Wood pellets
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Bioenergy > Biomass > Wood > Wood pellets
Note: See also the page on biomass pellets.
Wood pellets are generally produced out of wood waste such as sawdust and shavings. The raw material is dried, mechanically fractioned to size and thereafter extruded under intense pressure into pellets. In the process the raw material is densified approximately 3.7 times (FAO (.doc)). The product produced in Western Canada has a bulk density of approximately 705 kg/m3 and a bulk stowage factor of approximately 52-56 ft3/metric tonne.
Wood pellets are primarily used as a fuel and have a calorific (heat) value of around 5 MWh/metric tonne (18 GJ/metric tonne) which is approximately half that of fuel oil. In North America the wood pellets are used in wood pellet stoves and fireplaces. In Europe, particularly Scandinavia, the bulk of the pellets produced are used as fuel in central heating stations supplying heat for entire communities or even entire cities.
Events
- 25-26 February 2009, Wels, Austria: European Wood Pellet Conference (Themes: biomass, wood)
- 2-5 April 2009, Lons-Le-Saunier, France: Expo Bois Energie 2009 (Wood Heating Exhibition). (Themes: cogeneration, gasification, wood pellets)
- 28-29 October 2008, Stuttgart, Germany: The 8th pellets industry forum. (Themes: wood pellets, industry)
News
- First Biomass Pellet Mill in US to Receive FSC/Rainforest Alliance Certification, 18 June 2009 by the Rainforest Alliance/ENN: "The Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood program has certified the first biomass pellet mill in the United States to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards, a significant step in the FSC's entry into renewable energy sources."
- "Curran Renewable Energy, LLC, based in Massena, New York, is the first FSC Chain-of-Custody certified producer and distributor of wood pellets for national and international markets."
- "Produced by compressing pulverized dry biomass -- in this case from wood -- biomass pellets are an environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional energy sources like coal, which emits more carbon dioxide (the gas largely responsible for global warming) when burned for fuel."[1]
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