Pellet Mill Monthly - August 6, 2013

Chip Energy breaks ground on prototype pellet plant Goodfield, Ill.-based Chip Energy broke ground on a 100-ton-per-day biomass recycling and pelletizing plant that can condense a variety of feedstock sources. The plant configuration is designed to serve the power and cellulosic biofuels industries. READ MORE SHARE
Green Circle Bio Energy to locate pellet plant in Miss. Officials from Green Circle Bio Energy have announced the company is locating an energy wood pellet manufacturing facility in the George County Industrial Park. The 500,000 ton per facility is expected to be operational in 2015. READ MORE SHARE
	PFI conference keynote calls for forest industry collaboration Collaboration was the key message delivered by Carlton Owen, president and CEO of the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, during his keynote address at the Pellet Fuels Institute annual conference in Asheville, N.C. READ MORE SHARE
North American wood pellet exports up 50 percent Pellet exports from the two primary pellet-producing regions on the North American continent, the U.S. South and British Columbia, showed no signs of slowing in early 2013, with the rate of growth likely to accelerate in the second half of the year. READ MORE SHARE
PFI conference: Continued growth expected in pellet market The outlook for growth in the fuel pellet market is still positive, although it has been tempered some from earlier overly-optimistic projections, attendees at the annual Pellet Fuels Institute conference learned. READ MORE SHARE
ecoFUELS plans pellet facility for Portsmouth, Va., port A new wood pellet port storage facility is being planned at the deepwater Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Portsmouth, Va. The developer, ecoFUELS Pellet Storage LLC is conducting a nonbinding offering for capacity. READ MORE SHARE
Ekman & Co. to market pellets for Viridis Energy subsidiary Viridis Energy Inc. has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Scotia Atlantic Biomass Company, Ltd. has entered into an agreement with Ekman & Co AB. Under the agreement, Ekman will market the company's entire wood pellet production. READ MORE SHARE
Pellet industry addresses carbon monoxide issue in storage spaces The U.S. pellet industry is learning from its European counterparts as well as conducting research here in response to the deaths of two individuals in Europe from carbon monoxide poisoning associated with offgassing of stored pellets. READ MORE SHARE
Court vacates EPA Deferral Rule for biogenic GHG emissions The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled in the case Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. EPA that EPA provided insufficient legal justification to defer greenhouse gas (GHG) regulation of biogenic emissions. READ MORE SHARE
Biomass industry reacts to Tailoring Rule decision The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has thrown out the U.S. EPA's three-year deferment of biogenic emissions from the Greenhouse Gas Tailoring rule, just over one year before it expires. READ MORE SHARE
Drax outlines continued progress in financial statement The Drax Group plc has released financial results for the first half of 2013, reporting that increasing carbon costs have resulted in an EBTDA lower than same period of 2012. The company also elaborated on progress made in its biomass conversion. READ MORE SHARE
GAIN report highlights Canadian pellet industry An annual biofuels report recently filed with the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service Global Agricultural Information Network provides an overview of the rapidly expanding Canadian pellet industry, noting the nation was home 42 pellet plants in 2012. READ MORE SHARE
Nova Scotia proposes biomass reporting regulations The Canadian province of Nova Scotia has proposed new regulations that would require organizations that burn wood or wood byproducts to generate 250 kW or more of heat or electricity to register with the province. READ MORE SHARE
GIB funds whisky distillery's oil-to-wood pellet switch Tomatin Distillery, a producer and blender of Scotch whisky located near Inverness, Scotland, is switching out its oil-fired boiler with a wood pellet boiler system that will replace 80 percent of its current heat load. READ MORE SHARE
Largest Biomass Freight Car unveiled in UK Lloyd's Register Rail, Drax and WH Davis unveiled the largest biomass freight car at the National Railway Museum in York, U.K. The car features a capacity 30 percent larger than traditional railcars and can transport 71.6 metric tons of biomass. READ MORE SHARE
Alaska DNR accepting bids for timber sale The Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry is accepting bids for a 25-year timber sale on state land near Tok. The sale will reduce fire hazards and could support the state's renewable energy goals. READ MORE SHARE
House version of BTU Act introduced Rep. Mike Michaud, R-Maine, has introduced the House version of the Biomass Thermal Utilization Act of 2013. The bill provides incentives to install residential, commercial and industrial biomass heating systems. READ MORE SHARE
Senate approves McCarthy's nomination to lead the EPA The U.S. Senate has voted to approve Gina McCarthy's nomination to lead the U.S. EPA by a vote of 59 to 40. President Obama nominated McCarthy as the EPA administrator in March. READ MORE SHARE
UK DECC publishes tariff levels for residential RHI program The U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change has published tariff levels for the version of the Renewable Heat Incentive program aimed at households. A similar program has been operational in the U.K.'s non-domestic sector since November 2011. READ MORE SHARE
White paper highlights economic benefits of biomass thermal bill A recent white paper published by FutureMetrics and prepared by William Strauss, chief economist of the Biomass Thermal Energy Council, investigates the positive economic impacts of the Biomass Thermal Utilization Act of 2013. READ MORE SHARE