to advance the science, education, technology, and practice of forestry for the benefit of society, will continue to work on behalf of its 12,000 professional members across the country to promote scientific understanding and encourage dialogue on this important issue that will impact forest management now and in the future. The article is available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.5849/jof.14-009 For more information on the article or the work of SAF on this issue please contact: John R. Barnwell, Director of Forest Policy, Society of American Foresters; [phone]; [email protected].

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The Many Benefits of Replacing Coal With Wood Pellet Fuel

The Many Benefits of Replacing Coal With Wood Pellet Fuel: Electricity generated from pellets in converted coal plants is almost the same cost as electricity generated from natural gas, by far the cheapest way to make new, low-carbon power. By William Strauss August 12, 2014 Use of fossil fuels is driving a rapid increase in the concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere and oceans. The combustion of coal, petroleum products and natural gas, as well as land use changes are, in a matter of a few centuries, releasing carbon that was captured over hundreds of millions of years. There is overwhelming consensus that if we are to mitigate the impacts of increasing CO2 concentrations, we need to change how we create energy. But there is also fear that in doing so we will inhibit economic growth and harm business. There is a simple and ready-to-deploy way of mitigating carbon from power generation that is good for growth and business. It is by converting older coal power plants to wood pellets. The cost of power from the converted plants is about the same as power generated from natural gas, and the strategy results in creating, rather than destroying, jobs. As a bonus, the strategy also provides a motivation to sustain and expand our working forests. One might think that there is no way that using wood pellets for fuel in a power plant can compete with fossil fuels. That would be true if the cost of the fuel were the only input to the total cost of generation. If only fuel cost mattered, utility-scale wind and solar power would be free, and nuclear power would be cheap. There are four key components to the equation that calculates the total cost of generation: repayment of the capital cost to build the plant, the fixed and variable operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, the fuel cost, and the plant’s capacity factor. For nuclear plants, there is a fifth component: decommissioning costs. The capacity factor is a ratio of how much power the plant actually generates versus what it could generate if it ran at 100 percent output every day of the year. Capacity factor matters because the cost of each megawatt-hour generated has to contain a portion of the repayment of the capital cost. Lower capacity factors, such as those for wind and solar, put a higher capital cost repayment burden on each megawatt-hour. Conversion of a pulverized coal plant to a pulverized wood pellet plant is relatively straightforward. Coal plants grind the coal into dust and then pneumatically transport that dust to wall-mounted burners in the boiler. The coal dust combusts very rapidly; almost like a liquid fuel. Grinding pellets into dust and using them in essentially the same hardware has been proven to be technically feasible. For example, England’s largest power plant has converted two of its six 650-MW boilers to use wood pellet fuel instead of coal. That plant is generating reliably and just as many megawatts are being generated from pellet fuel as from coal. The U.S. has 428 pulverized coal power plants larger than 50 MW, typically aged. For those plants to keep running, most will have to upgrade pollution control systems to meet sulfur, mercury and NOx emissions limits. The good news is that all of those older plants are fully paid for. That means that the initial capital cost component of the total cost equation can be ignored. The amortized capital cost is by far the largest contributor to the total cost of generation. Assuming that plants older than 35 years are fully paid for, even with pellet fuel 2.9 times more expensive per million Btu than coal, a converted coal plant generating power with pellets creates electricity at a rate that is less than one-third of a cent more expensive per kilowatt-hour than natural gas. Electricity generated from pellets in converted coal plants is almost the same cost as electricity generated from natural gas, by far the cheapest way to make new, low-carbon power. Not only does this strategy provide new low-cost, low-carbon capacity, it also has a very positive impact on job creation. It takes 2,540 jobs to provision a 500-MW coal plant with coal. To provision the same-sized power plant with pellet fuel takes 3,480 jobs. Long-term demand for sustainable refined pellet fuel will motivate the preservation of existing working forests. It will provide a strong market signal for investment in improving forest management and expanding the stock of trees in our forested lands. This is a strategy for decarbonization of the power sector that does not increase the cost of power, and actually adds jobs. It also incentivizes the expansion of our working forests, which will increase the amount of carbon sequestered. All of the fears about economic harm that typically paralyze the political process are missing. Our policymakers need to know that there is a way to be proactive on carbon without raising power rates and creating jobs. Author: William Strauss President, FutureMetrics www.futuremetrics.com Original article posted here - http://www.biomassmagazine.com/articles/10750/the-many-benefits-of-replacing-coal-with-wood-pellet-fuel

