What is the Primary Wood Source for Making Pellets?

[MarkF48]

I was of the impression most pellets come from sawdust from lumber mills, but was wondering if any pellets come from tree trimming companies that chip branches and the like. This came to mind when I saw a tree outfit blowing chips into the woods during a roadside cleanup and I thought, what a waste of potential pellet fuel. Maybe too hard to control the content of the end pellet product?

 

[jtakeman]

Tree trimmings with have bark in the mix. Usually not a good idea.

Most pellets are made from saw dust and planner chips. Because all the bark has been removed before these processes. Some newer mills have added chipping of logs because of a fiber shortage. They use as much of the chips/dust they can get but also debark and then chip the logs to add more fiber to increase production. Some mills are 100% chips to logs. .