A project that replaced an existing gas boiler with a new biomass boiler in the Oakdale Renewable Energy Plant, located on the University of Iowa Research Park campus, has won the Grand Place Award (first place in category) in the Energy Production Category of the 2013 Engineering Excellence Awards competition. The competition is sponsored by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC).

“The installation of the biomass boiler in the Oakdale Renewable Energy Plant is part of an overall goal to operate the UI Research Park on 100 percent renewable energy,” says Glen Mowery, director of Utilities & Energy Management, UI Facilities Management.

The new boiler can use either natural gas or biomass fuel such as wood chips from a local saw mill.

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The PFI Annual Conference highlights the various applications of densified biomass fuel and attracts a broad range of individuals from the public and private sectors, academia, and local, state and national governments from North America and beyond.  Featuring two days of educational sessions, plentiful networking opportunities, and industry exhibits, the PFI Annual Conference is not to be missed.

Visit pelletheat.org/pfi-annual-conference/ for all of the details!

On May 3, the U.S. Energy Information Administration published a set of annual statistics that include state-level estimates of consumption, prices and expenditures for woody biomass and waste biomass. The latest release includes data from 2011.

According to the EIA, California led the nation with residential wood consumption in 2011, with approximately 1.665 million cords consumed. A cord is roughly equal to 128 cubic feet of stacked wood material. California’s consumption equated to approximately 33.3 trillion Btu. Missouri was the second largest residential consumer of wood biomass, with 1.166 million cords, or 23.3 trillion Btu consumed in 2011. Pennsylvania rounded out the top three, with 1.076 million cords, or 21.5 trillion Btu, of residential consumption.

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BERLIN, NEW HAMPSHIRE – A group of homeowners gathered at Tea Birds Restaurant Tuesday night to celebrate the end of their addiction to home heating oil.

“Every time the oil truck goes by, I smile,” said Marie Canning. Canning’s home is one of 36 Berlin homes that has or is in the process of replacing its oil burner with a high efficiency wood pellet boiler. It is estimated the 36 homeowners combined will save more than $50,000 a year in heating costs.

In addition to saving money, the homeowners are also proving that switching to a local renewable energy source helps the local economy and the environment. The project is expected to have a $200,000 annual impact on the local economy.

The homeowners participated in the Model Neighborhood Project, which subsidized the purchase and installation of the boilers. Launched in the fall of 2011 by the Northern Forest Center, Berlin Better Buildings, and Maine Energy Systems, the goal was to install 40 pellet boilers in Berlin homes.

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The Port of Wilmington may reap the benefits of environmental regulations in Europe that have spurred a huge increase in demand for forest byproducts from the southeastern United States.

Wood pellets, often used in wood-burning stoves, are taking the place of coal in many European power plants with the aim of reducing their carbon footprint.

“Without a doubt the demand for this product is being driven by clean energy requirements in the U.K. and Europe, and the Atlantic Seaboard is economically advantaged in supplying the pellets,” said Jeff Miles, acting executive director of the N.C. State Ports Authority.

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The USDA has published a notice of funding availability for the Rural Energy for America Program for fiscal year 2013. The program provides financial assistance in the form of grants, guaranteed loans, and combined grants and guaranteed loans for the development and construction of renewable energy system and energy efficiency projects. It also provides grant funding for conducting renewable energy feasibility studies.

According to information published by the USDA in the Federal Register, there is up to $20.8 million available for fiscal year 2013 awards, which is enough to support up to $10.4 million in grants and $43.4 million in loan guarantees.

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The PFI Standards Program is a third party certification program providing standard specifications for residential and commercial grade fuel.  The Pellet Fuels Institute, in its role as the leading authority on the North American pellet industry, established the standards program as a mechanism to ensure consumers and retailers that the fuel consistency and quality matches manufacturer claims found on bags of fuel and other informational materials.

“NEWP’s qualification to the PFI Standards Program is a significant milestone for the industry and PFI,” said PFI Executive Director, Jennifer Hedrick. “Our members and collaborators have put thousands of hours into the development of this program and it’s rewarding to enroll the first company. There are other companies working to qualify for the program, and we are expecting similar announcements in the months to come.”

According to Luann Lafreniere, Quality Manager for New England Wood Pellet, LLC, “New England Wood Pellet, LLC has always shown a strong commitment to the production of quality wood pellets.  With three operating plants, we concern ourselves with pellet quality and consistency. To do that we focus on process and in-house testing. We are pleased that the PFI Standards Program now encompasses process control as well as third-party quality testing.  With our processes in place we felt we were ready to qualify under the program and at the same time encourage other manufacturers to follow suit.”

This qualification is the culmination of work that NEWP has done in conjunction with PFI, the American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC) and Timber Products Inspection, Inc. (Conyers GA) over the last year.  In order to maintain compliancy within the program, New England Wood Pellet has entered into an agreement with Timber Products Inspection, Inc. (TP) for auditing and third party laboratory testing.  TP is one of 12 auditing agencies accredited by ALSC for auditing services within the PFI Standards Program, and will play a key role in ensuring that the pellets produced by NEWP are a consistent quality.  According to Chris Wiberg, Manager of Biomass Services at TP, “NEWP has worked hard to develop their program, and I am not surprised that they have stepped forward as the first pellet manufacturer to obtain qualification in this program”.

For further details on the PFI Standards Program, including a list of qualified auditing agencies and testing labs, producers and consumers should visit www.pelletheat.org/pfi-standards or www.alsc.org.

For more information, please contact:

Jennifer Hedrick, Executive Director, Pellet Fuels Institute, 703-522-6778

Luann Lafreniere, Quality Manager, New England Wood Pellet, LLC, 877-981-9663

Tammy Hippchen, Business Development, Timber Products Inspection, Inc., 218-461-2579

Check back in the coming days for additional details, including a copy of the 2012 Pellet Stove Shipment Report, presented by Don Johnson of HPBA.

Further information will be posted on: http://pelletheat.org/events/pfi-membership-luncheon/

Thanks to our sponsors, Allegheny Pellet Corp and Bearing Distributors Inc.