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U.K. DECC model confirms GHG benefits of North American pellets

From Biomass Magazine By Erin Voegele | July 24, 2014 On July 24, the U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change reported that scientific analysis has proven that biomass from North America can help decarbonize U.K. electricity supplies. The analysis is the result of a scientific calculator that investigates the impact on carbon emissions of biomass sourced from North America to produce electricity. That calculator finds that responsibly sourced biomass can be used in a low carbon and sustainable way. “In the short term, biomass can help us decarbonize our electricity supplies, and we are committed to supporting cost-effective, sustainably produced biomass,” said Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey. “This calculator shows that, done well, biomass can offer real carbon savings – which is why we are tightening our rules for sustainable biomass. Any producer who doesn’t meet those standards will lose financial support from next year.” The calculator, also known as the Bioenergy Emissions and Counterfactual Model, was developed by the DECC and can be used by developers to ensure biomass is sourced responsibly. According to the DECC, the model takes into account changes in the amount of carbon stored in forests over the lifetime of a biomass project. “The calculator looks at the changes in the amount of carbon stored in forests in North America when assessing the benefits and impacts of various bioenergy scenarios,” said David MacKay, chief scientific advisor at the DECC. It gives new information about which biomass resources are likely to have higher or lower carbon intensities, and so provides insight into a complex topic.” A technical report on the calculator, titled “Life Cycle Impacts of Biomass Electricity in 2020,” investigates a wide range of scenarios on the North American pellet industry, including current scenarios and potential future scenarios that could come to pass in a world with increased demand for biomass, such as pellets from wood derived from new, dedicated plantations. The scenarios range from those that are likely to happen to those that are possible but implausible. The authors of the report conclude that in 2020 it may be possible to meet the U.K.’s demand for solid biomass for electricity using biomass feedstocks from North America that result in electricity with greenhouse gas (GHG) intensities lower than 200 kilograms of CO2 equivalent per MWh (kg CO2e/MWh) when fully accounting for changes in land carbon stock changes. The report, however, also notes that some other bioenergy scenarios could lead to high GHG intensities, meaning those greater than electricity from coal when analyzed over 40 or 100 years, but would be found to have GHG intensities less than 200 kg CO2e/MWh by the Renewable Energy Directive LCA methodology. The report also concludes that the energy input requirement of biomass electricity generated from North American wood by the U.K. in 2020 is likely to range from 0.13 to 0.96 MWh energy carrier input per MWh delivered energy. The report specifies this is significantly greater than other electricity generating technologies. According to the report, the energy input requirement is the smallest when transport distances are minimized, the moisture content of biomass is reduced by passive drying and drying using local biomass as fuel, and when the energetic efficiency of the technology is maximized. The U.S. Industrial Pellet Association has spoken out to welcome the release of the calculator, noting it can play an important role in demonstrating that biomass from the U.S. produced from sawmill residues, thinnings and other low-value fiber can significantly reduce greenhouse gas and carbon emissions that will remain a valuable energy resource in mitigating climate change. The USIPA, however, also stressed that the calculator does not consider some of the factors that promote sustainable forest management in the U.S. “We are pleased to see the U.K. take the initiative to create a tool that will verify that responsibly sourced biomass is sustainable and carbon beneficial. This calculator, along with the U.K.’s strong sustainability requirements for biomass, can help policy makers with understanding the industry, and assist producers with ensuring their product is sustainable,” said USIPA Executive Director Seth Ginther. However, it should be noted that the calculator does not consider the economic, regulatory, and social conditions that also promote sustainable forest management in the U.S.,” Ginther continued. “The U.K. government should use the BEaC calculator in conjunction with these aspects of the industry to determine the full carbon benefits that the biomass life-cycle can bring. We look forward to working with the U.K. to continue to deliver this affordable, low-carbon energy source that is keeping the lights on while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” The Drax Goup plc has also weighed in on the DECC’s announcement, noting the North American focus area of the study was identified several years ago by Drax as one of its source areas due to the abundance of biomass that met the company’s own robust sustainability criteria. “Sustainability has always been absolutely central to our biomass strategy. The academic study by DECC confirms what Drax has always argued, that there is a right way to source biomass and a wrong way. We welcome that it confirms the fact that where biomass is sourced sustainably major carbon savings can be delivered,” said Dorothy Thompson, chief executive of Drax. “This study adds to the growing breadth of analysis on sustainable sourcing of biomass as a fuel for low carbon electricity generation. We look forward to working closely with U.K. Government and other EU stakeholders to improve further the knowledge and analysis in this complex area,” she continued. “When we complete our plans to convert three of our generating units to burn sustainable biomass in place of coal we will be able to deliver cost effective, renewable electricity to the equivalent of over three million homes and reduce our carbon emissions by over 10 million tons a year,” Thompson said. “No other renewable can make such an impact and provide electricity at scale day-in, day-out whatever the weather.” Copies of the technical report, BEAC model, and a user guide for the model can be downloaded from the DECC website here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-cycle-impacts-of-biomass-electricity-in-2020 Original article found here - http://www.biomassmagazine.com/articles/10699/u-k-decc-model-confirms-ghg-benefits-of-north-american-pellets

