Wood Pellets Fuel and Pellet Fuel Grades

There is not simple one grade of wood pellet fuel, there are multiple quality grades based mainly on the percentage of ash the wood pellets generate post combustion. For example the highest grade of wood pellet fuel are known as premium wood pellet fuel. This grade of wood pellet produces an ash content below 1%, generally normally around the 0.5% mark. Now, this ultra low ash content is only achieve by using very selective wood resources, with no bark, as bark will increase the ash content of the pellets. Premium wood pellets demand the highest price point, not only as they produce the lowest ash content of any pellet fuel, but also because those same wood resources are in high demand. Particle board manufactures and several other industries also used the same raw material. This therefore increased the price of the raw material due to increased competition. Now currently the pellet fuel market is relatively small, and the volume of sawdust produced from timber processing is enough generally to support the needs of pellet fuel manufacturers.

However, within recent years issues have arose with sufficient sawdust supply. For example, when the US housing market crashed, housing construction stopped and so did the demand for construction timber. As no timber was being processed, this also meant there was no waste sawdust produced which is the raw material supply for practically all premium wood pellet manufactures. This meant the value of sawdust went through the roof, and also there simply wasn't enough to support the pellet market. This meant two things, firstly the price of premium wood pellets sky rocked, and secondly supply issues were common. Many US pellet suppliers were sending what little supplies they had over to Europe, as they could demand higher prices. However this further escalated the problem in the US. That issue is no longer present as the housing market is now in rival, and the same circumstances are unlikely to happen again. However, important lessons need to be learnt from this scenario.

Wood Pellet Stove and Pellet Options

Another issue which also contributed to the high demand and high pellet prices, is that most pellet consumers cannot use any other grade of pellet fuel other than premium pellets. This is because most pellet stoves are designed with limitations. Consumers with more pellet fuel flexible stoves could choose other grades of wood pellets when the price of premium pellets is very high. In the future it will be more common to use other grades of biomass pellets. For example, here at PelHeat we use predominantly wheat straw pellets which help support local farmers.

Biomass Fuel Pellets To Meet Demand

The future of the wood pellet fuel market cannot simply depend on premium wood pellets. If so pellet supply problems will become common, prices will be high and with will devalue the reputation of the pellet industry. Other forms of wood can be used to produce fuel pellets, for example willow. Willow in the form of short rotation coppice can be grown very quickly and generate some very high yields. The pellets due produce a slightly higher ash content that premium pellets, however the prices would be far more responsible. Biomass will play a more significant role.

PelHeat Wood Pellet Production Guide

At PelHeat we have many years of experience in pellet production, and we provide a pellet production consultation service. The PelHeat guide download will show you how to make wood and other fuel pellets.

 The Wood Pellet Production Guide © PelHeat Ltd - Wood Pellets Fuel