Read an article in the Wall Street Journal about forests being clear cut in N.C. for wood that is being processed into pellets and shipped over to Euorpe. Who apparently can't get enough of our wood. Seems with all the govt rules and regulations over there, it's darn near impossible to cut a tree in a forest so the Europeans are contracting with our Ax Men to use our natural resources so they can stay warm. The article said that the demand was exceeding supply.....so don't expect our prices to go down anytime.
Pellets Being Shipped to Euorpe
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So far, it's mostly pulpwood and the waste from (resumed ) logging that used to go to the paper mills and now goes to pellet manufacture instead.
The NC hardwood harvesting is different in that it's not near planted forests/paper mill operations.
It's still a resumption of logging that was going on before.
Whether there's enough there to sustain the operation of many former coal plants remains to be seen.
They have overbuilt waste to energy plants too.
They'll be fracking NG/crude soon enough.
Solar and wind can't supply 100% of power needs, roughly 75-80% has to come from somewhere else, or go without.
That may be next, too.
The NC hardwood harvesting is different in that it's not near planted forests/paper mill operations.
It's still a resumption of logging that was going on before.
Whether there's enough there to sustain the operation of many former coal plants remains to be seen.
They have overbuilt waste to energy plants too.
They'll be fracking NG/crude soon enough.
Solar and wind can't supply 100% of power needs, roughly 75-80% has to come from somewhere else, or go without.
That may be next, too.
Its supply and demand. And crazy, according to Forbes*. Europe is definitely the largest consumer of pellets worldwide. These numbers are based on 2012 Europe burns over 13 million tons of pellets a year. They also produce the most pellets, about 10 million tons a year. So demand is stripping supply, and that in turn is what is keeping pellet prices higher in New England. The European shortfall is made up mostly from imports from Canada and the US South. They imported over 3 million tons from North America last year. North American pellet production is now at about 9 million tons a year, 6 million tons in the US and 3 million tons from Canada. The US consumes about 80% of production, and the rest is exported mostly to Europe and a small amount to Asia. Canada consumes only 20% of production, and the rest is exported mostly in bulk to Europe (and some to the US). Prices for pellets are generally lower in Europe than they are in New England. Seemingly Canada is willing to sell them cheap to keep that export market open, and we are willing to meet or undercut them for the market share. Also for now global production is exceeding demand. Also they are cheaper here in the western US; about $200 a ton, vs. about $300 a ton in NE. That seems to be reverse calculated, as demand is low here for pellets, and it costs about $100 to ship a ton of pellets by rail (3 cents a ton-mile).
*NG and Coal are definitely more efficient for heating, but they contribute to CO2 and global warming, and politically (for the moment at least) they are less favorable. Germany is also eliminating its nuclear energy program and they need a 'green' alternative. Wood pellets are falling into a shell game of carbon credits, global energy changes, and tax incentives.
*NG and Coal are definitely more efficient for heating, but they contribute to CO2 and global warming, and politically (for the moment at least) they are less favorable. Germany is also eliminating its nuclear energy program and they need a 'green' alternative. Wood pellets are falling into a shell game of carbon credits, global energy changes, and tax incentives.
In order for wood pellets to be carbon neutral something has to put back in place, like more trees. That's not practical do to the fact that fossil fuels move wood pellets around and urban sprawl takes up the land where a tree once was. I agree that the whole carbon credit thing is a shell game when it comes to biomass and the environmentalists eventually will have something to say about clear cutting for wood pellets. But wait till the tax credits and incentives get yanked, pellets may no longer be an inexpensive source for Europe. They will eventually tax the pellets as they do to oil to make up for the loss in consumption.
I also think as the natural gas market in the U.S. moves forwarded, the cost for heating will be more balanced between the two and we might see a drop or a stabilization in consumption with the exports. If we don't see it happen one way, the other may be greater adaption of solar heating. Here in the U.S. many home owners adapted a solar heating option when oil prices spiked just by installing a simple home built thermosyphoning panel. Germany has a very large photovoltaic market, I would think nothing would stop them form adapting to solar heating as well. This could spread all over Europe as the markets dictate it. It's not doom and gloom, just which way the energy markets are going to go is still up for grabs, I see this going on for years to come. It's a good thing our new home is Energy Star Certified.
I also think as the natural gas market in the U.S. moves forwarded, the cost for heating will be more balanced between the two and we might see a drop or a stabilization in consumption with the exports. If we don't see it happen one way, the other may be greater adaption of solar heating. Here in the U.S. many home owners adapted a solar heating option when oil prices spiked just by installing a simple home built thermosyphoning panel. Germany has a very large photovoltaic market, I would think nothing would stop them form adapting to solar heating as well. This could spread all over Europe as the markets dictate it. It's not doom and gloom, just which way the energy markets are going to go is still up for grabs, I see this going on for years to come. It's a good thing our new home is Energy Star Certified.