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USIPA Statement on DECC Biomass Emissions Calculator

*PRESS RELEASE* UK Biomass Calculator A Useful and Valuable Tool for the US Industrial Wood Pellet Industry Washington DC – July 24th, 2014: The US Industrial Pellet Association (USIPA) welcomes the release of the UK’s Bioenergy and Counterfactuals Model (BEaC) as an instrument for calculating biomass emissions. This calculator can play an important role in demonstrating that biomass from the US produced from sawmill residues, thinnings, and other low-value fiber can significantly reduce greenhouse gas and carbon emissions and will remain a valuable energy resource in mitigating climate change. The UK’s biomass emissions calculator is just one tool in the UK’s arsenal to promote the sustainability and carbon benefits of using biomass in place of coal. Combined with some of the most stringent biomass sustainability requirements in the world, the UK can ensure that the biomass it imports is sustainable and that new and existing projects can create the proper supply chains to produce this low-carbon renewable energy source. Speaking about the calculator, USIPA Executive Director Seth Ginther said, “We are pleased to see the UK take the initiative to create a tool that will verify that responsibly sourced biomass is sustainable and carbon beneficial. This calculator, along with the UK’s strong sustainability requirements for biomass, can help policy makers with understanding the industry, and assist producers with ensuring their product is sustainable. However, it should be noted that the calculator does not consider the economic, regulatory, and social conditions that also promote sustainable forest management in the US. The UK government should use the BEaC calculator in conjunction with these aspects of the industry to determine the full carbon benefits that the biomass life-cycle can bring. We look forward to working with the UK to continue to deliver this affordable, low-carbon energy source that is keeping the lights on while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” ****

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Wood Pellet Exports from Virginia Reach $22 Million in First Half of 2014

