From the Director's Desk: Is Austin Weird? We’ll Find Out this Summer, Minnesota Gets it Right
Is Austin Weird? We’ll Find Out this Summer
I like trivia. In fact, my favorite part of the information age is the ease with which I (we, all of us) can round out our understanding of a subject, learn where something came from, or quickly place things historically. This summer we will take the Pellet Fuels Institute Annual Conference to Austin, Texas. If you’ve been to Austin or heard about Austin, you may have also heard the official/unofficial slogan of the city “Keep Austin Weird”. While the city has long been identified as perhaps the most off-kilter town in a conservative state, the phrase was coined just over 20 years ago. It seems a local radio station was raising money while Red Wassenich, a librarian from Austin Community College called in to donate. The host asked Red why he was contributing to the cause Red replied, “I don’t know, it helps keep Austin weird”. The Austin Independent Business Alliance latched onto the idea, and ever since the slogan has been a rallying cry for the city’s independent businesses. The Pellet Fuels Institute is absolutely a fan of independent businesses.
While I would not assert that the wood pellet industry is weird (it does have its characters as any industry does), I would suggest we’ve had a weird year. In that way, Austin is a good fit.
What’s been weird about it? I’d point to the global rush for wood pellets that was the talk of the industry throughout summer and into early fall. The world needed 2, maybe 3 million tons of wood pellets. Pellet buyers were calling anyone with presses and fiber, regardless of where they were located. Photos of pallets of pellets for sale in Europe were shown at industry conferences for the equivalent of $800/ton. Energy in general was promised to be in short supply, and folks were talking about all of Europe setting their thermostats back significantly in an homage to Jimmy Carter.
Then, poof. Just as quickly as the demand for wood pellets from overseas came, it went. The phone calls stopped. The urgency subsided. Overseas prices reverted to the mean.
And what about the weather stateside? And overseas? I’m actually hopeful that this winter, and last year’s, will one day be considered ‘weird’ anomalies because if this is the new normal, we’ll need more stoves burning pellets out there because the existing installed base of stoves with these mild winters yields lackluster sales.
What isn’t weird, about a PFI Annual Conference is that it will draw wood pellet producers from across the country into the discussion. It is our industry’s meet and greet and annual conversation about our business. Please, make plans to attend June 6-8 in Austin to sort out for yourself which is weirder, the city or the year we’re having.
For a snapshot of the scheduled, our preliminary agenda can be found here.
Minnesota Gets it Right
A few weeks ago I asked people to have a look at a Biomass Magazine story about a decision out of Australia whereby the government there decided that biomass-derived energy from native forests would not be considered ‘renewable’ nor be eligible to contribute to the country’s renewable energy targets. I suggested it hinted at or was a variant of an existential threat to our business. I still feel that way. That is why I’m pleased to report that closer to home, just across the Mississippi river, the State of Minnesota has established aggressive renewable energy targets (55% by 2035) AND named biomass as an eligible technology. The article makes it clear that biomass will be considered renewable which is great but is less clear where biomass lands with regard to the ‘carbon-free’ requirements outlined in the same legislation. “Carbon benefit” is the new frontier in energy discussions and I suspect it will completely reshape conversations about renewables and fossil fuels alike. Give the story a look as I think it serves as a prologue of what is to come with state and federal energy policy in the decade to come.
—Tim Portz Executive Director
Webinar
Pellet Fuels Institute Standards Program:
Reviewing the New Look and Administration of the World’s Most Robust Wood Pellet Quality Program
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
10:00 – 11:00 am Central time
The Pellet Fuels Institute Standards Program was established over a decade ago to provide certainty to pellet retailers, consumers and appliance manufacturers of consistent, high-quality pellet production. Developed in concert will wood pellet producers, appliance manufacturers and quality assurance professionals the PFI Standards Program gained rapid adoption across the United States, standardizing quality control measures across the industry and introducing regular third-party testing and audits to wood pellet production. In 2022 the program underwent its first major revision since its inception. Join us for this webinar where the very noticeable changes to the consumer facing Quality Mark as well as some less public but important changes in the accreditation structure underpinning the program.
Speakers:
|
Tim Portz,
Executive Director, Pellet Fuels Institute
|
|
Chris Wiberg,
Vice President of Laboratories,
Timber Products Inspection/Biomass
Energy Lab
(Standards Committee Chair)
|
