Pellet Mill Press - March 17, 2015

WPAC approves Michele Rebiere as its new president and director On March 10, the Wood Pellet Association of Canada announced that its board of directors unanimously approved the appointment of Michele Rebiere as the new president and director of the trade association. READ MORE SHARE
Green Building Standard under consideration to include biomass The Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings, or Standard 189.1, may include a definition of biomass, as well as requirements pertaining to the use of the source in the future. READ MORE SHARE
	Drax acquires Billington Bioenergy Drax has announced the acquisition of Billington Bioenergy Ltd., the U.K.'s second largest wood pellet distributor. The move signals the power generator's intention to enter the country's growing biomass heat sector. READ MORE SHARE
Project aims to help Adirondack residents switch to pellet heat Financial and technical assistance to help homeowners and businesses switch to high-efficiency wood pellet heating is now available to Adirondack homeowners and businesses through the Adirondack Model Neighborhood Wood Heat Initiative. READ MORE SHARE
Viridis Energy subsidiary secures supply agreement Viridis Energy Inc. recently announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Viridis Merchants Inc., has secured a contract with an existing supplier for exclusive distribution of up to 18,000 metric tons of 100 percent Douglas fir pellets. READ MORE SHARE
EIA reports illustrate bioenergy growth The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released the March issue of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, forecasting that total renewables used for electricity and heat generation will grow by 2.9 percent this year. READ MORE SHARE
Blazing a trail for biomass apprentices Leading players in the U.K.'s biomass industry have joined forces to develop a skills standard under the British government's Apprenticeship Trailblazers program. The Biomass Installation Engineer program is led by Neil Harrison of re:heat. READ MORE SHARE
GAIN report highlights status of U.K. pellet demand A report recently filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Global Agricultural Information Network focuses on the U.K. wood pellet market. The report estimates the U.K. imported 4.6 million metric oven dried tons of wood pellets last year. READ MORE SHARE
UN funds biomass heating projects in Moldova The United Nations Development Programme has announced the second stage of a project in Moldova that aims to install dozens of biomass heating plants and hundreds of biomass boilers. READ MORE SHARE