Wood Pellet Plant being built to ship pellets to Europe

[Harman Lover 007]

From todays Portland, Maine paper:

http://www.pressherald.com/news/new-plant-would-ship-wood-pellets-to-europe_2011-10-25.html

 

[hossthehermit]

Hope it works out.

 

[jimbom]

From the newspaper story: "Anthony Wood, the company's vice president"

 

[joecool85]

Yay Maine!

 

[vinny11950]

Europe gets most of its gas from Russia and Russia has turned off the valves in the past when they have been ticked off, so I imagine that Europeans are also looking to diversify their fuel resources. If it works, its great for Maine.

Also, after the Japanese nuclear plant melt down, Japan is rethinking their nuclear power use, and Germany has pledged to close their remaining nuclear reactors. I wonder if this will lead to more pellet stove around the world, and what that will do to pellet prices here.

 

[tjnamtiw]

A couple of the largest pellet plants down here in Georgia also ship exclusively to Europe and refuse to sell to US customers. Supply and DEMAND.

 

[jtakeman]

Well, There is a possitive. At least we can sell something over sea's. Might keep some of use working over here. As long as we have enough here that is?

Supposed to be easier money for them, No bagging cost as they are all buck shipped.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

That rail line has been abandoned since 1983.

I wonder exactly how much work it will take to reactivate it.

 

[hossthehermit]

You and I own it now, Smokey, so money is no object, we'll fix it back up and hire an operator to run it back into the ground.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Yup, that is why I asked.

How are things at the mill?

 

[ScotL]

Japan is exploring their options. I gave a tour to a group from Japan here at Maine Woods just last week - although pellets wasn't their only interest in visiting Maine. They were more interested in our forest management. Another gentleman from a factory in Japan contacted me back in August about pellet exporting. It's too far to ship from Maine. But, worldwide, bulk pellet usage is rapidly increasing. Not just in Japan.

Europe has been looking to import pellets for years. They can even use a more utility grade pellet, which reduces production costs a bit if a plant was interested in doing that. Europe has been using more pellets than they produce for quite some time. I haven't exported any yet myself but it hasn't been from a lack of trying on the European buyer's part.

They are pretty far ahead of us with their use of pellets. I haven't seen it myself but I've heard that some areas in Europe have central boilers that heat several homes and all the boilers are monitored from one location.

 

[jimbom]

Seventy - eighty percent of Japan is rugged mountains. They intensively manage the forest resources in those areas.

We burned wood when we lived there. It was like buying it at the convenience store here. Little bundles of nice dry splits. Wasn't my first choice, but our bath was wood fired and the house had a 'Russian' stove.

They like high tech devices. If pellets could be landed at a price competitive with electricity, then I think pellet fired central boilers would work in the cities. And home units would work in single family homes. Kerosene is the liquid competitor. Floor space in the average single family home is very small. Perhaps 600 ft ². It is really an export opportunity.

 

[hossthehermit]

Yup, that is why I asked.

How are things at the mill?

Morale is at an all time high, or something like that, from what management tells us.

 

[hossthehermit]

Japan is exploring their options. I gave a tour to a group from Japan here at Maine Woods just last week - although pellets wasn't their only interest in visiting Maine. They were more interested in our forest management. Another gentleman from a factory in Japan contacted me back in August about pellet exporting. It's too far to ship from Maine. But, worldwide, bulk pellet usage is rapidly increasing. Not just in Japan.

Europe has been looking to import pellets for years. They can even use a more utility grade pellet, which reduces production costs a bit if a plant was interested in doing that. Europe has been using more pellets than they produce for quite some time. I haven't exported any yet myself but it hasn't been from a lack of trying on the European buyer's part.

They are pretty far ahead of us with their use of pellets. I haven't seen it myself but I've heard that some areas in Europe have central boilers that heat several homes and all the boilers are monitored from one location.

Glad to see J talked you into coming on the board, Scott.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Hi Scott,

Glad you decided to make your presence known.

 

[jtakeman]

Glad to see J talked you into coming on the board, Scott.

Actually ScotL has been here since February, I have only been bugging him for a month or so(I want some of his softwoods to review). I did a little detective work and figured it out! He's been very pleasent to deal with(I think we call this buttering up a little?).

One of these days got to make a road trip to see his stash! Yes I drooled alot! :red:

 

[mepellet]

Glad to see J talked you into coming on the board, Scott.

Actually ScotL has been here since February, I have only been bugging him for a month or so(I want some of his softwoods to review). I did a little detective work and figured it out! He's been very pleasent to deal with(I think we call this buttering up a little?).

One of these days got to make a road trip to see his stash! Yes I drooled alot! :red:

I managed to pick up a couple bags of MWP softwoods to try out. SIB in Jay Maine has a waiting list for them.

 

[Kiver]

And I hope that post peak oil we pull an OPEC on all of the countries soon dependent on Maine Pellets

 

[sinnian]

Glad to see J talked you into coming on the board, Scott.

Actually ScotL has been here since February, I have only been bugging him for a month or so(I want some of his softwoods to review). I did a little detective work and figured it out! He's been very pleasent to deal with(I think we call this buttering up a little?).

