EIA: 610,000 tons of densified biomass fuel produced in August

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released the November edition of its Monthly Densified Biomass Fuel Report, which includes data for August.

The EIA collected data from 88 operating manufacturers of densified biomass fuel that collectively had an equivalent of 2,037 full-time employees.

The report estimates total U.S. production capacity to currently be nearly 12.71 million tons per year, including nearly 11.99 million tons categorized as currently operating or temporarily not in operation. An additional 163,500 tons of capacity is listed as planned or under construction.

New projects listed as planned or under construction include the F.E. Wood & Sons-Natural Energy 37,000-ton-per-year plant in Maine, the Enginuity Worldwide LLC 4,500-ton-per-year project in Missouri, Mt. Taylor-WoodYouRecycle’s 2,000-ton-per-year project in New Mexico, and NWP Jasper LLC’s 120,000-ton-per-year project in Tennessee.

The 88 respondents collectively purchased 1.06 million tons of biomass feedstock in August, produced 610,000 tons of densified biomass fuel and sold 610,000 tons of densified fuel. Production included 144,943 tons of heating pellets and 471,665 tons of utility pellets.

The respondents reported selling 182,769 tons of fuel domestically at an average of $149.40 per ton, while exporting 462,336 tons of fuel at an average of $128.66 per ton.

Additional information is available on the EIA’s website.