March 9, 2018

In This Week's Pellet Wire:



Looking Towards Myrtle Beach

As this week's Pellet Wire is being distributed to all of you, I'll be introducing myself and the ambitions of the Pellet Fuels Institute to around 100 guests at our Breakfast and Biomass event at the HPB Expo in Nashville. If you are in the audience and reading this now, thank you for coming.

In the last two weeks, with the help of the PFI conference committee, we have made incredible progress in the development of the 2018 Annual Conference agenda. At this morning's Breakfast and Biomass we'll be announcing that the preliminary agenda has been posted and that registration for the event is open.

Those of you who know me know that I've been involved in conference development for nearly a decade. In fact, organizing conference agendas in the biomass sector is how I got to know this sector and its participants. I love conferences for the way that they can simultaneously exhaust and inspire. I also love the process of building conference agendas. I appreciate how it focuses my thinking about what the most important conversations in an industry are and who the best people to talk about those issues might be. It also puts me on the phone with some incredibly talented and thoughtful industry leaders.

This year's PFI Annual Conference is no exception. Below, I've included a link to this year's event and the preliminary agenda we've put together for the conference. When I presented it to our chairman, Stan Elliot, he called the agenda 'ambitious'. He's right. I'm hoping to build a platform to have the most important conversations with the most important people the PFI has hosted in years because I think our membership is hungry for it.

I hope you are making plans to join me and your industry colleagues in Myrtle Beach, June 24-26. If you've never been to the PFI Annual Conference, I'd be flattered if you made this your first visit.

I hope you'll spend some time looking at the panels we're currently building. I think you'll agree we're ready to have the conversations that matter.

2018 Pellet Fuels Institute Annual Conference

- Tim Portz, Executive Director


Send Us Photos!

Breakfast & Biomass is over, but we're still collecting photos of our members, their pellets mills and product. Send them to Carrie Annand.Thanks to Don Wagner of Appalachian Wood Pellets for the above photo. 


Become a 2018 PFI Sponsor in March

Don't miss the opportunity to sponsor PFI in 2018! Sponsorship at all levels brings many perks, along with exposure for your company to the pellet fuels industry. By signing up to sponsor the association early in 2018, you will reap the benefits throughout the coming year.

The 2018 sponsorship packages include benefits such as:

  • PFI Annual Conference registrations
  • Company logo listed on the PFI website
  • 10x10 booth at the PFI Annual Conference
  • Weekly newsletter advertising
  • Website advertising
  • And more!

PFI's membership list includes more than 100 companies, and the Pellet Wire, our electronic newsletter, is sent to close to 2,000 subscribers every week. Now is the time to become a sponsor of this organization. Visit our website to explore how you can become involved.



We Need Your Input for PFI's 2018 Events

Are there any topics that you'd like to see addressed at Breakfast & Biomass or at PFI's Annual Conference? We'd like to hear from you. Nominate speakers and suggest panels, experts, themes, and ideas. The Conference Committee wants to be sure to reflect the preferences and needs of PFI membership as much as possible. 

Be sure to check our updated online calendar with information on many events happening during 2018, and mark your calendars!

Breakfast & Biomass at the HPB Expo in Nashville, TN - March 8-10, 2018

PFI Annual Conference in Myrtle Beach, SC - June 24-26, 2018 

If our calendar is missing any events that you're planning to attend, please email Carrie Annand


Follow PFI on Twitter, Friend Us on Facebook, and Connect with Us on LinkedIn 

We'd like to connect and interact with PFI members and anyone else involved in pellet fuels production! 

Here's how you can help us build our online community:

  1. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook!
  2. Encourage your colleagues and other business associates to follow us.
  3. Send Carrie Annand news or other ideas to post on LinkedIn.

Do You Have News to Share on Pellet Wire?

We'd love to feature your company's news in a future Pellet Wire! We want to be the first to know your company's recent developments to share them with the wider pellet fuels industry.

Please be in touch with Carrie Annand with information on your company's growth, job openings, promotions, or other news. 


Join a PFI Committee

We welcome and encourage all interested PFI members to get involved in our committees. There are many opportunities to help steer the association. No matter where your expertise and interests lie, we have a committee that will suit you. Help us plan our next conference, shape our policy agenda, lead communications outreach, or grow the PFI Standards Program. Visit PFI's website for more information. 



Upcoming Industry Events

March 9, 2018: 2018 PFI Breakfast & Biomass

March 20, 2018: International Mass Timber Conference

April 16, 2018: International Biomass Conference & Expo

May 1, 2018: Heating the Midwest

Connect with PFI

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Fuel Availability

Are you a PFI member, pellet manufacturer, or distributor that has fuel available? Email [email protected] to have your listing updated or added to the PFI website.


Industry News

Pellets Keep Berlin Memorial School Warm  
The Telegram, Worcester, MA

The shiny silo at Berlin Memorial School is more than just a pretty architectural feature.

It holds the compressed wood pellets that fuel the new biomass heating system at the school, keeping students and staff warm without need for oil fuels.

The design "fits into the agricultural setting," Principal John Campbell said. "You don't miss the silo," although the original design of the school was for it to blend into the countryside.

Read Full Article


Are Black Pellets Ready to Compete With White Pellets?  
Biomass Magazine

Renewable energy and carbon emissions reduction policies in Japan, South Korea, Canada, Western Europe, and other nations support the use of pellet fuel as a substitute for coal in power stations. To date, investments in pellet conversions have been focused on regular, industrial wood pellets, sometimes called white pellets.  

Advanced wood pellets, often called black pellets due to their appearance after thermal treatment, have long been touted as a superior fuel to conventional white wood pellets. Black pellets are supposed to address some of the potential shortcomings associated with white wood pellets for use as a substitute for coal in pulverized coal power plants. Black pellet key advantages that have been put forward over the years include the elimination of the need for dry storage and transportation, better grindability, less dust formation during handling and storage, and higher specific energy density. Black pellets generally refer to two distinct technological approaches to developing an advanced wood pellet: torrefaction and steam explosion (SE). 

Read Full Article


A Wood Heat State of Mind 
Biomass Magazine

Commonly associated with rocketing skyscrapers and the Manhattan Skyline, bustling city life, the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building and many other tourist attractions and landmarks, there is much more to New York than its metropolitan area. In fact, the vast majority is in stark contrast, comprised of vast, picturesque stretches of rural land scattered with farms, rivers, mountains, lakes and forestland. Of its approximate 30 million total acres, 63 percent, or 18.9 million acres, is forested, much of which is privately owned and managed for wood or pulp.  

Although between 2005 and 2012, New York experienced a 60 percent increase in the number of homes using wood as the primary heating fuel source, reliance on fuel oil is still heavy.

Read Full Article

 

Pellet Fuels Institute

[email protected] | 206.209.5277 | www.pelletheat.org