Governor McAuliffe Announces New Agricultural Exports to United Kingdom and European Union Animal Feed, Specialty Foods Deals Enhance Virginia's Position in Growing European Marketplace; Trade, Marketing Mission Also Continues Work To Expand Forest Product Exports 16 Jul 2014 LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Governor Terry McAuliffe today announced as part of his United Kingdom trade and marketing mission new export sales for Virginia agricultural and foodstuff products into the European market. Over the last several months, Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services' (VDACS) international marketing staff and Virginia's agricultural trade representative in Europe, Andrew Brown and Associates (ABA), based in Surry just outside of London, worked with several Virginia specialty food producers and an animal feed additive exporter to achieve new international sales from the Commonwealth. While sales figures are confidential, the trade deals represent new revenue streams for the exporting companies into the growing United Kingdom and European markets. Speaking about the new exports as he finishes the United Kingdom portion of an eight-day trade and marketing mission that also included several stops in China, Governor McAuliffe said, "One of my top job economic development priorities is to work with Virginia businesses, foreign purchasers, and government leaders from around the world to find new trade opportunities that grow Virginia’s economy. Finding new international sales provides more revenue and job creating opportunities for our producers and agribusinesses. The new exports also move us closer to my goal of making Virginia the East Coast capital for agricultural and forestry product exports." Over the four-day mission and in addition to meetings conducted by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) and Virginia Tourism Corporation, Governor McAuliffe, along with First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe, Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore, and VDACS and ABA staff, met with European agribusinesses and various specialty food and beverage importers to encourage more investment in Virginia and promote Virginia agricultural products. Meetings focused on thanking businesses and importers for recently completed deals and discussing ways to expand those relationships. Other meetings started dialogue on potential new export deals. “Virginia’s work in global agricultural and forestry product trade development and expansion has not been focused singularly on large-scale commodity exports, such as soybeans, corn, and other small grains," said Secretary Haymore. "Export sales are also important to smaller agribusinesses and family-owned operations, which are the backbone of Virginia’s economy and create the majority of jobs in the Commonwealth. Assisting those smaller-scale businesses has been a priority for the Governor and our international marketing and development teams in both Virginia and Europe.” Micron Bio-Systems is a smaller-scale agribusiness that has benefited from Virginia’s marketing push in Europe. The Buena Vista-based company produces feed additives for dairy cattle, poultry, swine, and other animal feed. The company focuses on additives, which preserve feed and diminish mold problems, benefiting the health of livestock and poultry. Working with Micron Bio-Systems, Virginia's European trade representatives helped secure a trade deal with Bio4Globe, a major farm supplies distributor covering France, Spain, and Portugal. Following a VDACS-organized reverse trade mission promoting speciality food products, FERIDIES, a Courtland-based producer of award-winning, extra large gourmet Virginia peanuts and peanut products, reached a deal with Cotswold Fayre to have a variety of products featured in the company's 2014 Christmas catalogue. Cotswold Fayre is a fine foods wholesaler supplying independent and high-end retailers in the United Kingdom with quality food and drink products sources from across the globe. Cotswold Fayre works in close partnership with its suppliers, most of whom are small producers not currently distributing through major United Kingdom supermarkets. Virginia’s European trade representatives worked with Dr. Lucy's, a Norfolk-based gluten- and allergen-free cookie manufacturer, to secure a new trade relationship with natural food distributor Tree of Life. The two companies reached an agreement regarding exclusive distribution in the United Kingdom. The deal marks Tree of Life's first-ever food product import from North America. Dr. Lucy's also received assistance from VEDP's Virginia Leaders in Export Trade (VALET) program, which helped the company research new markets to focus on and provided introductions to international consumer products experts, banks, and legal consultants. Tree of Life was established almost 20 years ago originally as Natures Store. The company is now the largest wholesaler in the United Kingdom's 'Nutrition & Healthy Lifestyle' sector. Tree of Life distributes over 14,000 premium products including organic foods, general health food products, vitamins, minerals, sports nutrition supplements, body care, and household products. In additional to the new feed and specialty food export deals, Governor McAuliffe continued efforts related to the ongoing growth of Virginia’s wood fuel pellet exports to the United Kingdom. Over the past year, Virginia has worked with Virginia exporters and British policy makers and electric utilities promoting Virginia’s sustainably-managed wood resources as a renewable fuel for power plants that previously utilized coal as an energy source. In the first five months of 2014, Virginia’s wood pellet exports to the United Kingdom reached $22 million, an increase of 275% from the same period last year. Wood pellets have been one of Virginia's fastest growing agricultural commodity exports, on a percentage basis, over the last two years. During meetings in London, Governor McAuliffe, Secretary Haymore, and VDACS and ABA staff met with representatives of electric utilities purchasing Virginia wood pellets as well as smaller importers in hopes of growing existing export deals and establishing new trade relationships. They also met with British Members of Parliament and other senior government leaders who are responsible for establishing standards for renewable fuels utilized in power generation. Agricultural and forestry exports from Virginia reached a record high of $2.85 billion in 2013. Europe is a significant market for Virginia's agriculture and forestry products. Last year, more than $320 million worth of product were exported to the United Kingdom and other European Union countries. That figure is expected to rise in 2014. According to a 2013 economic impact study conducted by Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, agriculture is Virginia’s largest industry, generating more than $52 billion per annum. The industry also provides more than 310,000 jobs in the Commonwealth. Original release found here - https://governor.virginia.gov/news/newsarticle?articleId=5538

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Biomass Has Large Role to Play in Cutting Carbon Emissions

