Pellet fuel is a significant part of the strategy to decarbonize the power sector in many countries. What about the US and what about Maine?
Global trade in wood pellets used as a replacement for coal for power generation (so-called “industrial” pellets) will be about 23 million metric tonnes in 2021. England, Western Europe, Japan, and South Korea are the major importers. The world’s largest exporter is the US. The US exported about 7.3 million tonnes in 2020. Yet the US uses zero tonnes in US power generation stations.
This presentation will provide an overview of the global markets including some discussion of the policies that support the use of pellet fuel and the potential for use in the US. It will also discuss the carbon benefits of displacing coal with sustainably produced pellet fuel and the potential for carbon negative power generation with the use of bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS). The presentation will also discuss advances in thermal treatment technologies (torrefaction and steam explosion) that produce a solid fuel that has handling and storage characteristics similar to coal. Finally the presentation will show how Maine could become a major producer of pellet fuel for both export and, if policy in the US evolves, for use in US power stations.
Maine can be part of the transition to a decarbonized power sector.