One of these days got to make a road trip to see his stash! Yes I drooled alot! :red:

I'll give you a few bags if we can find some place to meet in the middle sometime, if you don't make it up here.

From what I hear they use the same die-cutter from Vermont Wood Pellet which you gave very good reviews. So far so good for me, but it does seem that I get the same amount of ash from my boiler no matter what I burn (don't know if that is actually the case though).


-------------------


There has been talk for some time about a pellet mill going in Baldwin. It would be nice to have a mill close by, but they would have to make a premium pellet to sell to consumers, otherwise they will probably would sell to the various schools in Maine that have biomass burners now.

 

[jtakeman]

Glad to see J talked you into coming on the board, Scott.

Actually ScotL has been here since February, I have only been bugging him for a month or so(I want some of his softwoods to review). I did a little detective work and figured it out! He's been very pleasent to deal with(I think we call this buttering up a little?).

One of these days got to make a road trip to see his stash! Yes I drooled alot! :red:

I'll give you a few bags if we can find some place to meet in the middle sometime, if you don't make it up here.

From what I hear they use the same die-cutter from Vermont Wood Pellet which you gave very good reviews. So far so good for me, but it does seem that I get the same amount of ash from my boiler no matter what I burn (don't know if that is actually the case though).

Thanks for the offer, Much appreciated, But thats a heck a lot of gas for my hog. I have a local guy I can buy them from. YA see the wife has cut off my pellet spending for a bit. I'll find a couple a bucks to get them, But got to wait till momma isn't looking! We will get some.

I can wait to try his softiez! I have heard rumors of less than 0.29% ash and ecellent heat! ;-) Might just give them Okies a run?

 

[sinnian]

Glad to see J talked you into coming on the board, Scott.

Actually ScotL has been here since February, I have only been bugging him for a month or so(I want some of his softwoods to review). I did a little detective work and figured it out! He's been very pleasent to deal with(I think we call this buttering up a little?).

One of these days got to make a road trip to see his stash! Yes I drooled alot! :red:

I'll give you a few bags if we can find some place to meet in the middle sometime, if you don't make it up here.

From what I hear they use the same die-cutter from Vermont Wood Pellet which you gave very good reviews. So far so good for me, but it does seem that I get the same amount of ash from my boiler no matter what I burn (don't know if that is actually the case though).

Thanks for the offer, Much appreciated, But thats a heck a lot of gas for my hog. I have a local guy I can buy them from. YA see the wife has cut off my pellet spending for a bit. I'll find a couple a bucks to get them, But got to wait till momma isn't looking! We will get some.

I can wait to try his softiez! I have heard rumors of less than 0.29% ash and ecellent heat! ;-) Might just give them Okies a run?

Be warned! They are dark like a hardwood ~ something with the process. I never understood why any pellet is dark, unless it had bark in it. Ever see a dark 2X4?

They do seem to burn on par with the Okies, and have a different kind of ash (my Okies' ash was very strange, and in fact STILL has not broken completely down on the lawn where it was spread last winter).

 

[mepellet]

Glad to see J talked you into coming on the board, Scott.

Actually ScotL has been here since February, I have only been bugging him for a month or so(I want some of his softwoods to review). I did a little detective work and figured it out! He's been very pleasent to deal with(I think we call this buttering up a little?).

One of these days got to make a road trip to see his stash! Yes I drooled alot! :red:

I'll give you a few bags if we can find some place to meet in the middle sometime, if you don't make it up here.

From what I hear they use the same die-cutter from Vermont Wood Pellet which you gave very good reviews. So far so good for me, but it does seem that I get the same amount of ash from my boiler no matter what I burn (don't know if that is actually the case though).

Thanks for the offer, Much appreciated, But thats a heck a lot of gas for my hog. I have a local guy I can buy them from. YA see the wife has cut off my pellet spending for a bit. I'll find a couple a bucks to get them, But got to wait till momma isn't looking! We will get some.

I can wait to try his softiez! I have heard rumors of less than 0.29% ash and ecellent heat! ;-) Might just give them Okies a run?

SIB's pellet sheet says they are 8700-8900 btus. I assume he means per pound. It also says less then .05% ash and less then .05% moisture..... :/

 

[jtakeman]

Glad to see J talked you into coming on the board, Scott.

Actually ScotL has been here since February, I have only been bugging him for a month or so(I want some of his softwoods to review). I did a little detective work and figured it out! He's been very pleasent to deal with(I think we call this buttering up a little?).

One of these days got to make a road trip to see his stash! Yes I drooled alot! :red:

I'll give you a few bags if we can find some place to meet in the middle sometime, if you don't make it up here.

From what I hear they use the same die-cutter from Vermont Wood Pellet which you gave very good reviews. So far so good for me, but it does seem that I get the same amount of ash from my boiler no matter what I burn (don't know if that is actually the case though).

Thanks for the offer, Much appreciated, But thats a heck a lot of gas for my hog. I have a local guy I can buy them from. YA see the wife has cut off my pellet spending for a bit. I'll find a couple a bucks to get them, But got to wait till momma isn't looking! We will get some.