Biomass: America’s 21st Century Energy Solution By Seth Ginther June 24, 2014 President Obama and the U.S. EPA announced the draft rule for reducing greenhouse gas emissions here in the U.S. in early June. The rule applies to coal burning power plants and requires a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030. As with all EPA rules, this draft form will be open for public comment period for several months, with the final rule to be released next year. As drafted, the rule allows each state to create its own plan for complying with the federal policy and states have until June 2016 to submit their plans to EPA. The draft rule makes observations that suggest that biomass will have a strong role to play in fulfilling these new requirements because “burning biomass-derived fuels for energy recovery can yield climate benefits as compared to burning conventional fossil fuels.” Woody biomass, while not a solution on its own, is a vital component of any future energy mix here in the U.S., because it is the only sustainable renewable fuel source that can work within the U.S’s current energy system while at the same time reducing carbon emissions. Because wood pellets represent a highly densified renewable fuel that can be transported over long distances (without sacrificing low greenhouse gas footprints), wood pellets have the potential to play a key role in meeting these emission reduction targets. From an environmental standpoint, woody biomass for energy (including wood pellets) has the backing of the scientific community who has, in numerous reports and letters to Congress, attested that it is carbon beneficial. While wood pellets emit carbon, the impact is fundamentally different then the carbon emitted by fossil fuels. The difference is that carbon burned from wood was already in the atmosphere and can be reabsorbed by trees, which engage in the natural, cyclical process of photosynthesis. However, the carbon emitted from fossil fuels is removed from permanent storage in the earth and is adding new carbon into the atmosphere. While this may sound like semantics, the type of carbon that is released into the atmosphere does have significant environmental implications. In fact, the U.K. Environment Agency found that switching to bioenergy from coal can reduce carbon emissions between 75 and 90 percent. While completely replacing coal with wood is the ideal, in the short term, cofiring wood alongside coal also has tremendous environmental benefits. Studies by the National Renewable Energy Lab, EPA and the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement have found that cofiring biomass with coal reduces emissions of many toxic air pollutants such as ash, nitrogen, sulfur and mercury. Because wood pellets can burn alongside coal, in the same furnaces in the existing U.S. coal facility infrastructure, they allow for the immediate carbon savings and continuing economic viability of that coal plant infrastructure. While wind and solar are an important part of the renewable energy mix, projects are often expensive, taking years to bring to life, and these energy sources are dependent on weather. Bioenergy works to fill the gaps and provides a fuel that is easily accessible, reliable and sustainable. The EPA draft rules on cutting carbon emissions rightly recognize that the world is changing and the need to find sustainable alternative energy sources is paramount. While biomass does not propose to be the entire solution, it is the only energy source that can balance the United State's practical proposed goals of cutting carbon emissions with its innovative goals of finding reliable, domestically grown and sustainable energy sources for the future. More importantly, it can do all of this while, in many instances, preserving existing coal plant infrastructure and the jobs associated with that infrastructure. Seth Ginther Executive Director U.S. Industrial Pellet Association Original article can be found here - http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/10552/biomass-americaundefineds-21st-century-energy-solution

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North American wood pellet exports to Europe double in 2 years

By Wood Resources International LLC April 24, 2014 Wood pellet exports from North America to Europe have doubled in two years to reach 4.7 million tons in 2013 with the U.S. South accounting for 63 percent of the volume, according to the North American Wood Fiber Review With no slowdown in sight, North American wood pellet exporting companies keep building new facilities to manufacture pellets for the European market. Export volumes hit a new record high in the 4Q/13 and the total shipments for 2013 were up almost 50 percent from the previous year and more than double that in 2011. The total value of wood pellet exports reached over $650 million last year. A rapid expansion of pellet production capacity in the U.S. South during 2012 and 2013 has resulted in a tripling of pellet production in the region in just two years. The expansion, which is entirely driven by demand for biomass in Europe, has increased pellet exports from 800,000 tons in 2011 to 2.9 million tons in 2013 according to data compiled by WRI and reported in the North American Wood Fiber Review (Note. WRI data is partly based on an industry survey since customs data on both sides of the Atlantic are not always reliable). Many of the recent investments in pellet capacity in the U.S. South have occurred along the Atlantic coast, with Enviva and Fram Renewables expanding production in the states of Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. The expansion in Canadian pellet export has been less dramatic than that of the U.S., but 2013 volumes were still over 50 percent higher than in 2011, with British Columbia shipping a majority of the volume. In Canada, there have been two recent developments of interest, 1) the first regular shipments of pellets to South Korea started in the second half of 2013 and, 2) exports from Eastern Canada from Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick increased during this same time period. Eastern Canada will see additional pellet export volumes later in 2014 when Rentech begins operation at its two pellet facilities now underway in Ontario. As reported in the NAWFR (www.woodprices.com), a Quebec pellet export facility under construction at the Port of Quebec is the first dedicated infrastructure for pellet exports along the St. Lawrence Seaway. Its presence, when completed, reduces the heretofore, substantial entry barrier for a number of smaller pellet companies which are interested in the international market. In the 4Q/13, export volumes from the Eastern provinces accounted for 25 percent of Canada’s total pellet exports, a share that is likely to increase in 2014 and 2015. Original article found here - http://www.biomassmagazine.com/articles/10311/north-american-wood-pellet-exports-to-europe-double-in-2-years

