Pellet Mill Press - December 17, 2019

Drax aims to become carbon negative by 2030 Drax group plc CEO Will Gardiner has announced the U.K. energy company plans to be carbon negative by 2030. Gardiner made the announcement on Dec. 10 at the Power Past Coal Alliance event at COP 25 in Madrid, Spain. READ MORE SHARE
USDA: US wood pellet exports top 550,035 tons in October The U.S. exported 550,035.3 tons of wood pellets during October, according to data released by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service on Dec. 5. Exports were down when compared to both October 2018 and September 2019. READ MORE SHARE
	New app helps design buildings that use biomass for heat With the coming of the winter heating season, the Colorado State Forest Service is debuting a new tool to help builders make new buildings more climate conscious and less dependent on non-renewable sources of energy. READ MORE SHARE
EIA: Densified biomass fuel sales reach 900,000 tons in August The EIA recently released data showing U.S. manufactures produced 820,000 tons of densified biomass fuel in August, with sales reaching 900,000 tons. Production included 195,382 tons of heating pellets and 625,896 tons of utility pellets. READ MORE SHARE
Mitsubishi plans biomass conversion of Japanese power plant Mitsubishi Corp. on Dec. 4 announced plans to convert the Suzukawa Energy Center Ltd. to biomass. The 112-megawatt facility is currently fired with coal. The plant is expected to begin producing renewable energy from wood pellets in April 2022. READ MORE SHARE
Brouillette sworn in as secretary of energy Dan Brouillette was sworn in to serve as the 15th U.S. secretary of energy on Dec. 11. He was nominated to the post by President Trump on Nov. 7 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 2 by a vote of 70 to 15. READ MORE SHARE
EIA updates bioenergy forecasts, predicts increase in capacity The EIA released the December edition of its Short-Term Energy Outlook on Dec. 11 predicting nonhydropower renewables will provide 10 percent of total U.S. utility-scale power generation in 2019, increasing to 12 percent in 2020. READ MORE SHARE