I can wait to try his softiez! I have heard rumors of less than 0.29% ash and ecellent heat! ;-) Might just give them Okies a run?

Be warned! They are dark like a hardwood ~ something with the process. I never understood why any pellet is dark, unless it had bark in it. Ever see a dark 2X4?

They do seem to burn on par with the Okies, and have a different kind of ash (my Okies' ash was very strange, and in fact STILL has not broken completely down on the lawn where it was spread last winter).

You can age the softwood fiber, Same as seasoning hardwood. It will get darker as it ages, Pretty sure its due to the suns UV rays. 2x4's aren't aged, They just send them to the kiln to dry them. So they will be the same color as the day they were cut.

How'd I do ScotL?

 

[sinnian]

Glad to see J talked you into coming on the board, Scott.

Actually ScotL has been here since February, I have only been bugging him for a month or so(I want some of his softwoods to review). I did a little detective work and figured it out! He's been very pleasent to deal with(I think we call this buttering up a little?).

One of these days got to make a road trip to see his stash! Yes I drooled alot! :red:

I'll give you a few bags if we can find some place to meet in the middle sometime, if you don't make it up here.

From what I hear they use the same die-cutter from Vermont Wood Pellet which you gave very good reviews. So far so good for me, but it does seem that I get the same amount of ash from my boiler no matter what I burn (don't know if that is actually the case though).

Thanks for the offer, Much appreciated, But thats a heck a lot of gas for my hog. I have a local guy I can buy them from. YA see the wife has cut off my pellet spending for a bit. I'll find a couple a bucks to get them, But got to wait till momma isn't looking! We will get some.

I can wait to try his softiez! I have heard rumors of less than 0.29% ash and ecellent heat! ;-) Might just give them Okies a run?

Be warned! They are dark like a hardwood ~ something with the process. I never understood why any pellet is dark, unless it had bark in it. Ever see a dark 2X4?

They do seem to burn on par with the Okies, and have a different kind of ash (my Okies' ash was very strange, and in fact STILL has not broken completely down on the lawn where it was spread last winter).

You can age the softwood fiber, Same as seasoning hardwood. It will get darker as it ages, Pretty sure its due to the suns UV rays. 2x4's aren't aged, They just send them to the kiln to dry them. So they will be the same color as the day they were cut.

How'd I do ScotL?

So other softwood fiber is not aged?

-------

Have to say that the pallets have the best protection on them out of any other pellets that I have got in the past. No top seam on the pellet 'bag', and instead of moisture absorbing cardboard on the bottom, they use a recycled plastic sheet ~ very impressed with it.

 

[jtakeman]

Glad to see J talked you into coming on the board, Scott.

Actually ScotL has been here since February, I have only been bugging him for a month or so(I want some of his softwoods to review). I did a little detective work and figured it out! He's been very pleasent to deal with(I think we call this buttering up a little?).

One of these days got to make a road trip to see his stash! Yes I drooled alot! :red:

I'll give you a few bags if we can find some place to meet in the middle sometime, if you don't make it up here.

From what I hear they use the same die-cutter from Vermont Wood Pellet which you gave very good reviews. So far so good for me, but it does seem that I get the same amount of ash from my boiler no matter what I burn (don't know if that is actually the case though).

Thanks for the offer, Much appreciated, But thats a heck a lot of gas for my hog. I have a local guy I can buy them from. YA see the wife has cut off my pellet spending for a bit. I'll find a couple a bucks to get them, But got to wait till momma isn't looking! We will get some.

I can wait to try his softiez! I have heard rumors of less than 0.29% ash and ecellent heat! ;-) Might just give them Okies a run?

Be warned! They are dark like a hardwood ~ something with the process. I never understood why any pellet is dark, unless it had bark in it. Ever see a dark 2X4?

They do seem to burn on par with the Okies, and have a different kind of ash (my Okies' ash was very strange, and in fact STILL has not broken completely down on the lawn where it was spread last winter).

You can age the softwood fiber, Same as seasoning hardwood. It will get darker as it ages, Pretty sure its due to the suns UV rays. 2x4's aren't aged, They just send them to the kiln to dry them. So they will be the same color as the day they were cut.

How'd I do ScotL?

So other softwood fiber is not aged?

-------

Have to say that the pallets have the best protection on them out of any other pellets that I have got in the past. No top seam on the pellet 'bag', and instead of moisture absorbing cardboard on the bottom, they use a recycled plastic sheet ~ very impressed with it.

Most other softwood fiber is right from the millings. Sawing and planner chips mostly. Because the logs come in and get debarked and go straight to the mill process. They don't have a chance to age. The mills work fast to make as many as possible(quota)!

I don't know for sure but I am thinking(assuming again) the logs sat around for some time or once chipped, The chips could have sat around. Will not hurt or degrade them. It's just they don't have the speedy process you see at the lumber mills. So while out in the yard the fiber had a chance to darken. Worst case would be they lost some of the sap from the log.