Well, the ugly truth about burning wood is that it pumps CO2 into the atmosphere. The green laws may lead to a global deforestation, or as in the case of ethanol in gasoline, we just wind up using a lot of oil to harvest and transport wood around the globe.
I still see a future of doom and gloom, from many angles. Mainly due to an ever expanding human population, and a declining amount of global resources. Also global warming is already having a massive impact on weather events and even if we were to stop all CO2 emissions now. Time will tell...
I still see a future of doom and gloom, from many angles. Mainly due to an ever expanding human population, and a declining amount of global resources. Also global warming is already having a massive impact on weather events and even if we were to stop all CO2 emissions now. Time will tell...
maple1
Minister of Fire
In the long term I see the same issues as well. The bottom line is no matter what we do to reduce any kind of consumption all it allows is for more people to be on the planet.
SmokeEater
Feeling the Heat
Though it would take a good deal of time and words to explain my position on "carbon neutral" and carbon dioxide's bad boy image in today's outlook on combustion in general. There is an easy to understand and very plausible scientific explanation of how carbon dioxide's existence in the atmosphere plays a very minimal role in contributing to global warming. Billions and billions of dollars are being spent and will be on the sequestration of CO2 and billions more spend on energy sources that do not produce CO2 and most for naught. A carbon atom gives off energy when it is removed from its molecular source and again when it combines with other elements. One of the more stable compounds formed when free carbon unites with oxygen is CO2, a fairly stable compound that is persistent. Carbon doesn't care if its source is from matter in wood or matter in oil, the formation of the CO2 yields the same energy. Since CO2 itself is a minor "greenhouse gas" it has been determined that even doubling its quantitiy over the present in the atmosphere will cause a temperature increase in the atmosphere of less than 2* C. (source of that information is a study done by NASA and published in 2010). Prehistoric quantities of CO2 in the atmosphere have be many times greater than the present concentration and there is plenty of fossil evidence that a great divergence of life existed on Earth, and that temperatures did not greatly differ from what we know. I like the idea that we are spending billions and billions because it is great for the growing economy after such a downturn. I also think that it's too bad and too sad that the effort and funds are getting us to places that we don't want to go or be. I don't think that this forum's focus should be on global warming, or any such political topics and that we should stick to discussions of economical heating of our homes and businesses. And here I am spouting off. Sorry. I'll try not to do this again.
Well, with my engineering an scientific education and background, I would say that you are incorrect about CO2.
As for not talking about one of the 2 main molecules given off when burning wood (CO2 and H2O), I think that you are wrong there as well. We talk about wood here a lot, we talk about wood appliances here a lot, we talk about wood smoke here a lot. But we are not supposed to talk about CO2?
As for not talking about one of the 2 main molecules given off when burning wood (CO2 and H2O), I think that you are wrong there as well. We talk about wood here a lot, we talk about wood appliances here a lot, we talk about wood smoke here a lot. But we are not supposed to talk about CO2?
Lake Girl
Moderator
Sort of off topic but - Guess we don't have to worry about breathing? Need oxygen for fires to keep us warm? Interesting article on the atmosphere - oxygen depletion ...
"Professor (broken link removed) of Adelaide University and Professor (broken link removed to http://sols.asu.edu/faculty/jharrison.php) of the University of Arizona concur. Like most other scientists they accept that oxygen levels in the atmosphere in prehistoric times averaged around 30% to 35%, compared to only 21% today – and that the levels are even less in densely populated, polluted city centres and industrial complexes, perhaps only 15 % or lower.
Much of this recent, accelerated change is down to human activity, notably the industrial revolution and the burning of fossil fuels. The Professor of Geological Sciences at Notre Dame University in Indiana, (broken link removed to http://www.nd.edu/~cegeos/people/faculty/rigby.htm), was quoted in 1993-1994 as saying:
"Professor (broken link removed) of Adelaide University and Professor (broken link removed to http://sols.asu.edu/faculty/jharrison.php) of the University of Arizona concur. Like most other scientists they accept that oxygen levels in the atmosphere in prehistoric times averaged around 30% to 35%, compared to only 21% today – and that the levels are even less in densely populated, polluted city centres and industrial complexes, perhaps only 15 % or lower.
Much of this recent, accelerated change is down to human activity, notably the industrial revolution and the burning of fossil fuels. The Professor of Geological Sciences at Notre Dame University in Indiana, (broken link removed to http://www.nd.edu/~cegeos/people/faculty/rigby.htm), was quoted in 1993-1994 as saying:
In the 20th century, humanity has pumped increasing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by burning the carbon stored in coal, petroleum and natural gas. In the process, we've also been consuming oxygen and destroying plant life – cutting down forests at an alarming rate and thereby short-circuiting the cycle's natural rebound. We're artificially slowing down one process and speeding up another, forcing a change in the atmosphere."
Article mentions implications on health, lessened ocean food stocks due to oxygen depletion and less oxygen escaping into atmosphere, increasing population, etc. Believe what you want but, I'm planting more trees 
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