As we work to update our U.S. and Canada fuel pellet map, we have come across some interesting updates. Right off the bat, I will say this round will see the most changes we have made to the map in many years. For the U.S. alone, I expect total capacity—operating, under construction and proposed—to exceed last year’s numbers by at least three million tons. We’ve added several plants that were quietly built and we just recently became aware of, some restarts and a few new, interesting projects such as Delta Biofuel’s bagasse pellet project in Louisiana, MaineFlame’s steam-exploded pellet facility in Ashland, and Prairie Clean Energy’s flax straw pellet facility in Saskatchewan. Some producers have made or are in the process of modest to fairly significant capacity expansions, and in one case, raw material shortages prevented the plant from producing any pellets at all in 2023.&nbsp; Lately, we have received some feedstock regarding the addition of BBQ pellet production facilities to the map, based on the idea that these plants can easily produce fuel pellets if the market dynamics make sense (i.e., the BBQ pellet market is saturated, or there is a surge or increased demand for fuel pellets). This is something we’re strongly considering for next year, so if you’re reading this and own one of those facilities, I invite you to reach out.&nbsp; On a final note regarding the map, we’re in the midst of overhauling our online plant list, so when a plant undergoes a change in capacity, status, etc., we can change that in real time. I look forward to sharing the data when it’s complete. You can also expect our annual U.S. Biomass Power and Waste-to-Energy Map data to be available soon. While we didn’t see so many changes with this dataset, it is exciting to see some of the small-scale biomass power plants—2 to 3 MW with biochar-producing capabilities—enter construction. I think we’ll see even more of this next year, as these facilities are really being viewed as a way to manage high-hazard forest material in the West—with multiple other benefits. As for content in this feedstock-focused issue, we’ve included stories on a food waste-to-RNG project in Maryland, development of a Malawi bagasse-to-pellet plant, as well as SAF feedstock potential and challenges, content that was derived from the North American SAF Conference &amp; Expo held in Minneapolis at the end of August. It was an exciting, well-attended event that kicked off with a big announcement by Greater MSP, Delta Air Lines, Ecolab, Bank of America and Excel Energy (check out our news section on page 8 for a little more on that). While we expect to continue covering the SAF space in Biomass Magazine, if that industry is of high interest, I encourage you to check out SAF Magazine, one of our newest publications.&nbsp; Finally, the printing of this issue takes us to the end of our 2023 volume (you can find every past issue online in our archives). Thanks for sticking with us—we look forward to our 17th year of bringing you the latest biomass industry news.Author: Anna Simet Editor, Biomass Magazine

The Season of Data Collection

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