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Biomass Thermal Energy Council and Pellet Fuels Institute Thank Sen. Angus King and Rep. Peter Welch for Introducing BTU Act
Proposed Legislation Qualifies Biomass Heating Systems for Tax Credits Currently Extended to Other Renewable Energy Sources
Washington, DC – February 17, 2015 – The Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC) and the Pellet Fuels Institute (PFI) today thanked Senator Angus King (I-ME) and Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT) for their commitment to renewable biomass energy and their bipartisan effort to ensure that biomass for heating and cooling systems is represented within the U.S. Tax Code
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Yesterday, Senator Angus King announced plans to introduce the Biomass Thermal Utilization Act of 2015. Known as the BTU Act, the legislation will extend to biomass heating systems the tax credits that are currently available to all other renewable energy sources. Rep. Welch announced similar plans for a House companion bill this afternoon.
“Biomass thermal technologies for heating and cooling have never benefited from the investment tax credits in the federal tax code that other renewable energy technologies have enjoyed for many years,” said Jennifer Hedrick, Executive Director of PFI. “The members of PFI applaud Sen. King for his leadership and we look forward to working with Rep. Welch and his colleagues in the House to introduce a companion bill.”
Click here to read the full release.
Click here to read more about the event in Maine this week, including remarks from Sen. King about the need to support the biomass industry
Countdown to Breakfast & Biomass: A Briefing on the Pellet Market
Join the Pellet Fuels Institute in Nashville, TN, on Friday, March 6 for Breakfast & Biomass: A Briefing on the Pellet Market. Held at HPBExpo, the breakfast offers a chance to meet with colleagues throughout the pellet industry and to dive in to a variety of timely topics, including:
The 2015 Policy Landscape (including information on EPA’s NSPS Rule)
2014 Pellet Stove Shipment Report
Pellet Standards
Pellet Market Overview and Opportunities
Please note that all who wish to participate in the breakfast must be registered attendees of HPBExpo.
Visit the PFI website to view the agenda and registration information.
Thank you to all of our breakfast sponsors:
   
If you would like to learn how your company can become a sponsor of Breakfast & Biomass and other PFI initiatives, please click here to learn more.
PFI Standards Program Education @HPBExpo
PFI is sponsoring an educational session on the PFI Standards Program at HPBExpo. Open to all attendees, this session will delve into the standards program and what it means for pellet producers, appliance manufacturers, retailers and consumers. You’ll learn more information about the program’s qualified production facilities and specific information on program compliance and promotion.
PFI Standards Program Education
Friday, March 6
10:30am- 12:30pm
Music City Center, Nashville, TN
To learn more about the PFI Standards Program, we encourage you to visit the pellet standards pages of the PFI website.
For more information about the standards session and other PFI activities at HPBExpo, contact PFI staff.
Lignetics and Bear Mountain Forest Products Merge to Create the Largest Residential Wood Pellet Producer in the United States
PR Web
Today, the two longest running wood pellet manufacturing companies in the U.S. announced a merger that will create the largest residential wood pellet fuel producer in the United States. Ken Tucker, CEO of Lignetics, Inc. (“Lignetics”) and Bob Sourek, CEO of Bear Mountain Forest Products, Inc. (“Bear Mountain”), announced that the two companies have completed a merger, creating a company that will now have a production capacity of approximately 450,000 tons of wood pellets per year.
The company will also be the only pellet manufacturing company that will have wood pellet manufacturing plants on both the East Coast and the West Coast. The combined company will have plant locations in Brownsville, Oregon, Cascade Locks, Oregon, Sandpoint, Idaho, Glenville, West Virginia and Kenbridge, Virginia.
The merger brings together some of the industry’s most well-known brands including Golden Fire, Lignetics, Bear Mountain, America's Best, Pres-to-Log, Dry Den, Cozy Den and EZ Equine.
Click here to read the full release.
PFI Member Benefits
Each week, new information is added to the Members Only section of the PFI website. Current members, you simply have to log in with your member name and password to access this information. If you haven’t renewed your membership for 2015, it just takes a few moments to do so right on the PFI website.
If you aren’t a member of PFI and want to take advantage of the numerous benefits PFI membership affords, please visit our website for more information. And, we encourage you to contact PFI staff to find out how PFI membership can benefit your businesses.
Save-The-Date: PFI 2015 Annual Conference
Save the Date for the 2015 PFI Annual Conference, July 19-21 at the historic Colonial Williamsburg Lodge, Williamsburg, Virginia.
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Industry News
Farmington board hears wood pellet boiler presentation
Franklin Sun Journal
FARMINGTON — The Board of Selectmen unanimously decided Tuesday to seek cost estimates for installing a pellet boiler for the Community Center and the town garage..
In an effort to compare apples to apples, Selectman Josh Bell requested a presentation on pellet boiler systems at the board's previous meeting. At that time, the board agreed to consider connecting the Community Center to the University of Maine at Farmington's proposed central heating plant....
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House remedies: Pellet or wood stove? Answers to some burning questions
Providence Journal
Q: My husband and I are having an interesting conversation about wood stoves vs. pellet. He bought a pellet stove pre me and I’ve always preferred a wood stove. Just like many others out there, he always thought he was being “green” and that the pellets were made from waste … thoughts or have you written on this? — Toni, Wickford
A: Pellet stoves were first introduced back in the 1980s, quickly becoming popular as a more efficient, cleaner, and an easier to handle and fill wood-stove alternative. The pellets are a mechanically compressed wood fuel (CWF) made of the same material (hardwood sawdust, shavings, etc.) as their larger brick relativesl...
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Clarkson University, SUNY Canton research wood heating systems
BIOMASS Magazine
Clarkson University and State University of New York Canton are researching renewable wood heating systems that would improve energy efficiency in New York State.
Researchers at the universities are evaluating a new generation of wood pellet boilers that were developed in Austria and now are being manufactured in New York State. Director of Clarkson's Institute for a Sustainable Environment and Bayard D. Clarkson Distinguished Professor Philip K. Hopke recently led a tour of the three experimental North Country wood pellet boiler sites with Renewable Heat NY personnel from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority...
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Wyden wants Oregon federal buildings on biomass
KTVZ.com
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Monday he wants the federal government to replicate the successful use of biomass energy in Oregon and Wallowa County by using the renewable energy source when it leases or builds federal facilities in the state.
In his letter to General Services Administrator Dan Tangherlini and U.S. Forest Services Chief Thomas Tidwell, Wyden urged the GSA to reconsider constraints on using biomass in federal facilities for heat, or combined heat and power, in certain circumstances”...
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