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Coal-to-Pellet Conversions in the UK Show Strong Government Support for Biomass

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change has announced support for several coal to biomass power projects, showing their support of the industry and their confidence in the sustainability and carbon benefits of using biomass in the place of fossil fuels. UK Coal-to-Pellet Conversions Ahead: The move from coal to biomass power continues as DECC names projects for support program. By Keith Loria March 23, 2014 In December, the U.K. Department of Energy & Climate Change revealed the names of 10 renewable energy projects that would receive government help, including four biomass projects that were designated provisionally affordable. The four biomass projects included the Lynemouth Power Station conversion, the Tees Renewable Energy dedicated biomass project with combined-heat-and-power, the Drax 2nd Conversion Unit and Drax 3rd Conversion Unit. In 2013, the U.K. imported 1.5 million metric tons of U.S. pellets, more than the combined total of the rest of the EU imports from the U.S. If finalized, the Lynemouth conversion from coal to biomass would be expected to use approximately 1.5 million metric tons of sustainably sourced wood pellets per year. That is much smaller, though, than the project left off the list, the Eggborough conversion that would have potentially used as many pellets as the Drax conversion. The Latest on Lynemouth The DECC confirmed the Lynemouth project met the minimum criteria for an investment contract under its Final Investment Decision (FID) Enabling program, part of the government’s proposed Contract for Differences mechanism aimed at supporting major low-carbon energy projects. “This is a good step forward for Lynemouth Power, but there are a number of steps remaining before we can make a final investment decision,” says Bob Huntington, Lynemouth Power’s managing director. “It gives us the confidence that the project would be commercially viable.” Lynemouth Power Station will use sustainably sourced wood pellets, primarily imported from North America and European states in the Baltics as well as Portugal and Russia. “The biomass will be purchased from suppliers with robust sustainability credentials assured by the Green Gold Label, or similar global certificate systems, for all stages in the production, processing and transportation of sustainable biomass,” Huntington says. “Biomass is a carbon-neutral technology and converting Lynemouth Power Station to use biomass will bring a number of environmental benefits. It will result in a substantial reduction in the amount of ash created by the power station; a biomass plant would have significantly lower emissions of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides; and it would save approximately 700,000 metric tons of CO2 compared to continuing to burn coal.” RWE Group purchased the coal plant in December 2012, when the Lynemouth plant already had received planning consent. The final investment decision is due to be made during the first quarter and, if favorable, construction will begin this summer with completion projected by the end of 2015. “During construction, this project will lead to hundreds of jobs and in the long term create tens of highly skilled roles in biomass generation,” Huntington says. “The station has always played an important role in the local community and we hope to continue in this legacy.” What’s Up With Tees? MGT Power Ltd. reports its proposed Tees Renewable Energy Plant will be one of the world’s largest dedicated biomass power stations when completed. Located in Teesport in northeast England, company information says the 275 MW plant will generate enough carbon-neutral electricity to power around 600,000 homes. “As it will operate base-load, it will produce in one year as much green electricity as the largest 1,000 MW wind farm projects, and save 1.2 million [metric tons] of CO2 from being emitted every year,” a company news release says. “The station will help to meet the EU's renewable energy target of 20 percent by 2020, accounting for 5.5 percent of the U.K.'s target.” According to Ben Elsworth, MGT Power CEO, since the company secured the government’s approval to construct the Tees Renewable Energy Plant in July of 2009, it has been working on project financing and arranging the main contracts for the plant’s design and construction. The Tees Renewable Energy Plant is expected to enter commercial operation in 2015. Drax Facts Drax Power Station is currently the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide in the U.K., but conversion of half of its generating capacity to sustainable biomass will see its emissions reduced by around 10 million metric tons. The station will use a range of biomass feedstocks, the majority being wood pellets shipped from the U.S. The 700 million pound ($1.5 billion) biomass conversion project is in the midst of transitioning three of the six-660 MW power generation units at Drax’s power station in North Yorkshire to biomass. The conversion of one unit was completed in 2013 and the conversion of the second unit is on track for completion in the second quarter of this year, with the third scheduled for completion in 2016. The UK Goal These renewable