Pellet Fuels Institute Board Lunch

Location: Foothills 1. 17th floor

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Pellet Fuels Institute Board Meeting

Location: Foothills 1. 17th floor

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Pellet Fuels Institute Board & Conference VIP Appreciation Night*

Location: Circuit of the Americas

*Reserved for PFI Board Members and Qualifying Diamond and Platinum sponsors

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Grab and Go Breakfast - Muster for Golf Bus

(Bus leaves at 7:30 AM sharp)

Location: Lost Pines Golf Club 

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Opening Reception

Location: Foothills II, 17th Floor

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Breakfast

Location: Zilker 1

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Welcome

Location: Zilker 2

State of the Industry & Our Year in Review

Location: Zilker 2

Reviewing the Accumulated Data from the Energy Information Administration’s Monthly Densified Biomass Fuel Report

Since 2016 the Energy Information Administration’s Monthly Densified Biomass Fuel Report has been the most comprehensive data set available to wood pellet producers as they seek to understand the size of their market and their place in it. Attendees have come to expect a data rich view of the heating season delivered by the report’s longtime curator Connor Murphy. Murphy’s hallmark presentation has become a fixture at the conference and his analysis will serve as an apt and thorough context from which to consider all of the panel discussions that follow. 

Location: Zilker 2

Across the Pond: An Analysis of Wood Pellet Demand for Heating and Industrial Purposes Around the World 

At last year’s conference, the topic of the hour was the incredible demand signals being felt stateside from European buyers hungry for premium heating pellets. The sanctions against Russian wood pellets were disrupting both industrial and heating pellet availability and producers across the country were fielding inquiries from buyers and aggregators they knew and many they did not. This panel will connect attendees with two of the world’s most recognized marketplace analysts

Speakers: Gilles Gauthier, Hawkins Wright (via Zoom)                                       William Strauss, Future Metrics (via Zoom) 

Location: Zilker 2

Networking Break

Location: Zilker 1

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Electrification Nation: A Conversation about Energy Transitions, Net Zero Ambitions and What it Means for Wood and Wood Pellet Heating

As municipalities, states and the federal government ponder the future of delivering the massive amounts of energy our modern economy requires while simultaneously driving down carbon emissions, there runs a very real risk of wood heating being left outside, looking in. In fact, the Pellet Fuels Institute knows a transition away from fuels that require combustion is already starting to populate the agendas of the think tanks that craft state energy policies and international building codes. This discussion will outline the arenas where fuel choice is being curtailed in the name of climate ambitions and how the Pellet Fuels Institute and its partners in the wood heating category are working to ensure these policies don’t limit fuel choice nor overlook the carbon benefits of wood pellet manufacture and use.

Speaker: Adam Sherman, Senior Consultant, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation
                Eric Adair, Senior Manager, Codes and Standards, Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association
                Corey Krill, State Energy Policy Manager, Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association

Location: Zilker 2

Working Lunch/Members Meeting

Location: Zilker 2

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A Discussion with the Retailers Serving Existing Wood Pellet Consumers and Leading the Charge in Onboarding New Users

*panel proudly supported by Hearth & Home Technologies

The market for premium heating and grilling wood pellets has been and will continue to be built one consumer at a time, often by independent small business owners. This panel will feature a moderated discussion with the retailers operating in the home heating and grilling marketplace today. Our customers have other choices for both home heating and home cooking. How is the value proposition of wood pellets faring in today’s inflationary business climate. Are the efforts to secure a federal tax credit paying dividends with homeowners. Attendees can expect a lively discussion about the state of play in the domestic heating market intended to illuminate what is driving consumers to action towards or away from pellet heating and grilling/smoking.

Speakers: Tad Tweed, Mace Energy Supply, Inc. 
                   Chad Curtis, EarthSense Energy Systems, Inc. 
                   (Additional Speakers TBA)

Location: Zilker 2

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Networking Break

Location: Zilker 1

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Looking Forward, Looking Back: Our Annual Conversation with Wood Pellet Producers about the Marketplace Dynamics Impacting Their Businesses 

The Pellet Fuels Institute was formed and is maintained to advance the ambitions of the manufacturers of premium wood pellet heating and cooking fuels and protect their right to do business. It is only fitting then, that the conference conclude with a discussion amongst members of the industry. The discussion will pivot between a review of the past heating season and a look forward at the marketplace conditions facing producers already well into their planning and production for the heating season to come. How producers are navigating supply chain challenges, the inflationary pressure impacting our entire economy, staffing challenges, opportunities in export market and much more will all be discussed in depth.

Speakers: Brett Jordan, CEO, Lignetics
                   Holger Welling, CM Biomass
                   Steve DeVoe, COO, Fiber Energy Products
                   Ben Rose, Michigan Wood Fuels

Location: Zilker 2