energy projects are all part of the U.K.’s attempt to meet its 2020 renewable energy targets. All countries in the European Union are aiming for 20 percent of their energy needs to come from renewable sources by 2020. Although several sources report the U.K. is in danger of not meeting that goal, a recent DECC report shows Britain’s latest Renewable Energy Roadmap is on the path to success. According to the report, “the government’s commitment to cost-effective renewable energy as part of a diverse, low-carbon and secure energy mix is as strong as ever. Alongside gas and low-carbon transport fuels, nuclear power and carbon capture and storage (CCS), renewable energy provides energy security, helps us meet our decarbonization objectives and brings green growth to all parts of the U.K.” Since 2012, the U.K. has made good progress towards its goal, delivering 15 percent of its energy demand from renewable sources. “We are fully committed to achieving this target and have seen a significant amount of deployment to date, particularly in the renewable electricity sector,” the report reads. “This was demonstrated in 2012 when more than 4 percent of the U.K.’s energy came from renewable sources—above our interim target. We will continue to monitor our progress towards the target, ensuring that we have measures in place to reach our goal.” In 2013, the DECC announced changes, prioritizing shared funding across technology groups above the previous key priorities of least cost and speed to deliver, explains Nigel Adams, member of parliament and parliamentary private secretary to the Leader of the House of Lords. “Originally, the DECC came up with a list of 16 projects that qualified for FID Enabling and whittled it down to just 10, based on criteria that included cost-effectiveness, project readiness and supply chain support, and contribution to energy security,” he says. “On the 19th of December, 10 of the projects were told they were ‘provisionally affordable’ and able to access the FID Enabling process.” A surprising omission to the list was the Eggborough Power Plant in his district, which is now in danger of closing. Eggborough would have been a huge boost for pellet imports at an estimated 6 million metric tons, or more, of demand. For consumers, the loss of Eggborough to the U.K. grid could mean a price spike of 38 pounds on their bills. “Eggborough’s conversion represents 750 million pounds of inward investment across the region which will be lost if the project does not proceed,” Adams says. “The conversion would safeguard the 800 existing jobs onsite as well as create many new jobs in the supply chain. The conversion would also support thousands of jobs in the global supply chain from companies that provide (amongst others) rail, ports, logistics and engineering services.” Eggborough’s Next Steps A big proponent for the Eggborough plant, which was set to begin work on the conversion this spring, Adams says he was taken by surprise, as was Eggborough and a number of other stakeholders across government and industry when it wasn’t on the U.K. DECC’s list of 10. Currently, Eggborough is investigating its options. Adams says timing will be a critical, with a resolution needed as quickly as possible. As things currently stand, the future of Eggborough Power Station is uncertain. “Eggborough will need to find a solution in collaboration with government. Should this not occur, the most probable outcome now is that the plant will no longer be supplying power to the grid beyond 2015 and the U.K. will lose circa 4 percent of capacity just at the time when its regulator, Ofgem, estimates the country could, under given circumstances, have a capacity margin of less than 2 percent, a figure which includes Eggborough’s output,” Adams says. “In short, there would a real danger of the ‘lights going out’ in the U.K. should Eggborough, in conjunction with government, not find a solution for conversion.” The UK Process For many in the U.S., the U.K.’s renewable energy programs and regulatory system are something of a mystery. The Renewables Obligation is the existing, market-based support mechanism for renewable projects in the U.K. Tradeable RO certificates are awarded for each megawatt hour of renewable energy generated. That process is being phased out in March 2017, Adams explains, to be replaced with a new mechanism designed to support all low-carbon projects (including CCS and nuclear) called Contracts for Difference, part of the Electricity Market Reform proposals that are designed to decarbonize the electricity sector, ensure security of supply and provide value for the consumer. “In order to prevent a hiatus in investment and encourage early take up of the new support mechanism, the government introduced the Final Investment Decision Enabling process,” Adams says. For American pellet exporters, it is a big disappointment that Eggborough didn’t make the DECC’s initial list of 10, although understanding the importance of the power plant’s output to meeting U.K. demand offers hope for a reversal in the final list. Learning more about the projects that did make the list suggests U.K. pellet demand will continue to grow. Keith Loria Freelance Writer Original article found here - http://www.biomassmagazine.com/articles/10130/uk-coal-to-pellet-conversionsahead